Stop Manifesting, Start Leading: Internal Locus of Control Explained

Dec 17

Discover why internal locus of control is your most underrated leadership tool. Learn how to reclaim agency and lead through uncertainty.

Have you heard people talking about manifesting lately? "I'm manifesting a new job this year." "I'm manifesting profitability for our company." "I manifested this promotion."

If you're skeptical, you're not alone. But here's the truth: manifestation isn't about wishful thinking or magic. It's actually about mindset. More fundamentally, it has to do with where you believe control lives.

I'm JB, founder of Bolton Co., a leadership development company in Colorado. Today I want to show you why the story you tell yourself about control (whether internal or external) might just be your most underrated leadership lever.

What Is Locus of Control?

Psychologists use a concept called locus of control to describe whether you believe that events in your life are shaped by your own actions or by external forces like chance, fate, or other people.

Internal locus of control means you tend to believe that outcomes result from your own choices, efforts, and decisions.

External locus of control means you're more likely to attribute outcomes to luck, timing, or other people's actions.

Here's the important part: this is not a fixed trait. Locus of control exists on a continuum and tends to vary depending on different domains. For example, you might feel in control of your career trajectory, but less so in control of matters of health or relationships.

Why Leaders Should Care About Locus of Control

There's clear evidence in the research. People who have a stronger internal locus tend to show:

Greater motivation
Increased resilience
Better psychological well-being
Improved performance across multiple areas (work, health, personal growth)

Recent research also links internal locus of control with a stronger preference for agency (a word I use multiple times in coaching sessions every week). Agency is the belief that your decisions, not outside forces, truly shape outcomes.

executive coach works with leader in profession setting laptop and paper on table for notes on locus of control and leadership

One of the big things coaches do is help professionals and executives regain this agency. It doesn't mean you magically get everything you want, but it does mean you frame setbacks differently. Not as signs that fate is against you, but instead as challenges you have the capacity and agency to respond to.

Manifestation as Intentional Agency

So that brings us back to manifestation. In pop culture right now, manifestation is portrayed as magical: focus on what you want, visualize it, and somehow the universe delivers. But without any action or grounded mindset, we're just daydreaming.

If instead you approach manifestation as intentional agency (combining clarity of vision, an internal locus of control, and purposeful action), you transform it from hopeful wishing into a practical leadership strategy. You become the author of your story, not a passive observer not the victim of of everything happening around you.

This is not pseudoscience. It's psychology. People with high internal locus who set goals, commit to actions, and consistently work toward them are more likely to realize the outcome.

A Real-World Example: Leading Through Transition

I work with executives on this all the time. Recently, I worked with a sales leader who was advancing rapidly until his company announced a strategic shift and he was going to be let go.

If this has happened to you before (it's happened to me), our normal reaction is shock, frustration, a sense of injustice. We might blame fate. This is tough. When that happens, our options can become incredibly limited.

What my client did instead was pause and ask: "What is within my control now? How would I like to respond to this situation? How could I respond intentionally?"

He chose agency.

He ended up:

Helping architect the transition plan
Remaining a trusted voice in the organization
Celebrating past wins and holding his head high
Bringing change management support to the existing team
Paving the way for everyone (including himself) to be successful

At the same time, he proactively built toward his next role. He took time to ask: "What do I really want? Where could I really add value? How could I be strategic with looking for my next role rather than passively waiting?"

As a result, he landed a new leadership position (one more aligned with his strengths and values) before his severance period even ended.

He's very excited about this transition. He focused on what was within his control and utilized an internal locus of control.

That is not luck. That is a conscious, value-driven sequence of choices.

He’s a great example of a leadership story intentionally authored versus passively endured.

Reclaiming Your Agency as a Leader

Part of what I do as an executive coach is help leaders reclaim their agency. I help them see where they still have control over reactions, decisions, relationships, and trajectory, even when the external world feels chaotic. I help them move from "What's happening to me?" to "What can I choose to do next?"

Beyond crisis or transition, this mindset becomes a leadership muscle. It shapes how you navigate:

Restructures
Strategy shifts
Team dynamics
Difficult bosses
Performance pressure
Future vision

5 Strategies to Build Internal Locus of Control

If this is something you want to lean into more and take more purposeful action on, here are moves to start shifting your mindset and leadership stance:

1. Treat Setbacks as Redirection, Not Dead Ends

When you get a setback (personal or professional), think about this as a mission. The thing that happened to you? You've got no control over it. The way you react? You have control over that.

When something goes sideways, ask: "What could I influence? What can I control?" Get creative. Brainstorm possibilities. Treat setbacks as redirection, not dead ends.

2. Define Your Values, Mission, and Vision

Take time to define your values, mission, and vision. You need an anchor point that gives you clarity on what matters. That way, when things are happening to you and you're thinking about how you want to respond, you've got a north star.

This is where goal-setting or putting together your life plan can really help. It informs and influences the way you want to respond based on where you're headed with that bigger vision.

3. Combine Vision with Action

This needs to be more than wishful thinking. Visualizing a goal is fine, but real progress comes when you pair that with consistent effort.

Take big plans and break them down into manageable pieces. Reverse engineer them into smaller steps and more focused prioritization so you can gain traction and start moving forward.

4. Build Agency Through Small Wins and Consistent Habits

When you practice agency (these choices you're making in terms of how you want to respond, show up, influence, or act), those regular choices reinforce self-efficacy. Over time, that builds habitual agency.

Practice this consistently. Think about a conscious, intentional response that you choose versus an emotional reaction that chooses you.

5. Focus on Response and Meaning When External Forces Hit

You're not going to control everything, but you will always control how you respond. And that response often shapes what's coming next for you.

Manifestation Is Mindset, Meaning, and Management

When you orient yourself around an internal locus of control, you reclaim your agency. You stop waiting for luck, timing, or approval, and you start leading.

If you're ready to build that agency for yourself, your team, or your company, let's talk. I help leaders turn change into opportunity and uncertainty into strategy.

Because manifestation isn't wishful thinking. It's about conscious, intentional leadership.

The only person who always has a vote, who always has a choice, and who always has an option is you.