Whoever I blame, I give the power to. (Viktor Frankl)
Self-efficacy is the best thing that can happen to you in life. Because a person's lifetime is the most valuable thing they have. Self-efficacy is what a person makes of it.
Self-effective employees are the best thing that can happen to an organisation. Because they take responsibility and pull themselves and the company forward.
Five levels of self-efficacy can be described. Effective managers recognise where they and their employees are. And they know how to focus themselves and others on the next level.
| How can you tell? | Level | What is it all about? |
| Life-life balance! | Self-efficacy | Flow |
| Perseverance slogans | Commitment | Looking fear in the eye |
| Withdrawal (often cover-up) | Shame | Internal culprits |
| Would have, would have, could have | Justification | External culprits |
| Why doesn't GL finally do it? | Accusation | Scapegoat trap |
The stages are relatively easy to recognise, both in oneself and observably in others. A key question could be: "Where is the focus right now?"
| Level | Where is the focus? | Management task |
|---|---|---|
| Leadership is superfluous. Effective leadership aims to make itself superfluous. | ||
| Regulate pressure! (Y-axis on LN Navigator: How can I provide support? What is the worst thing that could happen?) | ||
| Psychological safety! Implicitly or explicitly deal with shame. | ||
| Feedback. Psychological safety. What is your contribution? | ||
| Feedback. Effective feedback often has to be quite ruthless here. |
Effective leadership directs focus and attention to the next level.
A different form of presentation.
Sources and backgrounds
The model is closely modelled on Avery's Responsibility Process. The steps essentially correspond to his model. But there are also strong differences: He describes the top level as responsibility and describes it as "owning your responsibility to create, choose and attract". In contrast, the top level here is called"self-efficacy". This places a strong focus on the effect. There is an inward effect: Experiencing self-efficacy is one of the most desirable states for a person. And there is an outward effect: self-efficacy serves the organisation.
The concept is very closely related to the Three Stages of Collaboration developed together with icommit, with the levels: Resignation, Satisfaction and Commitment. Resignation essentially corresponds to blaming, justifying and shaming. Commitment corresponds to self-efficacy.
The concept is also closely related to the thinking of Thomas Fuchs, who says: "Recognising boundaries without having to feel powerless is painful and healing." With Fuchs, you could say that powerlessness lurks at both ends of the ladder. Below because externalisation does not work. Above because self-efficacy is also limited. The aim is to experience self-efficacy and accept limits at the same time.
The presentation shown here is strongly influenced by the hypnosystemic philosophy(Gunther Schmidt): "What works?". This assumes that reality is individually constructed. What works extremely well is a powerful personal experience. Self-efficacy is closer than responsibility. Avery's lowest step is called denial. This label suggests a deliberate, arbitrary denial of responsibility, which is unlikely to work well and does not come very close to reality: a reality where people cannot take 99.99% of all information into account. Because there is simply too much information. A healthy life needs neurotic repression, or to put it more effectively, good perception filters. You can and should choose what you want to take responsibility for. The label "do not consider" expresses this attitude.