Reclaiming Your Agency

Uncertainty is part of the human condition. But lately it feels more constant and less avoidable. A restructure at work. Ambiguity around your role. New technology reshaping how we operate. Changing expectations from leaders, teams, and even ourselves. It all adds up.

What happens in the nervous system

When the ground feels like it is constantly moving, our nervous system does not always distinguish between genuine threat and simple uncertainty. The limbic brain activates and we move into fight, flight, or freeze. The sympathetic nervous system takes over. Our thinking narrows. We brace. We scan for what could go wrong.

In organisations experiencing sustained change, this often becomes collective. Exhaustion creeps in. Decision-making tightens. Conversations shift from constructive to reactive. Either way, it is manageable.

What agency actually means

Agency is the recognition that while we may not control circumstances, we are not powerless within them. When we understand what is happening in our nervous system, uncertainty shifts from something happening to us, to something we can actively work with. We move from victim to participant. From reaction to response.

Agency is not denial, and it is not blind optimism. It is the capacity to say: this is hard, and I still have influence in how I meet it.

If you are feeling overwhelmed and want to reclaim some agency, consider the following:

1. Regulate before you reason

If you are activated, no strategic thinking will land. Notice the physical cues. Tight chest. Shallow breath. Irritability. Urgency. Then deliberately regulate. Slow your breathing. Label the emotion. Take a brief pause before responding. You are not trying to remove the stressor. You are settling the system so your prefrontal cortex can come back online. Agency lives in that part of the brain.

2. Remember your evidence

Ask yourself: have I done hard things before? Even if this exact challenge is new, adversity is not. What have you navigated in the past that once felt uncertain? What strengths did you draw on? What skills did you build? This interrupts the survival narrative that says, “I can’t handle this.” You have evidence that you can.

3. Expand your options

When we are in survival mode, thinking narrows. It becomes A or B. Stay or go. Win or lose. Once calm, widen the lens. What are all the possible responses available to you? Who could you speak to? What information might you be missing? What small action could you take today? There are almost always more options than the survival brain initially allows us to see.

Agency is not about eliminating uncertainty. It is about strengthening your capacity to meet it. And what is more empowering than overcoming a challenge? Knowing that even in the middle of it, you still have influence over how you move forward.

Agency is one of the core themes we work through in our resilience and culture programs. If you’d like to explore what that looks like for your team or organisation, get in touch.

--------

Every Sunday I send a personal reflection on resilience, culture, and the work of being human. If you'd like to receive it, join the Emotive Work community.

https://www.emotivework.com/blog