Access the essential membership for Modern Managers
Empowerment: The Key for Turning Potential Into Performance
By Kevin Dunne, Mindtools Content Editor and Writer
Imagine if we measured the “unempowered” like we measure unemployment. Getting the figures down would become a national mission. In both cases, they amount to the same thing: identifying untapped potential.
Empowerment is life changing. Without it, I might still be working in a factory or drifting from job to job in a permanent fug of unfulfilled angst.
It was my mother and my girlfriend who empowered me. When I was 21, they handed me a situations vacant newspaper cutting for a trainee reporter. “You should apply. You can do it,” they said. So, I did. And I could.
Most people need someone to recognize their potential, inspire them, believe in them, and point the way forward and upward. At work, managers are that someone.
Why Empowerment Matters
Empowerment is not just beneficial to the individual involved; it’s crucial for creating a productive, innovative and high-performing team.
At the heart of it is figuring out: what does my organization need, what can my team do about that, and who in my team has the potential to deliver it?
Managers should recognize that, apart from the paycheck, people go to work to improve, to develop, and to get somewhere. And if they are not getting somewhere, they end up leaving.
In August this year, Culture Amp reported that 52 percent of employees quit their job because of a lack of development opportunities.
And research tells us that recommending development opportunities improves job satisfaction, retention and engagement – all must-haves in a thriving workplace.
Once you develop empowered people, the next step is empowered teams (also known as “self-directed” or “self-managed” teams). These are characterized by having greater freedom, authority and responsibility to complete tasks and make decisions than traditional teams.
The Benefits of Empowerment
Effective empowerment enhances team performance and drives growth in teams and organizations. Here are six ways it does that:
- Fostering innovation and creativity: empowered people are more likely to feel competent and autonomous and believe that what they do has an impact. This inspires creativity and innovation.
- Enhancing psychological wellbeing: feeling empowered enhances wellbeing. People feel good and function well, leading to higher job satisfaction, lower stress levels, and reduced burnout.
- Building a trusting work environment: trust is the bedrock of effective cooperation, communication, and overall organizational health.
- Increasing job satisfaction and commitment: empowered employees exhibit higher levels of job satisfaction and commitment to their organizations.
- Promoting employee development and career growth: involving employees in decision making and challenging them with meaningful tasks fosters a learning environment that supports continuous development.
- Improving decision making and problem solving: empowered employees are more confident in their abilities to make decisions and solve problems.
How Do You Empower Your People?
One of the most powerful tools that you can use to drive empowerment is stretch goals.
These are ambitious targets (aligned to your organization’s goals) that challenge your team to go beyond their current capabilities.
Setting stretch goals is not just about setting high targets, though: it’s about pushing boundaries while ensuring goals remain both attainable and realistic. This makes them meaningful.
Involving your team in the goal-setting process is fundamental, too, as it boosts ownership and motivation. When team members have a say in the goals they are working towards, they feel more committed and invested.
And when it comes to meeting these new challenges, it’s up to managers to provide the necessary training and tools to enable their team.
What Role Does Psychological Safety Play in Empowerment?
With all that in place, managers then need to create the conditions for innovation and autonomy to flourish – by establishing a psychologically safe environment.
This is a climate where team members feel comfortable in sharing their ideas and concerns openly. And one where they can be confident that failure and mistakes are celebrated as learning opportunities; where ideas are refined and developed – innovation in action!
Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson defined psychological safety as “a belief that one's voice is valued, needs to be heard; that it is safe to speak up with work-relevant ideas, questions, concerns, and yes, even mistakes.”
Edmondson views the world as a “knowledge economy” where the value people offer their organizations lies in what they know.
She said, “What's inside my head is important, and if what's inside my head is not coming out, it's wasteful. Organizations need creativity, knowledge, ingenuity, and a willingness to team up with other people to create new value.
“If you recognize that employees everywhere are likely to be playing it safe and holding back, rather than diving in and giving it their all, you can easily recognize the cost to that.”
Creating a Psychologically Safe Environment
Edmondson advocates a three-step process for creating this psychologically safe environment:
- Setting the stage. Part one is "purpose, purpose, purpose,” she says. Remind people what's at stake, and why it matters. Part two is framing the work – being clear about why this kind of work demands candor and voice, and that great success only comes with small failures along the way.
- Inviting participation. Explicitly ask people what they think, what their ideas are, and what you have missed.
- Responding productively. When people bring seemingly crazy ideas or bad news, don't respond in a way that threatens to shut them down. Respond in a way that will encourage more of the same going forward.
The hardest thing about empowerment is balancing autonomy with necessary oversight in your team.
You want to give your team members the autonomy they need to innovate, to run their own projects, but that will still need managing to ensure there is alignment with organizational goals. Are they working on the right things?
This doesn’t mean micromanaging your team, but managers do need to know their people are succeeding and not struggling in silence.
So set up regular check-ins and get and give feedback sessions to ensure the balance is right.
A whole new world of possibilities opens up for empowered, supported teams.
What's Next?
Learn more about psychological safety in our Expert Interview with Amy Edmondson, The Fearless Organization.
For more on the topic of empowerment, including an exercise for your team, see our articles Top Tips for Empowering Your Team and Empowering for Action.
Tip of the Week
How to Lead With Humanity
By Keith Jackson, Mindtools Managing Editor
Thinking back to when I first entered the workplace in the mid-1980s, I’m pretty sure that the managers and senior leaders I encountered (or, more accurately, tried to avoid!) would be aghast at what their successors have to put up with in 2024.
I can just imagine their reaction to appeals to be more empathetic, to encourage psychological safety or, God forbid, to work from home!
Fortunately, those days are behind us – for the most part. But, until recently, being the big boss – and being seen to be the big boss – was wrapped up in the identity of many leaders.
In today’s digital-first, hybrid working world, one of the challenges of leadership is, “How do I connect with my people? How do I be more... human?”
Soft skills that were once derided are now top of the wanted list for managers and executives. So, how can you lead with humanity?
It means leaning into the skills and behaviors that my colleague, Kevin, outlines in his thoughtful lead article, above. Here are just a few tips:
- Develop empathy.
- Communicate transparently.
- Listen actively.
- Be flexible.
- Think about the impact your actions and behaviors have on others.
For a deeper dive into this, see our new article, Leading with Humanity in the Age of Technology.
Pain Points Podcast
How do you respond when things go wrong at work?
Do you own up, if appropriate, then work out what happened and learn valuable lessons, ultimately coming away stronger and wiser? Or do you blame others, beat yourself up, and back away from similar challenges in the future?
On Pain Points this week, we meet Dr Ayo Olatoye, who works in a world where mistakes can be matters of life and death. Find out how he handles situations that “go South,” and listen to his advice about facing up to failure.
Subscribe Today
Mindtools News
Two Exciting New Launches
These are exciting times at Mindtools. We’ve been working hard across all areas of the company to bring you brand new content, brand new products, and there are more major improvements and initiatives on the near horizon! Let’s take a look at two new launches that are available NOW.
Women in Leadership
We’ve launched a new suite of resources that speak directly to women leaders and women who aspire to be leaders.
While many leadership challenges are shared by both men and women, women face distinct barriers shaped by cultural, societal and organizational biases.
At Mindtools, we believe that addressing these unique challenges will empower women to navigate them more effectively while contributing to more equitable workplaces and fostering inclusive leadership.
And we’re speaking from long experience. Mindtools has female leaders at every level of the company and across every department, including our CEO. Their ideas and suggestions were key to the content we’ve produced.
Visit mindtools.com to explore some of our new articles, including:
Manager Skills Assessment
To be an effective manager, you need to be aware of the skills required to lead your people. You also need to know what areas you need to develop, and demonstrate the progress you’ve made.
That’s why we’ve created our exclusive Manager Skills Assessment. It’s an evaluation tool designed to measure the capabilities and behaviors of the modern manager.
The Manager Skills Assessment is based on solid, evidence-led research and is complemented by our Building Better Managers report.
And for the next two weeks, we’ve got an exclusive Mindtools Members-only discount of 65 percent off the usual price.
Why take the Manager Skills Assessment (MSA)?
- Spot your strengths: receive a personalized report that highlights your top skills as a leader.
- Pinpoint key gaps: identify exactly where to focus for the biggest impact in your role.
- Get tailored guidance: access continuous, evidence-based insights designed to support your growth.
The full price is £75 or US$97, but with our introductory offer, you can get the Manager Skills Assessment for just £26 UK or US$32.
To unlock your management potential, click on the Manager Skills Assessment.
See you next week for more member-exclusive content and insight from the Mindtools team!
