“Only where we act do we feel alive, and only in acting do we gain social energy.” — Hartmut Rosa
Many leaders today recognize a quiet but persistent feeling: despite full calendars, constant decisions, and endless meetings, they do not actually experience themselves as acting. Instead, they feel driven — responding to emails, reacting to market shifts, implementing strategies decided elsewhere, meeting targets that move as soon as they are reached. This is not a problem of workload. It is a problem of agency.
The sociologist Hartmut Rosa describes this condition in his recent work Situation and Constellation. He observes a widespread narrowing of our experiential world: people do more and more, yet experience less and less of themselves as effective actors. We function — but we do not feel alive. The central question therefore becomes: How can we expand our field of action again?
From Narrowing to Agency
Modern organizations are optimized for efficiency, predictability, and scalability. Processes, KPIs, governance frameworks, reporting structures — all necessary elements of complex collaboration. Yet they come with a hidden side effect: the shrinking of perceived possibility.
Leaders often operate in a permanent execution mode:
- reacting to change initiatives
- implementing top-down decisions
- aligning with frameworks and procedures
- managing expectations from multiple stakeholders
In this mode, leadership becomes a chain of responses. You no longer act — you execute. Rosa calls this a shift from being an acting subject to merely performing functions within a system. The experience of oneself changes fundamentally: from shaping reality to coping with it. And the psychological consequence is profound: the loss of vitality. Because aliveness does not arise from activity alone — it arises from meaningful influence.
Two Ways of Acting
To understand this more precisely, it helps to distinguish between two forms of action.
1. Acting in Execution
This is action based on instructions, frameworks, or externally defined goals. Examples are:
- implementing a corporate directive
- applying a policy
- following predefined decision criteria
- managing according to targets set elsewhere
This form of acting is necessary. Organizations cannot function without it. But psychologically, it does not create ownership — it creates responsibility without authorship. You are responsible, but not truly the author of what happens.
2. Acting from the Situation
Here, action emerges from presence, judgment, and holistic perception. The leader interprets reality rather than merely applying rules. Typical characteristics are:
- contextual decision-making
- integrating intuition and experience
- shaping instead of administering
- choosing rather than complying
In this mode, the leader becomes an agent again — not just a function holder. The difference is subtle externally but enormous internally. One feels like pressure. The other feels like possibility.
Leadership and the Experience of Agency
A key leadership question therefore is not: How many responsibilities do I have? But: How much room do I experience to shape reality? Many leaders today live in permanent pursuit: chasing targets, reacting to change, trying to keep up, etc. The paradox: the higher the leadership level, the less agency many feel. Expectations increase faster than influence. Psychologically, room for action equals self-efficacy. Without self-efficacy, motivation turns into stress.
Expanding the Playing Field: Leadership as the Art of Possibility
So how can leaders reclaim this space? Hartmut Rosa’s central idea is resonance — a living relationship with the world in which we experience response rather than resistance.
In my book self-empowered leadership (www.sel-workbook.de) I have outlined how leaders can get back from their autopilot into the driver seat. Not by controling everything, but by accepting paradox and by building authentic relationships with themselves, others, and the situation they are in. Leadership begins where we stop merely fulfilling expectations and start shaping reality within them. The experience of agency — in ourselves and others — is the foundation of engagement, responsibility, and vitality. The task of modern leadership is therefore not primarily to manage complexity — but to keep the space open in which action remains possible.
You can find the book by Hartmut Rosa here.
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