How to assess your agency. And understand your true power.
There is often a gap between what we believe we can achieve and what we can truly accomplish. Recognizing this gap is the first gateway to our authentic transformational power.
There is often a gap between what we believe we can achieve and what we can truly accomplish. Recognizing this gap is the first gateway to our authentic transformational power.
This gap is a phenomenon I encounter almost everywhere in my work with organizations and teams. It is revealed when beliefs and limitations are identified, and people realize what they are truly capable of.
What follows is the method to revealing your transformational power.
The basis
This method can be used to assess your general agency or to examine a particular situation. It can be applied to individuals, pairs, or even groups.
First, you need a scale in order to roughly measure your agency. You can create a simple scale on a sheet of paper, or on the floor. Using an open scale allows us to discover where our potential may lie. You can draw a scale on a sheet of paper with a starting point like this:
The assessment
A series of questions will uncover the gap. These questions assess your general agency, but they can be adapted if you want to use them for a particular purpose:
How far do I believe my agency reaches?
How far does my agency actually extend?
How far could my agency extend if I realize my full potential?
To carry out the assessment, ask a question, wait a short moment, and then slide your finger along the scale until your finger stops. Make a mark there.
It may take some practice. You must access your intuition rather than using your rational mind.
Work through the questions, make your marks, and then have a look. The results will tell you at least two things:
1) The size of the gap between assumed and actual agency
2) How far you can reach if you fulfil your potential
The evaluation: what would change if you tap into your agency?
More agency always means being more empowered, more vital, and more creative. But we will waste energy and lose impact if we fail to grasp what we are already able to do.
Take another sheet of paper and write down the following question:
If I took the action I can take right now, what would change?
This question will help you better understand what you can do and how it would change your life.
This type of question requires time to take effect. You may ask it several times over the next week. Be curious about how the answers will change and uncover new discoveries.
What would you like to change?
Gaining and improving one’s agency can be demanding and challenging. It confronts us with self-made limitations, trauma, and past experiences. So it’s always good to know why we do this work by asking: what are you seeking to change?
What dream do you carry in your heart?
The next step: unleashing your agency
Holding that dream in mind, it's time to tap into your agency. To do this, simply turn to yourself, trust your intuition, and ask:
What can I do right now to use the agency I actually have?
And then, do it.