Three elements necessary for an empowerment culture

Empowerment is about providing people the power and authority to do something on their own that’s within their ability.  People are highly motivated and engaged when they are empowered.  Organizations thrive when leaders get this right – we get more capacity with the same resources, more innovation to solve hard problems, and retain better talent.  Teams accomplish things that were never before possible.  Netflix, Google, and Salesforce are known for fostering a culture of innovation and responsibility for decision making.  

There are three elements that allow empowerment to happen

For empowerment to exist people need to be allowed, to want, and to be able to decide and take action.

To be allowed: The first condition is a direct responsibility for leaders.  This is about setting up the boundaries for success – clarifying vision, priorities and goals as well as providing time and financial resources.  One of the trickiest parts in being allowed is to know what risks to take.  Having open dialogue within the team to clarify and buy-in to the appropriate levels of risk helps understand the organizations risk tolerance.  To be allowed, we need clear requests and high integrity commitments. To be allowed means you have the autonomy to make decisions and take action.

To be able: Successful empowerment happens when people are competent in methods and have access to systems and processes to take on their responsibilities.  It’s also important to understand our individual and collective limitations – overwhelm does not lead to empowerment. To be able means you have sufficient mastery in the competencies needed to make decisions and take action.

To want: Ultimately the choice for someone to be empowered lies with the individual.  The choice will be driven by our drive to solve problems and be accountable.  One of the key factors is how we connect with our personal purpose.  We are wired to follow our purpose and magic happens when our personal purpose lines up with the organization’s vision and objectives.  We will also make the choice to be empowered when we feel safe enough to take appropriate risks and continuously learn.  Leaders can reinforce this by actively providing feedback, acknowledgment, and encouragement. To want means you have connection to a purpose that inspires you to make decisions and take action.

Two invisible forces that derail empowerment

Lack of safety

I recently spent a day with a team of talented executives responsible for corporate services at a successful midstream energy company.  They were rebuilding the team to focus on new strategic priorities.  One of the values they wanted to reinforce was meaningful work and empowerment.  The leader was a bit puzzled at the need to have this explicitly called out.  “You are all empowered and from today forward I want you and your teams to be empowered”. It sparked a discussion that uncovered a larger issue – staff were not feeling safe to make bold decisions based on their experience from previous leaders. Despite the new leadership team wanting empowerment the imprint from the previous leadership was still embedded in the culture. Empowerment will be derailed without psychological safety and continued positive reinforcement for taking appropriate risks.  This is only possible when each team member of the leadership team commits to taking this level of ownership for building and maintaining a psychologically safe environment.

Lack of will

Sometimes we come across people who lack the necessary will to accept responsibility that comes along with empowerment.  We work with leaders that are often frustrated by these situations and it calls for our best leadership. It is your role as a leader to give a team member every opportunity to shift their desire to accept empowerment and let go if they aren’t willing to come along.

Here are five actionable steps you can take to create greater empowerment in your teams:

Clear commitments – by setting direction, making clear requests and getting agreements you can let go and give clear autonomy to your team members.

Coaching – by taking a coach approach to problem solving, you leave the ownership and autonomy for solving challenges with your team member. This grows their competencies while helping them recognize their ability and confidence to act.

Acknowledgements – by giving specific and genuine appreciation to team members for their efforts and impact, you help them see how their contributions matter.

Inclusion and exposure – by getting your team member’s perspective and input on issues, solicit their feedback on where to make improvements, and giving them exposure opportunities to higher level meetings or issues, they understand how their work contributes to the bigger picture vision and develop their critical, systems and strategic thinking.

Development planning – by having a development plan with regular discussions on proactive development, you help your team members be able to take on more interesting and challenging work independently in the future.

Thriving organizations are built by empowered employees – they are confident, determined, and innovative.  Leaders play a critical role in creating the right conditions for empowerment to flourish.  It’s not something you can ask for – it’s something your collective team has to create.