There is much talk nowadays about this whole question of empowerment. Every management magazine or journal that you open, every book that makes it to the top of the BusinessWeek list or every seminar that you attend, has invariably some reference or another to empowerment. The concept in itself is simple to understand. Due to the complex and fast-changing nature of the world that we live in, the old ?command and control? approach that we have treasured since times immemorial no longer works ? nowadays you need decision-making to take place where the action takes place, and not in the CEO?s office. Practically, this implies that if I run a university and parents come to our Marketing department to request a discount on their son?s or daughter?s fees, our Marketing consultants must be empowered to say yes or no ? and not have to refer the case to myself or one of my senior staff. Or if I run a Loans department in a bank and a client approaches me for an extension of this loan, as a truly empowered manager, I must have the authority to approve or reject ? without necessarily having to refer the matter to my superiors or go through endless bureaucratic activities as is so often the case on this island.

If the concept is simple to grasp, its philosophical undertones are yet to be fully understood. Many of us believe that true empowerment is about taking power from the top and spreading it throughout our company. If I can share some of my power as CEO with my departmental managers and make them responsible for the end results, I would have empowered my staff ? right? No ! Wrong. True empowerment isn?t about this ? it comes when you and I as managers become acutely aware that our subordinates already have power. This power is vested in their knowledge, skills and commitment to the job ? it is their passion for the job. And this is a power that neither you nor I can give.

Nothing illustrates more this statement than this dramatic (but true) case incident that was recently shared with me. The CEO of a large organization on this island thought that he had it all made. He had spent over a decade building up a business he had inherited from his father by exploring new markets and acquiring the latest technology. Essentially, he had hired smart brains and the right personalities ? entrepreneurs who had a similar vision and could respond to the challenges of growth and development. The business grew, turnover increased dramatically and return on investment was exemplary. As time went by however, some of the key people, the CEO?s most trusted lieutenants, began to resign from the firm. Not a fool, the CEO realized that something was amiss and asked his HR department to investigate. The latter did just that and found that critical employees were leaving because, as they put it during their exit interviews, they had been offered better positions elsewhere. ?But why did they accept these offers?? asked the CEO. The answer was dramatic and boiled down to a stark statement: ?We are given limited decision-making authority in this firm.? Again, not a fool, the CEO realized that he had to do something fast ? losing top talent in this talent-starved island was like losing his shirt: his firm?s very future was at stake. So he flew in consultants from overseas and with their help, embarked into an extensive change management process that involved conducting an attitude survey followed by the implementation of a wide-ranging empowerment strategy. Decision making, the lieutenants were told, would from now on devolve to them. Everyone was given specific objectives and limits of authority were clearly spelt out. And progress reviews took place at regular intervals. Twelve months later, HR ran another survey. Did the employees feel more empowered? No. Why? Because, argued those surveyed, things have once again been done to us ? we were never involved nor consulted.

Real empowerment then, takes place when we succeed in creating an environment in which the existing power of everyone ? not from just the top ? is allowed to flourish. It is power with our people ? and not power over our people. It is deemed successful when everyone concerned develops a greater interest, commitment and dedication to his or her job and becomes healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous and passionate.

For this to happen, we must first of all recognize that, as executives, it is all too easy for us to impose our own values, backgrounds and experiences in the belief that they are superior to those of others. Secondly, we need to suspend our deep-seated need for control ? no matter how scary this might be to those amongst us who are so used to the command and control mode of managing. Thirdly, as empowering leaders, we need to dream great dreams and inspire others to actualize them ? and, hardest of all, allow them to derive credit in the process. Altogether, not an easy task.

Prof E Charoux

[email protected]