Cultivating Autonomy, Authority and Leadership in Every Role with Judith Katz and Fred Miller

Apr 23, 2025

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Are you empowering others or unleashing agency? In this episode, Judith Katz and Fred Miller join Kevin to discuss the role of agency in the workplace. While autonomy and authority are often topics of discussion, agency — the ability for all individuals, regardless of their role or tenure, to possess power, influence, and a voice — is crucial for high-performance organizations. They explain how organizational cultures often "smother" this natural agency through excessive rules, approvals, and "checkers checking checkers," which leads to the slow implementation of even the best strategies. Judith and Fred highlight that organizations need to transition from control-based leadership to trust-based leadership.

Listen For

00:08 Autonomy, Authority, and Agency Introduction 00:40 Join Future Episodes Live + Book Promo 01:31 Introducing Judith Katz and Fred Miller 02:15 Background of the Guests and Their Work 02:58 Focus on Their Book: The Power of Agency 03:43 Fred's Journey to Writing the Book 05:22 Constraints in Organizations Today 06:15 Speed vs. Bureaucracy and Motivation for the Book 07:03 Judith on Why the Book Matters Now 08:08 Uncovering Ideas and Talent in the Workplace 08:38 Defining Agency 10:02 Who Should Have Agency in Organizations 10:26 Agency vs. Empowerment 11:34 The Natural State of Human Agency 12:16 Smothering vs. Unleashing Agency 12:43 Empowerment as Bestowing vs. Agency as Unleashing 13:42 Is the Trend Toward or Away from Agency? 15:16 Organizational Culture Post-COVID 16:14 Importance of Being Physically Together Sometimes 17:21 Human Connection and In-Person Insights 18:17 Discretionary Energy Drives Great Organizations 18:53 Skills Needed for Practicing Agency 19:55 Trust, Experimentation, and Continuous Improvement 21:13 Ownership and Decision-Making in Action 22:16 Fear of Going Big in Organizational Culture 23:05 Leadership and Facilitation for Voice 24:14 Mindset Shift Needed for Agency 25:05 Fear, Control, and Trust in Talent 26:29 Talent Retention Through Agency 27:17 Disengagement and Side Gigs 28:03 Saying Yes as a Leadership Strategy 29:07 The Core of Agency in Action 29:34 What the Guests Do for Fun 30:41 What They’re Reading Now 32:09 Where to Find the Book and Connect 33:39 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

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Book Recommendations

The Power of Agency by Frederick A. Miller and Judith H. Katz
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

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