Are you really empowering your people?

Empowerment is the cornerstone of creating the conditions for our people to thrive and deliver outstanding performance. Yet, in my experience, many leaders talk about empowerment, but they aren’t really clear on exactly what they need to do to empower their people. Read on to find out what's needed to truly empower your teams...

Empowerment has become a term we now commonly use in the workplace. This is a great leap forward, as empowerment is the cornerstone of creating the conditions for our people to thrive and deliver outstanding performance. Yet, in my experience, many leaders talk about empowerment, but they aren’t really clear on exactly what they need to do to empower their people. I frequently hear phrases like, “I’ve empowered them, but they’re just not delivering.” When I dig a little more, it’s clear that they have given them the permission and freedom to make decisions, but unknowingly, they’ve not set them up for success.

In order to be truly empowered people need to be enabled.

As I see it, there are 3 key enablers (or pillars) of empowerment:

1. Clarity – Knowing what is expected of them. This is about:

• Setting clear direction, and defining clear objectives & expectations.

• Being clear on both the why and the what (why - what’s the purpose /why are we doing it, what - what’s needed and what success looks like).

• Checking for understanding to ensure you’re both aligned - asking them questions to understand their intentions and identify where they might need support.

• Being clear about where the decision making rights lie.

2. Competence/Commitment – Ensuring they have the knowledge & skills, and the motivation & confidence to carry out the task.

3. Accountability – Giving them the responsibility for the part they play. Importantly, as their leader, you can only hold them fully accountable for the outcome when you’re sure that they have the clarity, the competence and the commitment.

So, what’s the risk if we don’t ensure these enablers are in place? Quite simply, people are likely to fail. Subsequently, confidence and motivation will drop, which will result in a drop in performance at best, and a loss of potential and great talent at worst.

As well as these 3 key enablers, it is also pivotal that we create a culture of trust and psychological safety - we need to let go of control and make it safe for our people to make mistakes, by reframing them as learning experiences. If we don’t, people will hold back from trying new things and they’ll be reticent to make decisions. When fear is present, creativity and problem solving stagnates, procrastination takes hold and people seek to protect themselves at all costs, which is also when toxic blame behaviours can creep in.

In essence, we need to help our people to play to win. With this in mind, I encourage you to ask yourself;

"Am I really empowering my people ?"

Here are some questions to help:

• Am I providing the clarity they need?

• Have they got the knowledge and skills to do what I’m asking of them, and have I put the right learning and developmental support in place?

• Are they confident in what I’m asking them to do?

• Are they engaged & committed?

• Do I understand what motivates them and do I tap into this?

• Do I adapt my leadership style to meet their individual needs?

• Do I recognise their contribution to ensure they feel valued?

• Do I make it ok for them to make mistakes and turn it into a learning experience?

• Do I provide regular, helpful feedback to enable them to learn grow?

• Do I celebrate their successes, and reassure them where necessary, to build their confidence?

• Do I coach them through their challenges to stretch their thinking, enable them to find their solutions and take ownership for their actions?

As John Maxwell so eloquently put it;

“Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others”

If you’d like to have a chat about how you can create a culture of empowerment for your people, please feel free to connect with me at: becs@incacoaching.com.