Don't delegate - Empower
Supervisory Management
Saranac Lake
Oct 1994  

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Authors: Boren, Richard
Volume: 39
Issue: 10
Start Page: 10
ISSN: 1045263X
Subject Terms: Management styles
Employee empowerment
Professional relationships
Management
Decision making
 
Classification Codes: 9190:  US
9000:  Short article
2200:  Managerial skills
 
Geographic Names: US
 

Abstract:
Empowerment unleashes within each person the inherent power to make a difference, power that cannot be taken away by some outside force. Delegation is acting on another's behalf. Empowerment does not begin with delegation.

Copyright American Management Association Oct 1994

Full Text:
But those who know the difference can tell you the impact it has had on their departments' work and senior management's appreciation of their skill in managing.

I am talking about the words "empowerment" and "delegation." We use them everyday, innocently mistaking one for the other, unaware of their true meanings.

To set the record straight, empowerment unleashes within each one of us the inherent power to make a difference, power that cannot be given or taken away by some outside force. Delegation is acting another's behalf. By its nature it is not true power. It is permission, often given and just as often taken away. Why is this distinction so important? Because it is the key that unlocks the true potential in all of us.

Do not be fooled. Empowerment does not begin with delegation. It begins by trusting unconditionally the inherent power within our staff to competently evaluate choices and to make and execute creative decisions. As managers, we must not violate this trust by expecting our staff to adopt our own perspectives and expecting them to represent our own selfish interests. This is the quickest and surest recipe for stifling creativity.

Managers must remember that good decisions are a function of knowledge, creativity, and the melding of different and often opposing perspectives. Results are no more predictable or repeatable simply because the decisions upon which they are founded have management's blessings. Results are made predictable and repeatable by tapping the power of knowledge and creativity.

Likewise, we must not make empowerment conditional on success. Our commitment must be reinforced in the face of success and unwavering in the face of failure. In the game of poker, winners come to the table expecting to win but prepared to lose. Their victories only reinforce the credibility of their game plans. Yet even after being dealt several bad hands, they remain steadfastly committed to their game plans. They do not hesitate, or for them the game is over. They expect to succeed but are prepared to fail.

So when it comes to empowerment, it is time to put away our petty politics, our selfish pride, our drive or personal gain, our organizational power struggles. It is time to unleash the power.

Richard Boren is QA chief for the Division of Information Resource Management, North Carolina Department of Human Resource.
 

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