You likely have more influence than you give yourself credit for.
The key to this influence is expanding your sense of personal agency: the extent to which you believe that your choices, however small, influence your outcomes. It’s not about controlling everything, because you can’t. It’s about recognizing where you do have influence and learning to act on it.
The more you practice spotting those opportunities and making intentional choices, the stronger your sense of agency grows.
Over time, that affects more than how you approach challenges. It elevates how you show up as a leader, a teammate, and in your own life.
Why Personal Agency Matters for Workplace Performance
Research confirms the power of personal agency in the workplace:
- People with high personal agency have stronger well-being, lower stress, and more resilience.
- They’re more motivated, more adaptable, and more likely to thrive in the workplace.
- They make better leaders because they own their mistakes as much as their victories.
Put simply: Agency is the foundation of resilience. And resilience is the foundation of sustainable performance.
Practicing an Internal Locus of Control
High agency isn’t about pretending you can control everything. It’s about developing a stronger internal locus of control: the belief that your actions can make a difference.
The good news is that having an internal locus of control isn’t a black-and-white thing you have or don’t have. It’s a perspective that you can practice on a spectrum.
The key word: Practice.
Cultivating this mindset is less about one dramatic moment and more about consistent practice. Each time you choose to act where you have influence, you strengthen your agency. This prepares you to meet challenges, big or small, with greater resilience.
That doesn’t mean ignoring external barriers. Those are real, and they matter. But people who practice noticing where they do have influence tend to persist longer and feel more empowered. Over time, that builds confidence to act where it matters most.
Having Personal Agency in the Workplace
Having agency doesn’t mean you have to love every task or always feel in control. It means you choose to engage with intention, even in situations you didn’t design. At work, that might look like:
- Asking for clarity on a confusing assignment
- Organizing your schedule so you can focus on what matters most
- Seeking support to make a project more manageable
- Respectfully saying no when your plate is already full
- Leaning into feedback, even when it’s uncomfortable
- Speaking up when something important needs to be said
Sometimes agency is about taking on the tough assignment or choosing the harder path now to avoid an even harder one later. Other times, it’s about smaller, quieter choices: setting healthy boundaries, seeking support, or simply approaching your work with curiosity instead of frustration.
Importantly, agency is not about pushing yourself past your limits or pretending you’re invincible. It’s about honoring your capacity while still owning your path forward.
The truth is, you can’t control when challenges arise. But you can influence how you respond, and you can find purpose in how you show up. Each time you recognize and act on one of these opportunities, big or small, you strengthen your sense of agency.
Over time, that can reshape not just your workday, but the way you experience your role overall.
Three Practices for Building Personal Agency
1. Start with what you can control.
When you hit an obstacle, pause and ask: What’s mine to own here? Not to blame yourself or pretend that others are perfect, but to invite action.
Focus on what you can control. Release what you can’t.
A delayed project isn’t just wasted time. It’s a chance to reset expectations with your team. A missed promotion isn’t just rejection. It’s a moment of redirection, to sharpen your skills for the next opportunity. Every obstacle invites new opportunities, even if it feels hard to see at first.
2. Own your response.
You don’t always get to choose your circumstances. Sometimes you’re handed a messy team dynamic, an assignment that feels beneath your skillset, or a change you didn’t ask for.
Those moments can be frustrating, but they’re also opportunities to practice resilience. What you can choose is your mindset and your response. That choice is what separates simply reacting from intentionally leading with a growth mindset.
3. Connect to purpose.
Agency without purpose can feel hollow. But when you know your “why,” discipline feels more like alignment than sacrifice. Whether that’s becoming a better parent, teammate, or leader, purpose clarifies what’s worth pushing through.
When you know what you’re working toward, choices get easier. Discipline feels less like punishment and more like alignment.
For example: If your purpose is to grow as a leader, then tough (but respectful) feedback isn’t an attack. It’s fuel. When your actions are tethered to something larger, agency becomes second nature.
The Bottom Line on Personal Agency
Agency isn’t about pretending the world is fair or that effort always equals outcome. It’s about recognizing your influence, even in small ways, and using it with intention.
You are not powerless. And you don’t have to carry everything alone. But you can show up in ways that honor your strength, your values, and your purpose.
And when your team starts practicing that kind of agency together? That’s when cultures shift, and humans thrive.
What if your team stepped into a new level of influence and ownership? Learn how Exos can help your organization build thriving, high-performing teams.
About the Expert
Stefan Underwood, MS, CSCS, is Exos’ Senior Vice President of Methodology and a recognized authority on human performance. He holds a BSc in Exercise Science and a MS in Organizational Psychology. With 20 years of coaching elite athletes, Special Operations Forces, and Fortune 500 leaders, he helps turn human potential into peak organizational results. Stefan leads Exos’ multidisciplinary Performance Innovation Team and teaches cutting-edge methods worldwide through Exos Education.
