Empowerment is a Leadership Trick! by Chip R. Bell and Bilijack R. Bell Empowerment!

The word is spoken with apprehension by most leaders. What races through their heads are scary images of employees giving away the store and bosses giving up control. Some employees want more of it; some want to be told what to do and not worry after five oclock. Joe was a crusty ex-union buster who had started out in the textile mills of South Carolina kicking butts and taking names, as he liked to say. And, many a fellow employee lost his breakfast worrying about an upcoming meeting with Mr. OToole. One day Joe called a meeting to announce that the company was shifting to a participative management philosophy. The idea of Joe being participative was about as likely as Attila the Hun being compassionate. But, Joe was a good soldier. If the company wanted people to be more participative, hed give it a try. Employees were reassured, however, that the world as they knew it was not about to come crashing down, when Joe ended the meeting with: Our division WILL have participative management. And, youll participate, by God, or Ill fire your butt! Joes heart was in the right place, but he missed the point. Just as leaders struggle with close encounters of the empowerment kind, employees also labor to test the outer limits of authority. Like Joe, everyone wants to do the right thing. And, like Joe, employees and leaders risk missing the point. REACTION: Empowerment is insuring employees closest to a problem or need have the authority to make judgments on how the problem is solved or the need met. It means responsible freedom. It is a responsible freedom; employees who balance the freedom to go the extra mile for the customer with the responsibility of taking care of the organization. Power already exists in the employee. The job of the leader is to release power...that is, to remove the barriers that keep employees from acting with power. Empowerment is a partnership in focused energy and go the extra mile enthusiasm. Empowerment: 3 Action Steps to Develop the Power of Concentration to Manifest Your Desires By Alicia Isaacs Developing the power of concentration is a powerful tool to helping you resolve whatever situation you're facing. Every problem has a solution waiting to be uncovered. But this solution often times requires the power of concentration to yield the answer to you. In this article we'll uncover 3 action steps you can use right now to develop the power of concentration to manifest your desires. Action Step #1 - Write out what you need resolved

Think of the goal you're working on and the area in which you're stuck. Try to be as specific as possible. During this process identify the area you're having success in and the area you need resolution. Write these out as two separate areas. It will help bring better clarity on what you need to focus on. For example, you may be working on your relationship with your partner and you're having success spending more time together but when coming to communication there may be some break down in certain areas. So you'd write down - success area = spending more time together - area needs working on = better communication Or if you're working on a business, one area may prove to be productive while growth seems to be stunted in another. Specifically identify these areas as shown in the example above. Action Step #2 - Visualize your outcome Now that you've clearly identified the area you need to work on, clearly define what you'd like the end result to be. You see, you're looking at where you are now and where you need to be so you have a clear target that you're working towards. Using the relationship example above, you identified that you and your partner are not open enough in your communication or you yell instead of talk with each other when dealing with more intense situations. What would your desired results be? - To be more open in your communication or communicate in a calmer manner when dealing with more intense situations. Visualize your outcome and write it down. Action Step #3 - Get inspired ideas to manifest your desired outcome Here's where most people get stuck because they don't know how to get from where they are to where they need to be. REACTION Changing your life may seem like an overwhelming frustrating process. But it doesn't have to be if you're given simple doable step-by-step strategies that will get you from where you are to where you want to be. Implement your best ideas but keep an open mind and listen within for other inspired ideas that surface from within you. Also give room to allow things to unfold naturally as well. Because when you begin this process it's amazing how things are set in motion and start to work themselves out easily and effortlessly as you move forward toward your desired results. Enthusing Employees without Pom-Poms By David R. Butcher

Management wants motivated and enthused workers. But how do companies maintain an excited workforce? Most companies have it all wrong, according to Harvard Business School. Companies don't have to motivate their employees: "They have to stop demotivating them." Think about when you first began working at any one of your past jobs, or even your current one. It was a new experience with so much opportunity. You likely were quite enthusiastic when you first started, no? However, survey research of about 1.2 million employees (conducted by Sirota Survey Intelligence) finds that in about 85 percent of companies, employees' morale sharply declines at the point of six months employed, after which time morale continues to deteriorate for years. Sounds about right: that downward spiral from initial enthusiasm to a mentality of giving just enough effort to get the job donenothing more. A recent article from Harvard Business School says it is the responsibility of management to motivate and enthuse, particularly through company-employed policies and procedures in workforce management, as well as the relationships that individual managers establish with their direct reports. If companies are to maintain employees' initial enthusiasm, says the renowned business school, management should understand and address three key goals the majority of employees seek from their work: 1) Equity Respect and fair treatment in terms of pay, benefits and job security 2) Achievement Pride in job, accomplishments and employer 3) Camaraderie Productive relationships with colleagues HBS makes important note that, in order to maintain an excited workforce, "management must meet all three goals." If even one of the above factors is missing within a company, employees are full-on three times (3x!) less enthusiastic than workers at companies where all elements are present. One goal is not substitutable for another: "Improved recognition cannot replace better pay, money cannot substitute for taking pride in a job well done, and pride alone will not pay the mortgage." First, perhaps foremost, managers should provide employees with a sense of security. Employees should not fear their jobs are in jeopardy if their performance is imperfect. Layoffs

are an extreme last resort, not simply another option for "dealing with hard times." This should be made known within the organization and the department. After security, the following Harvard Business School-proffered practices can play a key role in keeping employees both motivated and enthused. REACTION This is one of the best things I have read on the damage done by managers that are not trained to be that motivator of people. The greatest demotivator in my opinion is managers thinking their job is to make all the decisions without the input of the employees. The job of management is to create an environment that puts the best interest of others first, encourages employee input & involvement and is willing to transfer ownership and accountability to those closest to the customer. Management needs to understand that their job is to remove barriers so employees can do their job. Listening and involving; If managers can keep employees enthusiastic about their jobs, perhaps employees will show more enthused effort in their current positions and less in looking for a new one. Let Go of the Need To Be Superwoman by: Susan Leigh Women often feel the need to do everything and do it well. They may be basing their attitude on their experiences of their own mother or from seeing reports of other women in the press and in their own circle of contacts. Their mother may have been successful in every area, a good homebuilder who did everything herself as well as being a successful wife, friend and businesswoman. Or she may have made life for her children difficult and unhappy and because of this there is a commitment to ensure that it does not happen with her own children. The problem with being Superwoman is that by looking competent people assume that it is easy for you. They may get the impression that you want to do it all, are happy to do everything yourself. They may feel that you are organised and manage it well or there may be a feeling of inadequacy that they would not do things as well as you, and so they shy away from trying. The answer to this is to be more relaxed and generous with your approach. Allow people to take some responsibility and learn how to do things for themselves. In either a work or a home environment people have to learn and be allowed to do tasks in their own way, without fear of censure, ridicule or disapproval.

REACTION: All I can say is you cant do everything by your own. You have to learn to trust your coworkers that they can perform their job. You have to delegate responsibilities, decentralize control. Share your leadership abilities and empower others to be as good as you. As we seek to empower ourselves, we can empower others as we show respect, develop environments of trust and work toward a world that can function interdependently. This interdependent process has many options for expanding our individual horizons and quality of life. Encouraging Employees To Be Problem Solvers By: Broderick Bell If you are a manager, quality is important to you. And you have to talk about quality in many settings. Performance discussions, formal meetings, informal meetings, and casual chats are just a few of those settings. During these encounters, your goal is to encourage employees to reduce or eliminate errors and mistakes. One way of doing that is to LINK poor quality to extra work. A complicating ingredient in this stew is the persona of an executive who publicly espouses employee empowerment, advocates an open door policy, but who contradictorially actually controls the problem solving process by discouraging intra team employee communications. Indeed, employee interaction is subtly frowned upon. Employees are required to bring all significant, meaningful, meaty questions, to the corner office for resolution. In essence, the FDA is observing that those companies with simplistic, easy to understand change control procedures are those that are more likely to succeed in an environment that requires constant change control vigilance Recognition can also be very successful. A very successful program may have nothing to so with cash if promoted correctly, for example one I have heard about didn't give a dime for referrals but instead granted a little icon that was placed next to the persons corporate email address and was based on their number of referrals. It became extremely competitive and was all about bragging rights. It cost the company basically nothing and can work for years. Clyde always missing meetings? Hilda often late or a "no show"? Then why not put him or her in charge of the next meeting you have? That way, the burden of employee attendance will be on someone else. And Clyde or Hilda might just have a better way of encouraging employee attendance than you. For example, a common choice for the end of the working year is presenting each employee with a personalised mug. This could boost morale within the work place and make each member feel highly valued - even though some employees only play a limited role. If employers all took the time plus the effort to order gifts for every member of staff, no more would employees dread coming to work in the morning. Coming to work wouldn't be so much of a chore and would alternatively be something enjoyable, somewhere that they too can really make a difference.

REACTION: When you give employees small rewards for achieving their sub-goals, show them why their work has meaning, and create a conducive work environment it is possible for you to keep them more motivated towards reaching major goals than they would otherwise be. In turn, this will help your team to get even more high-priority goals done, which can give you an edge over your competition.

Empowering Your Employee By Tamara Dowling, CPRW We hear the buzzwords, "Empowering Employees" yet do we really know how to do that. Is it pointing them to resources and letting them go? In some cases, it is. Each case is unique. The truth is that there is a wide spectrum, and we need to know our employees, ourselves, and the project well enough to know where on the spectrum is appropriate. Let's test your management skills in a quick quiz? You are the manager of a new project leader. He has been a data analyst for 4 years. He will be overseeing the work of 2 people on his team, and 5 contributors from other departments. In which scenario do you think the new project manager will be more successful. A.) You give him clear instructions, with a follow-up email documenting the work to complete and the deadline. You allow him the freedom to handle it and check back with him in two weeks when it is due. B.) You give him instructions, and check with him every morning and afternoon. You talk to his staff, and the other contributors to make sure they received the appropriate instructions. You stay late several nights to help oversee the project, even when your new manager cannot. Did you select A? B? Both are incorrect. In scenario A, you are not involved at all. You are not communicating, measuring or anything to be sure this very green project leader is on track. If he fails, you are to blame for providing no guidance. In scenario B, you are not demonstrating confidence in your new project leader. You are undermining his authority by checking up on his staff and others involved. He may have become frustrated by your lack of trust. Maybe that is why he is not staying late to manage the overtime staff. You are also not holding him accountable. You are stepping in to do the work, instead of providing guidance. He is new and may not feel confident. This treatment probably compounded those feelings. For your new employee to be successful, you must empower him. There's that word again. We've broken it into seven key parts of empowering your employee.

Confidence Before you place the employee in the position, be sure you have confidence that he has the right skills, knowledge and resources to do the job. Make sure you have expressed that to the employee. Clear Expectations Set clear expectations so the employee knows exactly what to do and what the department goals are. Delegate authority so the employee can make decisions within that authority. Communication Ongoing communication is vital so you and the employee are always in sync. Communicate work goals and department process. Share awareness of problems or changes. Alert each other of company and industry news that affects the department and upcoming projects or potential sales. Commitment and Support You are committed to the employee's success, and everyone knows it. You guide the employee without micromanaging or doing the job for him. Do not check up on the employee by interviewing their staff or taking their complaints as valid. Just as you want your employees to work through proper channels and not go over your head, it goes the same way in the other direction. Measuring You establish metrics in advance, so it is clear what the department and company standards are. It is easy to objectively determine if goals are met. Accountability You hold the employee accountable. If the target is not met or work is not satisfactory, he is responsible. You are there for advice, perspective, and guidance, but the employee manages the solution. You do not step in and clean it up. If he is accountable for the solution process, he learns from the problem or error. REACTION: The degree of communication, and hands on support will vary depending on the employee's position, skills, experience level, and tenure. However, the principles of empowerment are the same at all levels. As the employee develops and achieves successes, you can give the employee a little more freedom to soar. Because you are communicating and measuring against standards, you'll know if you need to get more involved.

The Motivating Power of Vision by John Pellowe Some people swear by vision and mission statements and others hate them. Many companies have done quite well without them. One aspect of the vision statement that is often overlooked is its power to motivate your employees. I see far too many employees who are just doing their job. They may have a great title and be performing well, but it is still just a job. The spark is missing. Most people share a yearning to be part of something bigger than themselves. Something they can be excited about, feel good about, that will challenge them to do something important and give performance that is "above and beyond." Most vision statements are very dry. They talk about how well the company is going to do. My own vision statement was like that: "Canada's pre-eminent organizational development company". Does that do anything for you? Aside from ego gratification, I've realized it does nothing for me. It doesn't touch my heart. It's not the reason I'm in this business. I left another career years ago because I wanted to have a high impact on people's lives. I wanted to be an encourager. I wanted to give people hope and a way to achieve their dreams. My new vision statement is: Every person - purposeful and fulfilled Every job - meaningful and significant Every company - prosperous and growing Can you feel the difference? That grabs my emotions. It is significant. It is noble. It is motivational. It may not do anything for you if it isn't close to your heart, but it is very close to the heart of the people I want working with me. Those who will share my passion for people. You want a vision that will attract people who share your passion. A vision can be short: "The World's Favourite Airline" - British Airways. It can be a picture of the organization in the future that is very attractive: "America's Army. Trained and Ready to Fight. Serving the Nation at Home and Abroad. A Strategic Force, Capable of Decisive Victory - into the 21st Century" - The United States Army. It can be noble: "I will build a motor car for the great multitude. It will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one. The horse will disappear from the highways, the automobile will be taken for granted." Henry Ford. It could be very grand: "To put Coke within 'arm's reach'" - Coca-Cola. REACTION: If you want to energize and motivate your employees to use more of their creativity and initiative; if you want to build team spirit and commitment, then write a vision. Emotions pulled out from vision will help in doing things right and doing things the right way.

IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE By Sharif Khan It is very easy in todays quick fix society to sacrifice quality and give in to mediocrity. There are too many products in the marketplace that are nothing more than crap with a pretty package, (sometimes even the packaging is garbage) put out by individuals with false hopes of making a fast buck at the customers expense. Unfortunately, everyone ends up losing in this scenario: the customer ends up with a bad experience and they tell all their friends, the product ends up being returned or in the recycle bin, and usually the company in question eventually ends up bankrupt. Rest assured, people who push crap by putting lipstick on pigs will end up fried bacon. Hero souls are rare individuals who are always striving for more, always striving to improve,always committed to doing better than their best. They are in pursuit of excellence 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To be your best, you have to be willing to do more, to strive a little more, to know a little more, to reach a little higher and go beyond yourself. Whether you are a student, office worker, entrepreneur, or artist, I encourage you to make the extra effort in bettering yourself and your craft every day and commit to excellence. If you are a student, learn more than just the assigned topic; bring an extra dimension into your research by digging further and offering more than what is expected. If you are an entrepreneur, learn from other disciplines outside your expertise and research the competition to genuinely improve your product instead of just mouthing, were the best at what we do. If youre an artist, risk rejection by putting your soul on the line by grasping at truth beyond yourself, even if you cant quite fully understand and explain what lies beyond you. REACTION: Self improvement is the best way to empower yourself. Dont boast about how good you are, commit to excellence and let the facts speak for themselves. So, go beyond yourself and be the best you can be. Asking Empowering Questions By Jeanie Marshall . "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." -Albert Einstein Questions guide us in all that we do. Some we ask to ourselves; some to others. We walk into a room and think or ask, "What's going on here?" We hear the telephone ring and wonder, "Who's that?" We see a friend and ask, usually quite automatically, "How are you?"

Not every question has a question mark at the end. For example, "I wonder if I'll have trouble falling to sleep tonight." Or, "Let's see if there are any fresh vegetables that look good at the supermarket today." These are examples of rather neutral questions, that is, those that are not empowering or disempowering. They simply guide us in our observations. Questions You Ask Naturally You may want to take a few moments to consider what questions lead you through a day. What do you ask when you see a friend? .......when you get into your car? .......when you hear the door bell? .......when you pick up your mail? ........when you fall asleep at night? ......when you awaken in the morning? As you become aware of your natural questions, you may find that they are helpful or unhelpful; empowering or disempowering; clear or confusing. Some may lead you to the responses or answers that you truly desire, some may evade the true issues. REACTION: Our questions and inner messages accumulate at various levels of our consciousness. Some are deeply embedded and insidious. Many are disempowering. Some may have been empowering at a particular stage of our development, but now are disempowering. It is important to bring to the surface the ones that operate our lives so that we can work with them. If the internal messages are empowering, we want to energize them. If they are disempowering, we want to neutralize them and/or replace them.