One key quality is agency. Agency is the degree to which you are in control, the degree to which you are a creator of the reality around you. Agentic qualities are those that increase your control of your environment.

A research article (What Is Important on the Job? Differences Across Gender, Perspective, and Job Level) by Mark Frame and his team, in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology looked . . . → Read More: Not-so-secret Agency]]> Share/Bookmark

Leading others, whether it is to work with you, work for you, to buy your products, or buy into your ideas, requires you to bring certain qualities to the table.

One key quality is agency. Agency is the degree to which you are in control, the degree to which you are a creator of the reality around you. Agentic qualities are those that increase your control of your environment.

A research article (What Is Important on the Job? Differences Across Gender, Perspective, and Job Level) by Mark Frame and his team, in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology looked at the role of gender in assigning value to agentic versus communal qualities in the workplace. Read the article to get all the details, but I took one point away: that the importance of agentic qualities was rated more necessary as roles increased in authority and responsibility (C roles like CEO, CFO, COO).

Agentic qualities include assertiveness, independence, confidence, and self-efficacy.

The ability to communicate these qualities is as important as having them. This is for two reasons:

1. Just having agency is not enough. Your team must see and believe you have it as well. You might feel like you have what it takes to manage or control a process, to make a positive difference, and you might in fact truly have it, but if your team doesn’t believe it, you will be leading a group of one.
2. Agency, like so many things in life, is strengthened by ‘doing it’. The more you communicate agency, the more you acquire it. Whether you look at it as ‘operating at the growing edge’ or ‘fake it ‘til you make it’, your agentic qualities strengthen when you  broadcast them.

Whether it is in a team meeting, in a sales conversation with a potential customer, or an interview for a job or promotion, your ability to communicate your sense of agency is critical. Influence, authority, confidence, and leadership all require agentic qualities. People will follow you and trust you to the extent they believe you have a positive vision, and the agency to realize that vision. Without that agency, you are just a dreamer.

So how do you communicate agency? Here is a short list of don’ts and do’s.

Don’t

• Go on and on. Whenever possible, listen more than you speak. When you listen, listen with your whole body. When you do speak, get to the point.
• Justify yourself. Make your point and stop. People who explain or provide endless back stories sometimes send the message that they don’t believe in what they are saying, or that they don’t trust their listeners to understand.
• Use small, nervous motions. This is cultural, but even if you are used to talking with your hands, keep your movements deliberate. A lot of movement of your hands, feet, and facial expressions conveys nervousness.
• Be negative or sarcastic. Criticism is sometimes valid and even useful. But [pullthis]we don’t follow critics. We follow leaders who convince us of positive alternatives. [/pullthis]Sarcasm is always petty. [pullshow] It betrays a tendency to take things personally, and a habit of building yourself up by tearing others down.

Do

• Come from where it matters. Passionate, positive people are magnets. All the tips and tricks in the world won’t help you if you don’t truly believe what you are communicating. If it doesn’t get you out of bed in the morning, it’s not going to get others out of their chairs.
• Do your homework and speak with conviction. Combining passion with real knowledge is a knock-out combination.
• Relax. Take a deep breath. Drop your shoulders. The hallmark of peak performances in the arts and in sports is a mind and body free of the inhibiting forces of stress. If you want to come across as truly in control and in the groove, do one thing: take a deep breath, relax your face and shoulders, and then step into the spotlight!
• Pitch your voice. Before you speak (do this before turning on the mic or picking up the phone) hum a low note to yourself. This drops your voice down into a lower register that is consistently associated with authority and control.
• Slow down. Move with intention and slow down your rate of speech. Human beings read hurried movements or speech as a lack of confidence.

These aren’t just public speaking tips. These are ways of being in the world that are as important as anything else you bring to the table: your education, your plans and preparation, and the long hours of work. As Frame’s article shows, middle management requires us to draw on communal, consensus-building, detail-oriented approaches. But if you are looking for wide-spread influence, authority, and leadership at the top, you need to draw on and exhibit well defined agentic qualities.

I develop communication skills that yield measurable results. To book a workshop or seminar, write to me at clemens@clemensrettich.com