Tag Archives: empowerment

The Truth About Empowerment

“Empowerment!” Joshua proclaimed. “The answer is empowerment.”

“Really?” I turned my head. “Just exactly what does that mean?”

“Well, when we are trying to get people to do something, we have to empower them.”

“All you did was use the word in a sentence, you didn’t tell me what it means.”

“When you want to raise morale, make people feel better about their job, you have to empower them,” Joshua tried again.

“Empowerment is a weasel word,” I explained. “Everyone uses (misuses) it, no one knows what it means. There are whole books about it, and no one knows what it means. It’s a cover-up, the salve to heal a wound inflicted by management. We have an empowerment problem. Our employees need to be empowered. WTF does that mean?”

Joshua turned sheepish. “I dunno.”

“Of course, you don’t know, you just stumbled into it. Sounded good, so you said it. Don’t ever use that word around me again. You don’t have an empowerment problem, you have an accountability and authority problem. You don’t need to empower your employees, you need to sit with your team and define the authority and the accountability that goes with it. It’s a contract with two parts. Empowerment is like a government oversight committee that has the authority to indict with no accountability. If you have the authority to do something, then you have the accountability that goes with it. Don’t talk about empowerment, talk about accountability and authority.” -Tom
_______
Weasel words is a concept codified by Lee Thayer Leadership, Thinking, Being, Doing. In the history of this blog, in addition to accountability, we have identified two other weasel words, motivation and holocracy.
_______
Registration for our Hiring Talent in the Heat of the Summer is now open. Find out more – Hiring Talent.

It’s All About Empowerment, Really?

But, as the budget dollars piled up, Kevin DuPont could smell trouble. “Look, guys and gals, boys and girls. I know you all have important projects, but all this costs money. And you know very well, I am accountable to the board to make sure this company is fiscally sound. I am afraid that I have to take issue with the budget you have presented.”

There was silence in the room. After all, the executive team just followed instructions. They followed Al Ripley’s instructions, before. They followed Kevin DuPont’s instructions, now. Finally, one person had the courage to speak, Javier Ramirez.

“Mr. DuPont, with all due respect. We are only doing what you told us to do. You said you empowered us with group decision making. Give us a problem to solve and leave it to us. Well, we decided on a budget, and I know that the expenses are more than our current revenue, but if we are going to grow, we have to take risks. The group is willing to take that risk, but now, you are pulling the rug from underneath us.”

Kevin turned a red tinge around the rim of his ears, his pulse quickened. “That was not my intention. I want each of you to feel better about being a part of this management team. That is why I empowered you. But I also know my board and they will not stand for another losing quarter. The government is auditing the subsidies on some of our routes. This airline has to learn to stand on its own.”

“But, you said you trusted us, it would be our decision,” Javier stood up. “It is a matter of empowerment.”

“I know, I know,” Kevin continued to defend. “But I am accountable to the board. If we lose money next quarter, you will all still have your jobs. You are not accountable to the board. It’s me whose job is on the line. You are only accountable for the performance of your departments. All I can say, at this point is, I’m sorry. Meeting adjourned.”

Excerpt from Outbound Air, Levels of Work in Organizational Structure, by Tom Foster, now available on Kindle, soon to be released in softcover.

Outbound Air