6 Myths About Empowering Employees Page 1 of 5

LEADERSHIP

6 Myths About Empowering

Employees
by David Marquet
MAY 27, 2015

When Dr. Stephen R. Covey visited the

nuclear powered submarine I
commanded, the USS Santa Fe, he told
me it was the “most empowering
workplace he’d ever seen.” It was a bit
ironic for me, because I’m sour on the
word empowerment and I’m sour on
empowerment programs. To me, saying
we need an empowerment program is
like saying we need a swimming
program. The implication is that
swimming isn’t a natural occurring
behavior for our people. So, what we are
saying when we say we need an
empowerment program is that the
fundamental way we run our
organization is dis-empowering, or is it de-empowering?

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The solution isn’t a “program.” The solution is to change the fundamental way
your organization is designed and managed so that people can exercise the natural
power that comes from being a human.

Based on my experience in turning the Santa Fe from the worst-performing ship in

the Navy to the best, here are the six biggest myths about empowerment:

Myth 1: The route to empowerment is a program.

You can’t implement a bottom-up concept in a top-down way.  This inherent self-
contradiction dooms it.

The first step always needs to be a commitment from the group that they want
more authority and more decision-making. Generally this follows a frank
discussion. If the team wants empowerment, you are off to the races. If not, you
learned that you’d be wasting your time. Try again in six months.

Myth 2: You empower people. 

People are already empowered. What you, as a leader do, is give them the voice
and authority to exercise the empowerment they naturally have.

Consider: If it takes the boss to empower them, the boss can unempower them,
and that’s not very powerful. This isn’t to say that leaders don’t have an important
role in letting people exercise the natural power that they have. What leaders do is
push decision-making down the organization as far as possible so that the decision
is made by those people who are closest to the information. This is contrary to the
standard habit of pushing information to those who have the authority for making
the decision.

Myth 3: Empowerment is enough. 

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Leaders must also ensure that their people have the requisite competence and
clarity to make successful decisions. This means an empowering organization
spends more time with technical training and clarity of purpose than one that
relies on a top-down compliance model. Empowered employees without sufficient
technical competence and organizational clarity cause chaos.

Myth 4: Your picture of empowerment matches your team’s. 

One of the problems with the word empowerment is that it is vague.

“Empowerment” does not inherently contain the ability to measure and affect it:
two necessary components for improving it. What do we say, “Be somewhat more
empowered than you used to be?” That’s like saying “Get stronger” and then going
to the gym and never knowing how much weight you are pushing.

Instead, use specific words to identify the level of empowerment you want, such as
“explore options,” “recommend alternatives,” or “come up with a plan,” or “do
what you think is best.”

Myth 5: During a crisis, it’s appropriate to revert to traditional top-down

command and control. 

In fact, the more important and time-urgent the event, the bigger the relative
performance gain an empowered team will achieve. The reason most organizations
revert to command and control is because they have never seen a highly trained
team operate in a crisis or a particularly high-tempo, high-stress operation. While
there does need to be coordination and communication, if each member knows his
or her job, the leader can still refrain from issuing orders. The highest performing
teams in the military perform in highly decentralized, and empowered ways.

Myth 6: Blowing up your hierarchy will result in empowered people.

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On the contrary, blowing up your hierarchy will result in confused people. The
problem with hierarchy is not the role definition that comes with it, the problem is
that bosses use hierarchy to tell those below them what to do. We believe that clear
role definitions (with people filling various roles that may change from time to
time) allows the team to focus on getting the job done rather than worrying about
the uncertainly of the limits of their authority or their responsibilities. This
uncertainty will (certainly) reduce their ability to solve highly cognitively
demanding tasks.

Instead, use hierarchy in a way that places greater obligation on those higher up to
take care of their teams, and greater responsibility to ensure those below them
have the tools they need, in the form of technical competence and organizational
clarity, to be successful when making decisions.

Remember, in highly effective organizations there are leaders at every level, not
just at the top.

David Marquet imagines a workplace where everyone engages and contributes their full
intellectual capacity. A place where people are healthier and happier because they have more control
over their work – a place where everyone is a leader. Author of Fortune’s Best Business Book, Turn the
Ship Around!.

This article is about LEADERSHIP

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Related Topics: COACHING | DEVELOPING EMPLOYEES

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8 COMMENTS

claire sparks 2 years ago

I empower you to use the verb "disempower," instead of "unempower."

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