Agency!

I was coaching a CEO from a UK Automotive last week and the conversation got round to Agency.

It always does!

Agency is a topic that looms large in the car business and it can split the crowd. Some believe that it will be harmful to dealers, others that it will level the playing field and give customers a better experience.  There are some excellent articles in the trade press if you want to know more.

As we talked it through, we explored a couple meanings of the word agency:

• a business that represents one group of people when dealing with another group.
• the ability to take action or to choose what action to take.

There are other definitions, and the first one here is what gets talked about most in Automotive. But as we talked, it was the second definition that got us both really curious.

As I write this there will be many in the world who see taking agency for themselves as a pretty difficult topic.  Many people face such difficult circumstances that it’s hard for them to feel they have choice.

But choice is the one thing that we always have, however hard that might be to get our heads around.  Someone recently said to  me “the only thing we have to do in life is to die someday, everything else is a choice”.  A bit dark maybe, but she is right.  Everything is a choice, but whatever choice you make comes with consequences. 

Embracing agency or choice is transformational. Accepting that you are the one making decisions about your life or business puts you fully in control. You choose and you take responsibility for the consequences and everything is possible.  The alternative is to believe that circumstance dictates your outcomes.  Your happiness, your success, your attitudes, everything is out of your control.

For my Automotive friend, this insight around choice was a game-changer.  Having the agency to view Agency with a sense of optimism and possibility got them fired up and positive.  I can’t wait until the next time to hear about some other great choices they are thinking through.

To discuss what can be possible for you when you embrace choice click on the link on the right.