(2020-06-28) Doshi High Agency What Is It Why Its Important And How To Cultivate It

Shreyas Doshi: High Agency: what is it, why its important, and how to cultivate it. Let’s talk about High Agency: an attitude I’ve seen in every successful leader I’ve known. Some people are born/raised with High Agency. It can also be developed later in life. High Agency is a prerequisite for making a profound impact in one's life and work.

High Agency people either push through in the face of adverse conditions or manage to reverse the adverse conditions to achieve goals.

Highly Talented, High Agency people are Game Changers for their teams & companies.

Highly Talented, Low Agency people are everywhere around us. These Frustrated Geniuses might have a success or two, but, in the long run, end up capitulating to “the system”.

hiring, I prefer Go Getters over Frustrated Geniuses.

In all cases, the third factor (among many others) to look for is High Integrity

My policy: Never compromise on Integrity, not even for Game Changers.

Low Agency Bob’s instinctive reaction when faced with a tough challenge. Note how everything is an “other” problem, not a “Bob problem”.

How does one cultivate High Agency? My first recommendation here would be to read the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, one more time. The framework of Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern is something I’ve gone back to countless times whenever there’s a temptation to recede to a Low Agency mindset

I’ve split High Agency into the Traits you need & the Skills you need. To cultivate High Agency, work on these component Skills & Traits. Ownership Mindset is perhaps the most important trait here and Creative Execution the most elusive skill here.

• Traits: Ownership Mindset; Self-confidence; Resilience
• Skills: Creative Execution; Influence Communication

High Agency is related to the concept of Jugaad.