The Power of Agency: Cultivating autonomy, authority, and leadership in every role
Join us on May 20 from 7-9 PM ET for an interactive webinar led by the indomitable Fred Miller & the joyous Judith Katz!
The evolution of the organization and the manager-employee relationship continues. As we think about the next step in that evolution, we believe that the concept of agency needs to be at the center. Most often employees act as “doers” with a checker overseeing every significant decision, which makes people feel as if they are not the leader of their job responsibilities. There have been many attempts, some successful in pockets of organizations, to increase the autonomy of employees—to empower them, enable them to do their jobs with little supervision, be knowledge workers—but in many cases organizations have overlaid on that continued control and supervision that limits and, in many cases, smothers the employee and their ability to be the Operations Leader of their job.
People have written about and acknowledge that many are knowledge workers in organizations, but we treat them the same way as at the height of the Industrial Revolution, like “hands and feet”; only now letting them think but requiring their thinking to be reviewed and checked.
What is missing is agency, which we define as:
ensuring all people, of all identities, roles, levels, and tenure have the power, influence, and voice to make choices and decisions related to their jobs and the betterment of the organization.
In this session they will discuss the concept of agency and the role that OD practitioners can play in cultivating a culture of agency in which every person can take leadership in their role and interactions with others.
-----
Fred Miller
Cited as a forerunner of corporate change in The Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management, Fred has been honored with the The Forum on Workplace Inclusion’s 2018 Winds of Change Award, as the OD Network’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, as one of the 40 Pioneers of Diversity by Profiles in Diversity Journal, as one of the Legends of Diversity by the International Society of Diversity and Inclusion Professionals, and as the NAACP Berkshires Branch W. E. B. Du Bois Award recipient.
As CEO and Lead Strategist of The Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group, Inc.—named one of Consulting magazine’s “Seven Small Jewels” in 2010—Fred specializes in developing workforce inclusion strategies that accelerate results to deliver higher individual, team, and organizational performance. For 50 years, he has been a pioneering change agent and thought leader in the field of organization development. His experience includes partnering with organizations to accelerate growth, enhance bottom-line results, and work through turnaround situations, as well as positioning leaders for success in start-ups, entrepreneurial ventures, and transitioning from founder-led companies to the next generation of leadership.
Judith Katz
Fueled by her passion for addressing systemic barriers, known for her boundless energy and sharp analytical mind, Judith Katz has distinguished herself as a thought leader, practitioner, educator, and strategist for more than 40 years. She has created new paradigms in organization development and pioneered cutting-edge approaches to white awareness, inclusion, the leveraging of differences, covert processes, and strategic change.
Throughout her career, Judith’s thought leadership has brought critical ideas and issues to light. Few people, for instance, have connected the ability of all individuals to do their best work with the future of organizations as eloquently or persuasively. Colleagues and clients speak highly of her generosity, her humility, her approachability, her sense of humor—and her resolute commitment to partnering with all people so they can step fully into their own personal power.
