Describe
a time when you have been empowered to accomplish something. Reflect on how
others supported you and how the endeavor was accomplished. How can you apply
those lessons to your own followers?
The concept of
empowerment is one I’ve felt passionate about since beginning the pursuit of my
graduate degree more than two years ago. In my very first graduate level course
(MGMT 500), I was asked to select a research topic that I’d still be interested
in exploring by the end of my degree program – I chose employee empowerment. To
me, there is no stronger sign of a good leader as one that builds follower
self-confidence by enabling them to make their own decisions. According to
Whetton & Cameron (2016), “to empower means to enable. It means to help people
develop a sense of self-confidence” (p. 367). Empowerment means asking people what
they think and then showing that their opinions matter by actually implementing
their ideas (Feigenbaum, n.d.).
I recently experienced a
situation work where I felt empowered to accomplish an important task. Just
last month, I was asked to create a presentation that provided a status
overview and recommended next steps to my Vice President regarding an airplane
sales campaign. My Managing Director (my boss’ boss) asked me to build an
overview that was simple and easy to follow but provided enough information for
the Vice President to understand the road blocks standing in the way of a
successful closing strategy. I worked to build the best possible presentation
and the day before it was due I briefed my Managing Director, so she could take
it to the Vice President. After giving her the overview, I was shocked when she
said, “You know this material really well, how would you feel about coming to
the meeting with me and briefing the Vice President directly?”
Suddenly, my level of
ownership associated with this presentation completely changed. Although I felt
I’d done a good job initially, I had a new level of commitment in making sure
it was perfectly once I realized that I would be the one speaking to it. I went
back to my desk and I tweaked the slide to match with my speaking style. I
highlighted the points that I felt were important based on my
direct involvement in the sales campaign. I walked into the Vice President’s
office with the Managing Director by my side and I confidently gave him the
overview I’d been working on throughout the week. When I was finished, he
looked pensive for a moment and then suggested that the sales team travel to
Europe to submit a final offer face-to-face instead of over the phone as originally
planned. He said “you know this customer better than Jen or I do, do you think
they would respond well to that?” Again, I was surprised that he asked what I
thought about his idea, but I appreciated his acknowledgement that I am in the
trenches and he is observing from afar. I told him I thought the customer would
respond quite well to a face-to-face visit based on their level of personal
engagement and commitment to building strong relationships. Both my Vice
President and my Managing Director concurred.
The major lesson learned
from this experience is that there is a direct correlation between the extent
to which an employee feels empowered and the extent to which an employee takes
personal ownership in his or her work product. Through this experience, I saw
first-hand how quickly perspectives can change once a follower realizes that
they are empowered to build a product, share an idea, and take action based on
their knowledge of the situation. This interaction with my Managing Director
and Vice President made me want to further strengthen my knowledge on the
customer and think outside of the box on what we could do to win.
These are the exact
lessons I want to share with my followers. Empowerment requires an equal commitment
on the side of the follower and the leader. The follower must take the
initiative to demand the discretion and freedom to act and the leader must
display a willingness to let go (Obolensky, 2014). I want my followers to hear
me acknowledge that they know their work statement and their customers better
than I do. I want my followers to feel that they are connected to the outcomes
of the organization. I believe my followers will gain a greater sense of
motivation when they interact directly with both external and internal
stakeholders and are able to see how their work directly affects those around
them (Whetton & Cameron, 2016). I want to teach my followers the five
factors of confidence and trustworthiness: (1) reliability, (2) fairness, (3)
caring, (4) openness, and (5) competence so that believe they offer honest
perspectives without a fear of being dismissed (Whetton & Cameron, 2016).
Unfortunately,
empowerment is “rarely implemented effectively” in most organizations
(Heathfield, 2018). Why is this if the benefits of empowerment are so clearly
outlined in business research? I think one barrier to empowerment is the idea
that managers are supposed to retain control of followers. This idea of
controlling and micromanaging people certainly fit into the traditional
description of management, but traditional management is becoming less and less
prevalent as a new generation of managers take the helm. The new generation of
managers are able to stand at the top, look down, and say “I don’t know, what
do you think?” (Obolensky, 2014). Up and coming managers realize that leadership
knows less than ten percent of the problems facing the company, while followers
have their eyes on the other 90 percent (Obolensky, 2014). If followers know
the problems, and followers have ideas for the solutions, then providing them
with an opportunity to speak up and empowering them to take action will almost
certainly strengthen the organization as a whole.
References
Feigenbaum, E.
(n.d.). Employee empowerment and decision making. The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-empowerment-decision-making-4842.html
Heathfield, S.
(2018). Empowering employees to make decisions will benefit your organization. The Balance. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/failing-to-empower-employees-to-make-decisions-1918506
Obolensky, N.
(2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership:
Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty (2nd ed.). New York, New York: Gower
Publishing.
Whetton, D. A.
& Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing
management skills, 9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.
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