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Contact Us| The Art of Empowerment | |
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I’ve always found that being empowered is something that I value in my work/career. Over the years I have experienced a variety of management or leadership styles that have provided varying levels of empowerment but only recently have I experienced what I call “genuine” empowerment.
I am sure we have all had similar experiences with differing managers. I have had the manager who has absolutely no interest in empowering others, her only focus was to get the job done. Her style was to tell you what to do and how (her way of course), which left me feeling somewhat stuck. I knew I had completed a task or project, but not quite sure what it was that I did that really made the difference. It also created a co-dependent relationship whereby I had to continue to get advice when making decisions. Obviously, this was another controlling mechanism to have everything done her way. Although I had success, it was somewhat unfulfilling.
My next Manager was great; he gave me the space to manage my team and my business with the autonomy to make decisions (inside company guidelines – which I liked). This was going along nicely until the economy turned bad and what appeared to be “genuine” empowerment was “situational” empowerment. Opportunities to make decisions became patronizing and the “make them feel like they made the decision” became really obvious. Ever had that feeling, when you are being asked your opinion, that there is a “right” answer?
I must admit, there have been times when I have fallen into the trap myself and manipulated my team to get the result that I want, rather than allowing them to use their own self expression – not really rewarding for anyone involved.
Recently however, I experienced what I call “genuine” empowerment. Having made a career change in the past 7 months, I have found myself working on new and challenging projects – outside of my comfort zone – which creates some feelings of uncertainty. Am I going to do this right? Is this what they want? Can I do this? I was pleasantly surprised and empowered when it occurred to me that my Director, Roz, really actually believes in my abilities, not because she has to or because it is “good leadership”, but because she genuinely does.
In that moment I was truly empowered and it became clear that what it takes to empower somebody is to (1) check your ego at the door (2) allow people to be who they are and (3) believe in them.
Renae Quinn |
