Creating the Conditions in Which Agency Grows

Photo by Kate Cullen Unsplash

This week we’re bringing our five-week agency theme to a temporary close. We’re certain to revisit the subject as we move ahead, given agency’s central role in the all-important work of actualizing leadership.

Agency is not a personality trait.

It is something leaders encourage and help others develop.

Over the past several weeks, as we’ve explored agency from different perspectives, we’ve returned to a simple idea: leadership begins with the recognition that we all have choices.

In fact, the power to choose is one of the defining characteristics of our humanity.

We’re not passengers on Buckminster Fuller’s Spaceship Earth — we’re its crew.

The same is true in teams.

In the best of situations, we’re communities of decision-makers, not groups waiting to be told what to do.

We want to bring this arc to a close by turning to the leader’s role in helping others develop that power to choose and become agents of their won lives.

Agency does not grow automatically.

It grows in conditions, like corn does in fertile soil.

And leaders create conditions, which is one of the primary elements of the craft of leadership.

This idea sits at the heart of a definition of leadership we’ve long admired.

What Leadership Actually Is

Elliott Jaques and Stephen D. Clement write that,

“Leadership is the process of getting other people to move along together with you, and each other, with competence and full commitment to achieve a goal.”

We wholeheartedly agree with their definition. It’s the best we’ve come across.

One of the practical “how-tos” in this process is the creation of conditions in which people can think, choose, contribute, and learn.

Leadership shapes environments where:

•             People are invited to speak, not expected stay quiet

•             Questions are welcomed, not ignored so answers can be imposed

•             Mistakes are examined, instead of blame being assigned

•             Contributions are recognized and credit is given, instead of being usurped or stolen

In these environments, agency expands.

People begin to say:

“Here’s what I see.”
“Here’s what I think.”
“Here’s what I learned.”
“Here’s what I propose.”

Notice the shift.

The language moves from reaction to ownership — from compliance to committed contribution.

Agency is rarely loud.
It is rarely dramatic.

It’s steady.
It’s participatory.

It shows up in small, daily acts of initiative.

And over time, it compounds.

What Leadership Isn’t

Leadership isn’t the accumulation and exercise of authority.

It’s not the tightening of control.

It’s not being omniscient or having all the answers

When leaders over-direct, over-solve, or over-speak, others tend to under-think.

When every decision is centralized, agency contracts.

When dissent is punished, initiative disappears.

When appearance matters more than learning, risk-taking evaporates.

From the outside, things may look efficient.

Decisions may be quick.
Directions may be clear.
Silence can be mistaken for agreement or alignment.

But agency has left the building with Elvis through the back door.

People wait.

And waiting eventually morphs into a stall.

The Craft of Agency-Building

Leadership is a craft, and developing agency is one of its critical elements. Leaders who cultivate agency consistently practice a few disciplined habits.

1) They Ask Before They Tell

“What do you see?”

“What options do we have?”

“What would you recommend?”

Asking questions like these isn’t an abdication of leadership; they’re a key part of its essence.

2) They Use Reflection and After-Action Reviews as Teaching Vehicles

Actualized leadership without reflection is a fantasy.

When leaders help teams examine:

What happened?
Who was involved?
How did we respond?
What did we learn?

people begin to see the connection between choice and outcome.

That connection strengthens judgment.

3) They Invite and Celebrate Experimentation

When learning is honored publicly, fear decreases privately.

Agency grows where it is safe to try, adjust, and try again.

4) They Co-Create

They understand the principle that people support what they help create.

When teams help shape plans, name goals, design solutions, and refine products, something powerful happens:

Commitment replaces compliance.

And commitment is a far more renewable resource.

Agency Is Contagious

Agency spreads.

In high-agency environments, new members quickly adapt to the tone:

Ideas are offered.
Feedback is exchanged.
Problems are approached rather than avoided.

In low-agency environments, the opposite contagion appears:

“Just tell me what to do.”
“That’s above my pay grade.”
“It’s not my job.”

The difference begins with the leader’s approach.

Does the leader see others as capable contributors?

Or as risks to be managed?

The answer shapes everything.

What Leaders Are Really Growing

Agency does not appear because a leader announces it.

It grows because a leader makes space for it.

Space to think.
Space to choose.
Space to speak.
Space to learn from trial, error, and consequence.

When leaders consistently create those conditions, something subtle changes in a team.

People stop waiting.

They begin initiating.

They move from

“What do you want me to do?”

to

“Here’s what I see, and here’s what I propose.”

That shift — from compliance to committed contribution — is not accidental.

It’s nurtured and led.

A Question to Carry Into the Week

If leadership shapes the conditions under which people work, then every leader is shaping something — whether intentionally or not.

This week, notice:

Where are people leaning forward?
Where are they holding back?
Where is initiative surfacing?
Where is it stalling?

Those patterns are not random.

They are responses to conditions.

And conditions can be changed.

Later this week, we’ll step into a popular local restaurant and explore how one small team created something new — not because they were told to, but because they were invited to contribute.

It’s a simple story.

But it reveals something essential:

Agency grows where it is encouraged —
and where it is expected.

Next week we’ll begin examining another important subject: what happens when leadership only looks like it’s building agency — but isn’t.

But for now, the work is to:

Create conditions.
Invite contribution.
Make reflection a part of your M.O..

And watch what happens.