Em Powerment

There is consensus in the LeaderShip literature that empowering people is a best-practice leadership behavior.

TomDeMarco writes in PeopleWare (p.93) that you should:

get the right people;
make them happy so they don't want to leave; and
turn them loose [i.e., empower them]

WarrenBennis writes in OnBecomingaLeader (p.xiii) that "one has to keep in mind that the key to competative advantage in the nineties and beyond will be the capacity of leadership to create the social architecture capable of generating intellectual capital. And intellectual capital means ideas, know-how, innovation, brains, knowledge, and expertise. ... As Michael Eisner, the Chairman and CEO of Disney, said not long ago about his company, 'our inventory goes home at night'. (See InventoryGoesHomeAtNight.) He's talking about talent. And you're not going to attract or retain a work force like that under those silly and obsolete forms of bureaucratic or command and control leadership. You cannot release the brain power of any organization by using whips and chains. You get the best out of people by empowering them, by supporting them, by getting out of their way."

Barbara Corday, a highly successful television producer, is also quoted in OnBecomingaLeader (p.96) as saying "I can also say, 'You have a better idea than I have. Let's do your idea.' I don't second-guess people. If I hire you to do something, I let you do it."

Empowerment is closely related to trust. Leaders must trust people to do their job.

Empowerment of subordinates does not relieve leaders of their own responsibilities. Leaders must set goals and communicate them to the staff, and must occasionally step in to resolve conflicts.

Set clear expectations for empowerment. Some staff just do not know where to stop and assume that if they 'empowered' then they are allowed to do whatever they like. Other staff may be overly cautious about 'going too far', by setting clear empowerment limits they will understand the allowable boundaries of empowerment.

What would you suggest to read for those mastering art of delegation and empowerment? PeopleWare is fine, but it's too general and bit far from day-to-day change of leader's behaviour. --[DenisYurkin, 3 Sept 2005]