Take Charge: Small Shifts to Grow Your Autonomy

If you’ve ever wanted more ownership in your work or home life, this episode is for you. 

We’ll walk through a quick autonomy audit - a simple way to discover and grow your personal agency, starting today.

In this episode of Practicing Connection, Coral and Jessica dive into what it means to be a “manager of one” - someone who brings autonomy and ownership to even the smallest daily choices. 

Through personal stories and research-backed insights, they break down the Autonomy Audit: a practical, step-by-step approach for identifying where you can claim just a bit more agency in work, home, and life. 

Listen in to learn why autonomy matters, how to spot opportunities for more control, and ways to experiment with self-management - plus, an easy challenge you can try this week.

Further links and resources from this episode:

• Join our LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12879756/ 
• Send us a message: practicingconnection@oneop.org 

Transcript

CORAL OWEN: [00:00:00] Hey there. Thanks so much for tuning into the Practicing Connection Podcast. I'm Coral. Today's episode is all about completing an autonomy audit, which is a powerful tool for becoming what I like to call a “manager of one.” 

My cohost, Jessica, is here to guide us. Hey Jess. How are you feeling today?

JESSICA BECKENDORF: Hi Coral. I'm alright. It's been one of those weeks though. I made this really optimistic plan, and actually every Monday I start out and I'll take a look at my calendar, and I'll block off time. So this week I blocked off time to do the work. I color-coded my calendar because I'm on different projects, and so it's easy for me to then, at a glance, see how much time I'm spending on each project.

I did all of that. But the universe had some surprises for me: extra meetings that were unexpected, last minute tasks, a couple of tasks that I forgot about that I needed to deal with, and really it just felt [00:01:00] like the universe was conspiring against me.

CORAL OWEN: Oh man, that is so relatable. Yeah. As a toddler mom and just as a general person rolling through life, it's very relatable. But I appreciate your honest, honest reply for that. Always. Oh man. It totally is like, "Here's my plan, and then life throws in a plot twister.” But I mean, honestly, just kinda getting back to the root of today's theme, that's kind of what being a manager of one is all about, right?

It's finding those little places where we can take charge and shift and pivot so that things work with us the best that we can, even when it kind of feels a little bit chaotic or even a little bit out of control.

JESSICA BECKENDORF: Yeah. And it's funny too because I started out feeling totally in charge, and so those plot twists, while less interesting than some of my favorite television shows, they're incredibly real [00:02:00] life. So yeah, exactly. That's, you know, when things get out of control, you can get back to that feeling of at least being a little bit back in control.

CORAL OWEN: Yeah, one of my favorite things, kind of on the side, I like to do triathlons and stuff like that. But one of the best pieces of advice that my college coach ever gave me was, he would say, “The plan is written in pencil, not in pen.” 

And so that approach, it gives you that approach of like, “Oh, okay, we can, you know, erase some stuff and kind of shift and pivot but be flexible, but still, like the overall progression is still in a forward direction.”

So, yeah. Applicable in all areas of life apparently. And you know, I know that there are people listening to this episode as well that are already probably going, “Oh, yeah. Very relatable.” And we always love to hear what y'all's strategies are as well. 

And so, if there are ways that you practice autonomy, or help get a little bit more of an [00:03:00] ownership feel back in certain places in your life that may feel a little bit out of reach sometimes, we would love to hear about them. You can drop us an email to practicing connection@oneop.org. and we do check and reply to every message. So thanks for sending those our way.

- break -

All right. Before we dive into today's practice, Jess, can you tell us what inspired you? And I know that you already alluded to this a little bit, but what inspired you to focus on the autonomy audit and how does it relate? And this is kind of a two part question. How does it relate to becoming a manager of one?

JESSICA BECKENDORF: I picked this practice because I'm actually most motivated and fulfilled when I have a little bit of freedom. It's been like this ever since I can remember. So sometimes that means freedom over my schedule. Sometimes it means freedom over how I choose to tackle problem solving, or how I prioritize [00:04:00] tasks when I feel trusted to make choices.

I get a little boost of energy. And that's kind of what the manager of one mindset is about, recognizing where we can direct our own work, even in small ways. And there's some good science behind it too. There's, you know, studies that show that even a little more autonomy increases our motivation, our wellbeing, and our creativity.

The autonomy audit is a really simple tool to notice and expand your agency. So when things get overwhelming, it's easy to feel boxed in or it's easy to default to autopilot. But if we can pause and ask like, “Where do I still have some agency?” That's being a manager of one. Those small moments of ownership can really boost our engagement and satisfaction and help us spring into action.

And modeling this on a team has a ripple effect too, right? It has a [00:05:00] positive effect on everyone around you.

CORAL OWEN: Absolutely. I'm just reflecting on scenarios, you know, working in teams and whatnot, and where this has cropped up in just notable instances. And it does have that contagious energy, like in a positive way, and can help give everybody a boost around you. So I can't wait to dig into this. And so yeah, for the practical bit, can you walk us through step by step how someone might try this?

JESSICA BECKENDORF: Yeah, definitely. If you're listening and you want to join in, you can grab a notebook, or open up your notes app or you could just follow along mentally. 

So the first step is listing your responsibilities. You might even already have a project list somewhere, but this is about writing down your main responsibilities.

So start with the big picture, like work, home, volunteering or personal projects, but don't stop there. Under each of those major headings, list out a few specific projects or tasks that you're currently working on. 

For example, in the work [00:06:00] category, maybe you have a client presentation or a regular team meeting and updating a report, right? Maybe you've got those three projects. 

At home, it might be planning meals, organizing the garage, or helping kids with homework. Breaking it down this way can give you a clearer view of where your autonomy might vary from project to project, and you can also just look at one of these big buckets of responsibilities, right?

You don't have to write them all down and put projects under each one of them and do this activity with all of those projects. So you can just take a look at one of those big buckets of responsibilities, like only look at your work projects or your home projects for this activity. So list your responsibilities.

CORAL OWEN: That's such a great point, and I could see how this could easily kind of get overwhelming. And so I would, yeah, just focus on one specific area where you're maybe feeling a little bit stuck, or low energy. I think it sounds like a great place to start.

[00:07:00] So where does it go from there?

JESSICA BECKENDORF: Yep. So after you've listed some areas of responsibility, then you're going to go through and rate your autonomy. 

So to do that, there's a set of three questions that you can, if you want to, you can journal on them or you can just do a gut check and think about them. 

So the first question is, “How much control do I actually have here?

The next question is, “Am I steering or am I mostly following directions?” 

And then the third question is, “Is there an area I wish I had more say or flexibility?” 

And after considering those questions, give each responsibility an autonomy rating, high, medium, or low. You don't have to spend a lot of time on this.

Like I said, you can let your gut be your guide because you can always go back and dig a little [00:08:00] deeper. You're really looking for how much control you feel like you have right now, so that you can assess whether there are any immediate wins you can get. 

And then the third step is, choose a responsibility with a medium or low autonomy. And brainstorm ways that you can get a little bit more influence. So, you could brainstorm a couple of tweaks to boost your sense of ownership for that responsibility. For example, can you propose a new way of doing the task? Can you switch up your routine for one that you would prefer? Or could you take a low risk action on your own instead of waiting for approval?

So pick one tweak and try it this week. I didn't mean for that to rhyme. Think of it as a micro-experiment afterwards. Then you can notice, did you feel more engaged, energized, or confident?

CORAL OWEN: Yeah, like a little bit of a pilot test. I like that. Jess, do you have [00:09:00] any examples of how you've done this in your own personal life?

JESSICA BECKENDORF: Yeah, I do. So prepping for this episode actually got me thinking about a project where I was stuck and I was waiting for feedback that never came. And it was kind of a sticky situation because our team was trying to move forward on something, and everyone was so busy, right? And I asked for feedback and it was really difficult to get it.

So I actually ended up sketching out my own plan, and then I shared that with my team. It felt really risky because I like to be more collaborative than that, right? And in my head, I was not being collaborative by doing this thing on my own. 

But actually, it turned out that it actually got things moving. People had something to react to. They actually appreciated having a starting point. And then they could build on my ideas. And so that's when I realized that I was actually practicing being a manager of one. So I was [00:10:00] taking that initiative, not waiting for permission and just making the first move.

CORAL OWEN: That's a great example, and there's so much to be said for creating your own momentum, it can kind of have like a snowball effect too in a positive direction. I love that example so much. It's a lot of momentum and confidence, not just for you, but also for your team as well.

JESSICA BECKENDORF: Yeah, exactly. So here's our challenge: if you're listening, try an autonomy audit and take a small intentional step toward becoming a manager of one, and then notice what shifts for you.

Do you have a little more energy or engagement, or maybe a creative spark that kind of came out of nowhere?

Whether it works perfectly or surprises you, or it turns into a learning moment, share your story with us. We'd love to learn from your experience.

CORAL OWEN: Well, this was a great one for sure. And this is a wrap for today's episode. 

Thanks Jess so much for sharing this practice with us, and thank you all for joining our conversation today on [00:11:00] becoming a manager of one. 

If you found value in our conversation today, please share this episode with a friend, and we'll be back next week with something new.

Until then, keep practicing. 

CREDITS: The Practicing Connection Podcast is a production of OneOp and is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture and the Office of Military Family Readiness Policy, US Department of Defense under award number 2 0 2 3 4 8 7 74 3 3.