Empowerment: how will you know when you’re doing it right?

This post is part of the Your Plan of Action series for those new to the executing team (also called management by some. But not by the enlightened readers of this site.).

One last motivation

If you need one last motivation on the benefits of empowering your people (past discussion here and here) as a new member of the executing team, think of it this way: you are paying these people a lot of money for their time and expertise. Use it. Ask them their opinions and require them to solve problems. You’ll be creating new leaders by teaching them to see the bigger picture.

How will I know when I’m doing it all right?

You’ll know you’ve got it right when your team members can make the right decisions without asking you.

When this happens, they are informed of your goals and vision and are empowered by this knowledge with the ability to make the right decisions.

…and when I’m doing it wrong?

When you don’t inform, when you don’t infuse your goals and vision into others, then every decision made on every day is a mystery to them, and rightly so. With no context, how can anyone anticipate what decision is the right decision?

In this situation no one can do anything without your direct and personal involvement.

This is a very common situation that arises with managers who must control and who live in fear of failure. They don’t tell anyone what the vision is, so no one can criticize it beforehand or know whether they’ve failed afterward.
The sad part is, developing an organization that hinges on the wisdom of one omnipotent decision maker sets you up for the biggest failures of all.

It’s worth the trouble; take the time to empower your teams.

This is the last post in this series. Next up we’ll talk a little bit about creating a vision, and then it’s on to stuff you can use every single day: writing, speaking, and career management skills.