I am near the end of my 3rd week of online full-time uni, and I can tell you it’s a bit of an interesting adjustment. I have gone from seeing 35 to 40 people a week to a number that I can probably count on one hand, spending the most time at home that I’ve ever had since the covid lockdowns.
It’s weird what the hustle culture has done to society, where I’ve gone from running a full-time business and studying two units to studying three units and no formal work (at the moment). The more time you have, the more time you spend not doing the tasks you need to do.
Anyway, back to the topic of today’s blog, but first, a story.
My niece Zoe is 14 months old, and we had chicken and chips from Kinglseys for lunch one day. We handed Zoe a chip from the bag, and when she finished that chip, we would hand Zoe another chip until my mum offered Zoe the bag to choose her own chip. I wish I had my phone handy to take a photo because the smile on her face was priceless. She sat there, smiling, looking at the bag of chips to us back to the bag of chips as if to say is this some joke? Can I choose my own chip? She finally took a chip, and that is how she ate her chips until she no longer wanted them. This was when I realised that autonomy isn’t just significant for adults; babies thrive in it too.
Throughout my degree, I must write a Rehabilitation Counselling report on my chosen topic. After thinking about what topic would be most valuable to my learning and the athlete well-being environment I want to work in, I decided on autonomy. The current subject is Job Development and placement, so I have been reading about autonomy in career development, in parenting. As part of a literature review for my research subject, I’ve also read several articles about autonomy-supported coaching (versus control).
I’ve read about Basic Needs Theory (BNT), a theory of motivation that contributes to our understanding of how well-being and ill-being develop and is a mini theory of Self Determination Theory (SDT).
Humans have three basic needs:
Competence: The need to feel a sense of mastery through effective interaction with the (your) environment.
Autonomy: The right or condition of self-government. (Being in control of your decisions)
Relatedness: Feeling connected and respected by others and experiencing the feeling of belonging to a group.
When these basic needs are met, health outcomes are positive; when they are not met, the outcomes are less favourable.
Autonomy support: creates an environment of understanding where the person is encouraged to explore and make choices in line with their values and interests.
It means the person in a position of authority (parent, coach, manager, boss, health professional) puts themselves in the place of the other, imagining their perspective to determine their needs and feelings and to offer appropriate and meaningful information to carry out their tasks, such as opportunities for choice.
Controlling: creates an environment of coercion where a person feels pressure to make choices that align with others’ expectations, usually involving external motivation, guilting and shaming to get compliance.
Professional sport generally has a disciplinary framework that normalises maximum coach control. I am not a parent but I have observed many parents run by this same framework. You do what I say because I am the parent, and I said so. This can lead to resentment and rebelling behaviour. I would like to see athletes get more autonomy in their careers, and I believe this will help them in their life after they retire.
People with disability are another population who often have their autonomy taken away from them, primarily due to the attitude towards the disability and the assumption that the person is incapable of making decisions for themselves. Similar to when we assume that babies and children aren’t capable of making their own choices. I think we do this to increase the safety of the person, but unless they are getting themselves into a life-threatening situation, giving them the freedom to make their own choices and learn from the outcome of that choice is the best thing we can do for their growth and development.
In injury rehabilitation, there can be a lack of autonomy when the person attends appointments, is told what exercises to do, activities they can and can’t do and when to come back for a follow-up. Patients can often be shamed by the treating practitioner or threatened “Well if you don’t do them, you don’t get better”. Being injured isn’t a choice, so it’s important to have control over your rehabilitation and decide how you will manage it and who will help you.
What is your experience with autonomy or lack of it? Having been self-employed for the last 8 years, I don’t know much about the situation in the corporate world.
I best get back to reading papers so I can start putting my report and literature review together.
Hey Clare,
Been meaning to come back here for a bit but had a bit on.
I like this because Sonny is at an age where if I give him a chip he won’t eat it, but if he picks his own chips he’ll get stuck into them.
I’ve been in my industry for 15 years now. 10 as a team member and 5 as a supervisor/manager/leader/whatever.
I’ve found that for me personally, the more autonomy I have, I generally perform better. I think there’s a bit at play here though. The higher up the ladder you go, the more responsibility you have. I’ve found that as I’ve moved up each of the four or five steps I’ve gone up in the last five years, the hardest part about taking on a new role isn’t the work or the extra responsibility, but the ability to let go and trust that the person below you doing your old role is capable and competent of fulfilling that role.
But then I realised that autonomy is good for almost every body and although people might have a different method to you, they’ve been employed in that role and you need to let them do it their way because that’s what will get the best result for them. As their senior I think the key is to just be there for them, check in regularly, and ensure you have an open an honest communication stream and let them work it out for themselves. Kind of like being bumpers at a bowling alley. I think a lot of older people struggle with this purely because of how things were done “back in their day”.
Over the last five years I’ve found that almost all the people I’ve managed have worked better with autonomy and control. “This is your role, your responsibility for this, this and that. I don’t want to tell you to do it constantly because I don’t think you need me to and I know you’re good enough for me to not have to do that.” I’ve found this usually gets the best out of most people.
There are some outliers though, who need very direct, strict instruction which as you mentioned above, I think is down to their upbringing. Never being afforded autonomy as kids. It’s hard because you need to find a balance of not appearing to be favouring people and having the same rules for all, but also managing each individual in a way that gets the most out of them but more importantly keeps them happy so they keep showing up in the right frame of mind.
I just try to remember to keep it simple. Treat people the way I want to be treated. Don’t tell people how to do their job, because I fucking hated people doing that to me. Focus on my own work and just ensure it’s well known that I’m there if people need some guidance and direction.
Great blog and I agree all round. However I’ve read something lately that said a lot of people actually fear autonomy and freedom because they become entirely responsible for how things pans out.
Much easier to have a boss and blame them with things aren’t going great, then look yourself in the mirror.