Empowerment: Beyond the Buzzword
EMPOWERMENT. It’s a word we’re hearing more and more. From seminars to podcasts to sermons on Sunday mornings, being “empowered” is everywhere. I even made it one of the pillars of my business: I’m here to inspire, encourage and empower. And it’s not hard to understand why that is. No one wants to feel powerless: not in their careers, relationships, the political sphere, or their mental and physical health. It is human nature to want to have control over as many aspects of our lives as possible. But without an understanding what empowerment means, its importance, and all that it entails, it becomes just another buzzword without any real impact. So, what are we really talking about when we talk about empowerment?
First, we must know the four key elements of empowerment. Whether it is self-empowerment or if we are trying to empower our employees, these factor into whether our efforts are successful.
Information. A person needs to be provided with accurate, relevant, and timely information necessary to do what they need to do. For employees, this includes contextual information as well as specific knowledge about their job. For personal empowerment, the information needed depends on the specific tasks or goal of the individual.
Tools & Resources. The second element of empowerment is making sure the individual has what they need to carry out a task. Tools could mean many things, like time, training, money in the budget, equipment, materials, a computer, people who can assist, or training to develop the right set of skills for the task. This goes for your own empowerment and your employees.
Authority. Authority is the ability to take the initiative to solve problems and exercise influence. This is mainly an issue when dealing with employee empowerment. Employees need to have the authority and the correlated responsibility to do what they need to do. They need standing permission to improve processes within certain parameters, without added advice or permission from their manager. If you are working on empowering yourself within the confines of a job, this also applies. If you want to be more empowered regarding your personal life, the direction of your career, or becoming an entrepreneur, the authority you need likely has more to do with your mindset. Are you giving yourself permission to make moves towards what you want?
Accountability. Simply, this means that an individual needs to be held accountable for the results they produce. This is fairly easy with employees, as they are accountable to their manager for their performance. Not holding an employee accountable damages the organization and stunts their personal growth. When it comes to self-empowerment, this may require finding someone who wants to see us succeed and will hold us to what we have set out to do.
Some leaders are great at empowerment and understand the impact and importance of it. Some people naturally feel enabled to take charge of their destiny. Others, however, must make a more conscious effort to give themselves or their employees the authority and ability to take charge. While not always an easy thing to do, especially when it is not innate, it certainly has its benefits.
The main benefit would be that empowerment reduces helplessness. Again, no one likes the feeling of powerlessness. Do you want your employees to come to work recognizing an issue but feeling that they can do nothing to help? What happens when employees believe there is nothing they can do to make progress within your organization? The helplessness that comes with a lack of employee empowerment often leads to a lack of engagement and eventually either a decrease in productivity or resignation.
On the personal empowerment side, think about those times you have gotten exactly what you wanted. How often did that happen because you intentionally went for it, and how often did it just happen to fall into your lap? My bet is that even if you got something that you were content with by chance, more often than not you had to actively go after what you truly desired. When we believe we are helpless to make changes or pursue certain goals, we limit ourselves. Self-empowerment takes us from passivity to an active mentality, increasing the likelihood of achieving our goals.
The other benefits are a direct result of reduced helplessness: increased confidence (because we now know that we are capable) and personal growth (because we can push ourselves beyond boundaries that were previously impenetrable).
Of course, the process of empowerment doesn’t come without obstacles. Because it requires real effort, both on behalf of the empowerer and empoweree (there must be better terms for that!), laziness can be a huge barrier. Fear is another obstacle, as change always presents an unknown, even when that change is good. A lack of clearly identified and communicated goals can make empowerment difficult, because it obscures the purpose. So if you are embarking on this empowerment journey, your motivation and your discipline must be on point.
Now that we’re clear on what empowerment is, we can start working towards it! Later, we’ll dive a little deeper into what an empowered person and empowered workforce looks like. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you! What’s been your experience with empowerment? Is it a process for you or does it seem to come naturally? Any difficulties you’ve overcome when trying to empower your employees? Questions or issues that you’d like addressed? Let me know!
Til next time, embrace your greatness.