EMPOWERMENT
“The one who says it cannot be done should never interrupt the
one who is doing it.”
– Anonymous
Anyone interested
in the business field has probably run across an article or two on empowering
employees. It seems leaders are truly realizing the benefits of training
their subordinates how to handle situations and giving them the authority
to do so. It may seem like a commonsense approach to success, so why
haven’t businesses picked up on this earlier? Well, like so many
things in the world, it is not always as cut and dried as it may seem.
Empowering others
can take some creative work on the part of the leader. Some people like
the idea of seeking approval for every minor step; that way if something
goes wrong, they have someone to blame. Some people have not built up
enough self-confidence to handle situations. Some leaders fear they
will look unqualified, weak or indecisive if they seek input from other
members. And sometimes leaders – for their own reasons – just
don’t feel comfortable relinquishing control to others no matter
how much they trust them. If you are one of those leaders who cannot
seem to let go – or you want to, but don’t really know what
this will entail – read on. Following are the various roles a leader
can take in empowering others to develop leadership abilities and even
some self-confidence along the way.
-
Discoverer. It is important to note that there is no single “right way”
to empower others. A leader’s job consists of continually looking
for new opportunities to accomplish the group mission. Are you always
chairing the program committees? Do you lead the meetings as well
as write up the minutes? Maybe it is time to recommend someone else
for these duties. Not only does this empower others, it adds to your
free time as well. As a discoverer, it is important to be a visionary
and be flexible to change.
-
Illustrator.
As a leader, it is extremely important to remember – and remind
others – about the goals, values and mission of the group. You
can set a path towards accomplishing goals so that others may follow
suit. As an empowering leader, you can inspire goal commitment –
but in a way that doesn't’t equal demanding compliance. If you
are committed to the group goals, let it be known in the way you approach
opportunities or deal with obstacles.
-
Encourager. In most organizations, the days of the leader’s way being the
only way are long gone. To empower others to take responsibility,
be supportive: offer reassurance, recognize successes, believe in
your members and take a vested interest in their achievements. You
don’t need to look the other way when failures occur, but dwelling
on them accomplishes little. Acknowledge them, make improvements or
suggestions for the future, highlight the successes and move on!
-
Enabler. In some situations, enabling is viewed in a very negative light (i.e.,
substance abuse). In empowering leadership, however, enabling others
can be very positive. In this sense, enabling involves offering a
helping hand to boost chances of success. You might consider yourself
to be a coach or team-builder in this position, which would be accurate
labels for the roles you are playing here.
-
Smoother. Finally, an empowering leader needs to facilitate accomplishments
to the extent possible. This means smoothing the way for others by
providing them with necessary information to complete a task, networking
with outside contacts to build positive relationships and serving
as a resource. This is a critical step in the empowerment process;
people need to know they have the support and resources they need
to help them accomplish goals.
The benefits to empowerment
are numerous, not only to those being empowered, but to the leaders
and overall organization as well. Aside from building self-confidence
and increasing free time as mentioned earlier, take a look at some of
the other potential benefits:
To
the followers:
Increased
motivation
Higher
degree of learning
Improved
tolerance of stress
To
the leaders:
Increased
organizational commitment
Less
role ambiguity
Increased
satisfaction with roles and the organization
To
the organization:
More
flexibility
Better
sense of community
Requests/problems
handled with increased speed
Group
coordination and development
Howard,
A. (1996). The empowering leader: Unrealized opportunities. Leadership
Research Institute & Development Dimensions International. Prepared
for Kellogg Leadership Project: On-line.
|