Does Empowerment Exist?

This article triggered off my constant thoughts about empowerment, and its validity and reliability.

How often do you empower your staff or colleagues? When was the last time you were empowered? How real is empowerment?

In my observations and interviews with students and clients, I appreciate that empowerment is more talk than application. I also realized that many managers do not understand fully what empowerment entails. I get annoyed when managers talk about empowerment yet want to wrest it away from their staff. They behave like Silas from the television series ‘Heroes’ where he absorbs the powers of his victims before he murders them; he acts as a parasite.

Empowerment means relinquishing some of your authority whilst still retaining responsibility for your staff. Empower means to ‘give power over’. Other than the public utilities suppliers, few companies practise the handing over of power. They are possessive of it, and tend to hoard it.

Attached to this, is the notion of delegation. Delegate to the person who can best do the job, and not somebody who lacks the competencies to do it well. If you delegate to the wrong person, you are in fact sabotaging them to failure. Now, does that reflect well on your decision-making ability as a leader?

Perhaps you can empower yourself by doing something challenging. Remember the incomplete New Year resolutions you made last year? What about doing a few of them in 2010? Get a few ticks on your list of ‘to-do’ things. Seriously, shed those excess(ive) kilogrammes. Start moving. The journey to a marathon begins with the first step you take. Seek the rehabilitative treatment you owe to the sore back you suffer incessantly with. Stop inhaling from the mini-exhaust pipes (there is carbon monoxide in those 'fire sticks'). Lear to swim - start with a coach and the shallow end. Now, what is it about you wanting to ride a bicycle?

Give yourself the power and permission to pick up where you left off. Dispel any thoughts of abandonment, and instead adopt new habits and skills. Learn to treat yourself and others right.

Stop talking about empowerment – do it! Do the right thing and enhance somebody’s potential.

Another article on Three Levels of Empowerment - determine how relevant it is to you.