Do You Know This Word?

Carlos Manzano, PhD

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Carlos Manzano, PhD on my podcast. Carlos serves as Deputy Executive Director of Communications and Public Engagement for the NYC Commission on Gender Equity, and his doctoral research focuses on the inequalities facing women in leadership within government.

That day, he used a single word to describe a tendency most commonly associated with men in leadership.

Agency.

I stopped. Had I heard that word before? Maybe. Had it ever registered? No.

Agency: the capacity to act independently, make your own choices, and exert power and influence in the world. To own your seat at the table, not because someone gave it to you, but because you claimed it.

Those traits were in my wheelhouse, but not the word, per se. How did I miss this?

In contrast, the word most commonly associated with women in his research?

Communal.

Communal: oriented toward the group, focused on relationships, harmony, cooperation, and the needs of others. Present in every room, attentive to every person, and deeply invested in the collective good.

Both have value(!). However, one is more likely to lead to a promotion. Unfortunately.

Since that conversation, I've been asking people, casually, in conversation, whether they know the word agency in this context. My findings? For the most part, men know it. Women do not 😳. Myself included.

Case in point: I called my son recently, feeling clever. "Let me see if you know this term," I said. His response, without missing a beat: "Yeah, of course I know what agency means. It's what we strive for."

Of course he did.

The words we use, and don't use, shape the power we claim. A gender power dynamic lesson in a single word(!).

If you don't know the word, expand your vocabulary. Own the mindset.

Practice both. Balance agency and communal.

This combo leads to the best leaders ever. 🔥