Angles on Agency: A Research Life Betting on Human Initiative and Potential

This perspectives article examines the historically overlooked potential of human agency in organizational settings, a topic I have been passionate about throughout my career. Agency refers to people's ability to influence life events and shape the outcomes they experience. My research has explored the ways in which individuals are agentic in creating the work lives they most want across topics as micro as feedback seeking, as macro as middle managers’ effectiveness and attempts at upward influence in the strategy process, and as current as professionals working out how to create their best life in the gig economy. Agency is intriguing for the very human issues it raises: the danger, risk, and anxiety over agency's appropriateness and payoff, but also the joy and empowerment that come from actively shaping the outcomes one experiences. I then review the various moves and decisions that have shaped my career in the hope that sharing these experiences and distilling takeaways might be helpful to others as they navigate their own paths in this field we love. It has been fascinating to be a part of the historical shift from primarily focusing on managerial actions in organizations to recognizing individual proactivity and initiative.