Overview
The article explores the concept of agency as the highest level of personal competence, describing agency as both a mindset and a set of learnable actions. It outlines the four pillars of agency and discusses a hierarchy of competence-related mindsets, emphasizing the importance of adopting a growth or agentic mindset to achieve personal and professional growth.
Defining Agency
- Agency consists of a mindset and practical actions that help achieve desired outcomes in life.
- Exercising agency means gaining control over outcomes in areas like work, health, and well-being.
- Feeling agentic is not enough; real agency requires competent action and progress toward goals.
The Four Pillars of Personal Agency
- Forethought: Involves goal setting, planning, and preparing for challenges.
- Implementation: Involves taking action and persisting in pursuit of goals.
- Self-management: Entails caring for oneself and managing emotions and stress to sustain efforts.
- Learning and adapting: Requires monitoring progress and adjusting strategies for effectiveness.
Competence-Related Mindsets
- A mindset is a set of beliefs guiding actions and perceptions.
- Fixed mindset assumes abilities are static, while growth mindset believes abilities can be developed through learning.
- Agentic mindset involves confidence in applying the four pillars, leading to the highest personal competence.
Hierarchy of Competence Mindsets
- Agentic: Confident in skills, motivated, and effectively taking action.
- Empowered: Has skills, autonomy, support, and resources, but full agency requires applying these effectively.
- Capable: Believes in basic ability and potential for improvement, but may lack motivation or accurate self-assessment.
- Passive: Displays indifference toward improving competence or lacks perceived necessity for growth.
- Declining: Believes abilities are diminishing with little expectation for improvement.
Mindset Changes and Outcomes
- Mindsets can change due to circumstances or personal choices, affecting movement up or down the competence hierarchy.
- Shifting to a growth or agentic mindset can prompt effective action and personal development, even in the face of significant challenges like climate change.
Recommendations / Advice
- Adopt a growth or agentic mindset to enhance competence in any domain.
- Engage consistently in the four pillars of agency to achieve and maintain personal and professional progress.