Everyone desires the autonomy to make their own decisions and do things their way. However, autonomy is a fleeting concept – here one minute, gone the next. Understanding how to attain and maintain autonomy is crucial not just for feeling empowered, but also for advancing in your career. Your level of autonomy is a key indicator of how you are perceived within your organization and the level of trust placed in you.
Firstly, it's essential to recognize that autonomy is earned, not granted unconditionally. While you are hired based on your skills and experience, as a new member of an organization, your manager and peers assess how well you adapt to the new environment and role. This holds true regardless of your seniority. Everyone is accountable to somebody. To gain autonomy, you must demonstrate reliability, trustworthiness, and domain knowledge. Building trust takes time through consistent delivery on commitments and showcasing your skills. There are no shortcuts.
Another aspect of trust is convincing leadership that you are a credible person. It's not that leaders inherently distrust you – you've already been hired. The question is the extent to which your opinions and decision-making abilities are valued by the organization. There's a significant difference between the experience on your resume that got you the job and your ability to succeed in this new organization, domain, or role. Becoming a credible person in your current role requires consistently good decision-making leading to tangible results and impact.
Things that worked in the past may or may not work in this new context. This is why knowledge workers are so highly paid. Experience helps to fine tune decision making and risk taking but every problem is new given the changing context. Becoming a believable person in your current role requires consistently good decision making, leading to delivering results and impact.
While everyone desires a high level of autonomy, not everyone wants the accountability that accompanies it. Accountability is the ownership you accept over the autonomy granted to you. Acting as an owner means taking responsibility for decisions and actions related to your area of responsibility. If you view yourself as a victim of circumstance or blame others for negative outcomes, you lack a mindset of ownership and accountability. The way you interpret and communicate reasons for failure is a significant indicator of your level of ownership.
When describing a roadblock or setback, are you describing yourself as a victim of circumstance or a passive observer to events outside of your control? When you disagree with group decisions that prove to be incorrect, do you accept responsibility for not being able to influence decisions of others or do you take the position of I told you so? This is the benchmark for the mindset of an owner.
Autonomy is a transient concept. It can be given and taken away based on factors mentioned above. You start with a default level of autonomy when joining an organization. Often, your manager will assign a small, low-risk project to build trust in your abilities. Building trust, becoming credible, and demonstrating ownership take time and consistent performance. If things are progressing well, you may be entrusted with increasingly difficult tasks, riskier projects, and greater autonomy. Mistakes are usually tolerated, but a series of mistakes can seriously impact your trustworthiness and credibility. Regular check-ins with your manager and colleagues can help you understand how you are perceived. Successful individuals have self-awareness of their role within decisions and the delivery of results.Analyzing your mindset, especially during adversity or when facing disagreeable decisions, is crucial. Defaulting to giving up, blaming others, or disengaging negatively impacts your perception within the organization, leading to reduced autonomy.
In Product Management, the lack of direct authority in decision-making can complicate matters. It's easy to hide behind the team and attribute failures to decisions outside your control, but this isn't the behavior of an owner. Leaders take responsibility. Even if you advocated for a different direction and the team chose another path, as a Product Manager, it's still your responsibility. Accepting this level of responsibility, even when uncomfortable, is a hallmark of ownership. Demonstrating leadership and ownership will earn trust with leadership, even when results fail due to group decisions.
Autonomy is earned, not given. It is temporarily granted and can be revoked if trust is broken or believability diminishes, for example, through a series of poor decisions. Achieving more autonomy requires skillful application of knowledge and influence over time, leading to tangible results and impact. Taking accountability for the actions of your entire team or project demonstrates leadership and ownership, even when disagreeing with decisions. Mastery of your role and domain is crucial but insufficient on its own to earn greater autonomy. You must demonstrate how your knowledge translates into good decision-making and results in your current role.
This work is my own. Proof read by ChatGPT.
Comments