Ignite Your Leadership Journey

Leadership and Growth –Developing a Personal Leadership Style Centered on Empowerment in Leadership and Why it Matters?

Have you ever wondered why Developing a Personal Leadership Style Centered on Empowerment in Leadership Matters?

In my three decades of experience in leadership, I’ve witnessed the transformative power of developing a personal leadership focused on empowerment. I recall working with a young executive at a major corporation who initially struggled with her team’s engagement. Adopting a mentorship program and leading through empowerment, her team rejuvenated, enhancing overall performance. This observance emphasizes the vitality of empowerment in leadership and underscores its critical importance.

Importance - Even more so in today's global business environment, empowerment is crucial to leadership. According to a Gallup study, empowered employees are 21% more productive and show 41% lower absenteeism. In the age of innovation, creativity, agility, and attentiveness in employee engagement becomes a must-have answer to Empowerment-driven leadership. Leaders who empower foster a work environment where people are heard, respected, supported, and trusted to excel just because they can. When that happens, this results in higher motivation, imagination, and commitment, which will pave the way for people’s and organizational success.

Impact - The organizational effect of an empowerment-centered leadership style is enormous. Think of Adobe, which eliminated annual performance reviews and embraced continuous real-time feedback and development. This change has put people in a position to own their development and ensure that what they learn directly contributes to the company's strategic goals. This resulted in an “explosion” of new ideas, job satisfaction, and overall output. For example, Southwest Airlines encouraging their teams to make decisions and improved customer service spurred an entire culture of responsibility and excellence in the organization — contributing significantly to its long-established success.

Challenges - While adopting an empowerment-centered leadership style can have benefits, it might also come with its share of challenges. Finding the right balance between delegating responsibility and ensuring accountability is a common challenge. With clear guidelines, we might worry that standards will slip, making it easier to let go of control. Another obstacle is empowering every team member, which requires ongoing attention to equally support individual abilities and needs. The key is to make expectations clear, help the desired behavior, and foster a culture of trust where everyone feels comfortable being open with each other. Additionally, it's essential to build constructive relationships with team members to understand their strengths and areas for development and to ensure that everyone has what they need to do their best work. Consistent feedback and open communication are crucial to keep everyone aligned and prevent empowerment from becoming confusing.

Relevance to the Boardroom - Our boards should drive empowerment in leadership as a strategic imperative. As board members, we are key in establishing an empowerment culture by supporting empowerment policies and initiatives. This means promoting leadership development programs, mentorship opportunities, and an environment where lifelong learning is embraced. Making empowerment a priority helps our boards press for expanded organizational resilience, innovation, and sustainable growth. We should also guarantee that empowerment is intrinsically implemented in the organization’s culture, objectives, and values.

Global Perspectives - Co-cultural and international differences may exist in developing empowerment as a leadership approach. For example, in Scandinavian countries, we find flatter organizational structures and participative decision-making, which reflects the value these cultures place on equality and collaboration. On the other hand, Japanese companies practice Nemawashi — a process of informal consensus-building—before formal decision-making ability to influence employees by making decisions. From the global perspective, this highlights that empowerment strategies need adaptation to meet local cultural requirements. However, they should consistently nurture trust and autonomy when implemented within a given organizational culture.

Expert Opinions - We drive and motivate people by giving them the confidence to succeed. According to Daniel Pink in his book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us,” autonomy, mastery, and purpose are the three elements of motivation that lead to higher levels of happiness and improved performance. As leadership expert and author Simon Sinek, reminds: “Leaders are not responsible for the results; leaders are responsible for the people who are responsible for the results”. These lessons highlight an emerging understanding that empowerment is crucial to creating motivated, effective, and confident people.

Future Outlooks - As organizations evolve and face new challenges, empowerment in leadership will only become more critical as we continue. Remote work, digital transformation, AI, and a renewed focus on employee well-being are trends we expect to continue to shape leadership's future. Organizations taking the lead will be better poised to capitalize on and retain top talent, stimulate innovation, and maintain economic momentum. The focus on diversity and inclusion will require further attention to building a team where every employee feels valued and is encouraged to contribute to shaping their future role within your company and its success.

Three Takeaways for our Boardrooms:

Takeaway #1: Build Empowerment into the Core Strategy - We must embed empowerment in our mission, values, and strategic goals.

Takeaway #2: Continuous Development Opportunities – We must create consistent growth opportunities to develop skills required for empowerment to do a job well.

Takeaway #3: Build and Maintain a Culture of Trust and Honor True Accountability - We must practice truth to power by cultivating transparency through open dialogue. To attract and hold trust together, continuous feedback supported with mutual respect throughout the organization must be provided.

Final Reflections - Leading by empowering is the key to fostering growth and innovation within an organization. By prioritizing empowerment, organizations become healthier and more adept at navigating the challenges of today's rapidly evolving business landscape. Establishing clear guidelines for empowerment, investing in continuous learning, and promoting open communication are essential components of this approach.

True leadership lies in empowering others. It is the foundation upon which innovation is built and the path to a thriving future. Empowerment is the catalyst that transforms potential into progress, enabling organizations to adapt and lead in an ever-changing world. By choosing to lead from a place of empowerment, we can cultivate organizations that are healthy and beneficial to everyone in society.

So, grab your opportunity to lead from the place of empowerment!

Please share your journey and challenges around creating an empowering personal leadership style.

In what ways have you incorporated empowerment methods in your leadership endeavors?

What challenges have you encountered, and how did you overcome them?

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Embrace Your Leadership Journey by Developing a Personal Leadership Style Centered on Empowerment in Leadership

Ignite your Leadership Journey – Share Your Insights and Challenges in Developing a Personal Leadership Style Centered on Empowerment in Leadership

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You might check some of the topics elaborated on previously. See other articles

And if you want to empower Yourself on Your leadership Journey, check out my Book:

“Rise Above and Empower Yourself”

"Rise Above And Empower Yourself"

"Rise Above And Empower Yourself" Indira Bunic

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