Empowering Leadership Guide: Steps And Importance

Empowering your leaders is discussed a lot and for a good reason. A quality leader is characterized by the ability to empower the team to succeed.

Knowing what empowerment means and how you need to implement it in your organization to achieve success is important.

Empowerment may sound great, but in principle, it is about the human dimension and nothing else. Once you are in charge of a team or an organization, there is a belief that your decisions are responsible for the company’s success.

You could also think that the decisions that you have made could have a major impact on the company’s operations.

What is “Empowering Leadership”?

Empowering leadership is about placing trust in your employees and providing them with authority to make decisions. Leadership autonomy creates a sense of autonomy and momentum to work together toward a common goal.

The leadership style is to support the team members and provide them with the necessary tools to make them effective.

Team members feel empowered, are more confident in their abilities, and tend to deliver projects with greater care.

By implementing a strategy of empowering leadership, the leaders allow the employees to take ownership of their work, resulting in productive employees and a happy workforce.

Become the leader that people do not want to leave.

People do not leave companies; they leave leaders. We have heard this before, and according to market statistics, it is being preached too.

Seventy-five percent of employees stated that their manager was the primary reason for leaving their job.

Leadership is a challenge, and talking about bad leaders does not make the cut. The reason being there is so much more associated with it than taking the lead that encompasses it.

Why is the power skill of empowering leadership important, and why in this era?

A challenging facet that affects all forms of organizations, directly or indirectly, is changing. Present-day organizations change to flatten organizational structures as they enable a fitter and more flexible workforce.

The hierarchical approach is no longer sustainable, and a leader is no longer aware of it. It is all about growth, advancements, and a forward-thinking approach. Organizational change acts as change management as it upholds a different business structure or for people leading to this change.

Traits Of Empowering Leaders

Some of the traits of empowering leaders may help you understand the abilities that you may use to motivate and support the team members.

Communication

Empowering leaders resort to precise communication when discussing expectations and the requirements of a specific task or project.

In a leadership role, you can use your communication skills to share vital information and help your team generate innovative ideas.

Being an empowered leader, you share the company vision or goal with the team members to motivate them more.

This will help them understand how their role impacts the company and allow you to remain transparent when assigning tasks.

Active listening

Active listening gives full attention to others while they are speaking. When you are in a leadership position, you must limit all outside distractions while conversing with a team member. This distraction may include computer notifications and mobile devices.

Give your undivided attention to each team member you are meeting with and demonstrate that you need to care about the issues and challenges.

Integrity

Integrity is a trait that involves being reliable, honest, and trustworthy. The leaders may show integrity in accordance with their previous promises or expectations. You may also show integrity by accepting responsibility for your own mistakes.

Your integrity may influence the behavior of other members. When you show integrity as a leader, you empower the other team members to follow your example by being trustworthy and following through on promises.

Empathy

The feeling of empathy means you are considerate towards the actions of others. The leader may use empathy to understand the feelings of others and provide support for them.

When you show empathy, your team members will be more comfortable approaching you and seeking out your opinion on complex tasks.

To empower team members, use empathy to guide their feelings. When you support them, they are more open to working for you and finding a resolution.

Decision making

The main role of an empowered leader is to make important decisions. To empower team members, you need to get their input before making a vital decision.

This is going to help you decide how your choice is going to have an impact on them and empower them to take part in the decision-making process in your organization.

You may cash in on this opportunity by teaching employees how to make an important decision. Consider sharing the process before you make a decision. After doing so, the team members could make important decisions.

Adaptability

If your goal is to empower employees, you need to be adaptable at the place of work. When you are faced with a situation that is not familiar to you, consider this an opportunity to grow and learn more about the industry. Empowering leadership provides the best solution in any situation.

Suppose you are not sure about completing a new task. Maintain a good attitude and accomplish the task to the best of your abilities. If you maintain a well-composed attitude, it will also empower your team.

Is Empowering Leadership The Key To Unlocking Human Potential?

There are times in the business world when management theories shift. Like fashion trends change, so too do management styles and strategies over the years.

Supervising a team can turn out to be a mixed bag, and empowering leadership is the next solution in terms of leadership style and strategy.

Empowering leadership sees the differences.

When it comes to treating employees the same, treating all of them the same does not work anymore. The reason being all of them tend to have different motivations and strengths.

The need of the hour is different from leadership since everyone is unique and different from others.

Empowered leadership is not easy, but it is something that all businesses should strive for. This represents a balance of power between management and employees so that both groups align and work for the betterment of each other.

Empowering leadership shares the load.

If you are a manager, empowering your staff can make them more effective in their roles or responsibilities by providing them with the information and responsibility they need to get the job done.

It will make everyone valuable as it presents opportunities for various growth types.
Great leaders recognize and cultivate talent.

People would want to work with someone who wants them to grow and recognize their best selves. When people tune in with the leaders, such a type of leadership in the working environment can lead to a positive impact.

An empowered leader hands over their power.

The best thing you can hope for when using your position of authority is to get things done in compliance. When working as a manager, be aware that your employees will resent you if they find that there is no way to come out of your rule of thumb.

When people feel manipulated by their leaders, it is difficult to get the best out of them. The best thing a manager can do is abandon an authoritative leadership style and respect the views of their staff.

An empowered leader has team loyalty.

Project managers will gain their loyalty when they aim to empower their leaders. Without fear, the workers would want their minds to be creative and vibrant. When it comes to empowering employees, listening to and respecting their views is better.

Empowering employees increases their power and helps them influence their teams more, making their job easier in the long run.

When communicated correctly, the employees turn out to be the best resources for the management. But there is an art to these communication skills.

An empowered leader balances production with human capital.

Being a pushover is never a viable option for managing your employees. But in order to remain true in the books of the staff and the employees, you need to balance things out properly.

You need to ensure that the employees know exactly what their superiors are expecting from them.

You must push your employees to achieve the best possible results as a manager. This cannot be done by putting all the pressure on the employees alone, as the process can be facilitated by making the employees part of the decision-making process.

Why Is Empowerment Important In Leadership?

At the workplace, there are numerous reasons why empowering leadership is important.

Builds confidence

Empowering leadership builds the confidence of the team members by showing the trust that you have in their decision-making skills.

They will be empowered to make quality decisions if they see that you trust them.

Enhances employee morale

By listening to the employees, taking their concerns into consideration, and encouraging them to be part of the decision-making process, they feel that the leadership values their role and performance, boosting their morale.

Develop a positive work environment.

With the help of empowering leadership, you can go on to develop a positive work environment that will make employees feel comfortable sharing their concerns with you.

They would feel supported knowing that you are working alongside them to deal with their issues.

Tips To Improve Your Leadership Skills

Whether you are currently in a leadership role or seeking one, certain traits must be understood to become a successful, empowering leader. Below are some tips to enhance your empowering leadership skills.

Seek feedback

Consider asking for feedback on your leadership abilities from the management or team members.

Doing so will give you an idea of your leadership strengths and areas you need to improve. For example, you can take out a survey and ask your team members to provide input on which areas you need to improve

Communicate with the network

Communicate with the leaders in your network to understand how they empower the leaders. This is going to provide you with innovative ideas on how they can support your team.

Ask them about the techniques and tools they use to showcase support for these modules

Choose a professional development course.

Completing a professional development course would help you develop valuable leadership skills while understanding the traits that make an excellent manager.

Many professional development courses focus on empowering leadership skills and helping you identify the strengths in your leadership capabilities.

Find a mentor.

A mentor is a professional who can help you develop your leadership skills. You can consider availing yourself of the services of a mentor, like a manager or a team leader with whom you have worked before. They are professionals who are empowered to do a great job and make you perform to the best of your abilities.

Steps To Consider When You Are Employing An Empowering Leadership Strategy

Below are a few steps that you need to take to embrace empowering leadership as part of your strategy.

• Offer employees end-to-end authority and ownership. When handling a new project or a large task, show the employee that you trust them by giving them full responsibility. Employees will feel trusted and motivated to complete the job to the best of their abilities.
  
  
• Eradicate the micro-management style of leadership and allow the leaders to feel empowered. There may be a touching moment for other managers, too, as far as micromanagement is concerned. In the true sense, an employee needs to feel a true sense of empowerment based on their intuition. They can handle tasks.
  
  
• There is no one better than the line managers, who are aware of the strengths and drawbacks of their employees. Regarding employee engagement and productivity, managers are the greatest factor. You must encourage empowering leadership by discovering potential barriers and using them as teaching opportunities through coaching.
  
  
• Organizations should assist employees in evolving and creating personal development goals and plans alongside their line managers. This steers employees toward an agreed-upon path forward and keeps them motivated.
  
  
• Provides employees with opportunities to step out of their comfort zone and explore other areas of an organization to develop a feeling of empowerment. This can be a job transition in the current department or a job transfer to another location. It allows them to be given a different perspective and a true sense of empowerment.
  
  
• Be open to all forms of communication with the employees and allow them to share everything related to the organization or the company as a whole. This gives them a voice and a true sense of empowerment, knowing that their voice is heard in an organization.
  
  
• While it is good to encourage employees, make them think outside the box, and develop creative solutions to problems. This is going to provide them with a true sense of core space. Pushing outside the boundaries may be allowed in some cases; this allows them to ensure that they are in the right space.

Of course, like anything in life, there are bound to be flip sides, which is the case with empowering leadership.

But the potential benefits of this leadership style should not prevent its implementation in any form.

When Is The Right Time To Become An Empowering Leader?

Empowering leadership is a tricky one to implement. Not every task is open to or can be interpreted by your staff, and you do not want a free-for-all concept.

At the same time, you also do not want a situation where the employees are micromanaged. Rather, they need to have the freedom to perform their tasks to the best of their skills and abilities.

The management team should work with the employees to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Even the mission of your business should match the future of your employees. Since you know the business and the employees best, you will know the best time to implement empowering leadership.

Empowering leadership tactics that you can take

Let us consider the practical actions you may take to empower your team. A few of them may be small, whereas others could turn out to be slightly involved.

Starting small would help you try an empowering approach with your team members to ensure they are aware of it.

Ask a team member to represent you.

Leaders are often required to attend team meetings with senior leaders or their peers to report progress or develop strategies for the company’s progress.

Why not allow any of your team members to represent you in these meetings? But if you do this all the time, it would give the impression that you are avoiding this situation.

When you do this, take some time to prepare and inform the other people of the arrangement. This can remove the awkwardness if the other people are not aware that a team member will be attending the meeting.

There is no point in reviewing something that is undeliverable.

In some cases, empowering leadership is not about taking action. It means being the final one before a deliverable is published and sent to the outside world.

This means that your team member must be sure of things before it goes out.
Make sure that you make the team member aware of what is going to happen beforehand.

Otherwise, they would get a nasty surprise where they find it is all up to them. Not only it frees up your time, but it showcases an amicable form of trust.

The team member can work on running their own improvement initiative.

Motivated team members often make suggestions on how a team can improve. This is a great thing, but how it selects the improvement idea and implements it within the team remains to be seen. Try endorsing the improvement idea of your team.

This gives them a degree of accountability, allowing them to take ownership of having been successfully embedded within the team.

In the end, having an empowered team member with something that is added to their CV for an additional career boost.

Demonstrating empowering leadership by asking your team member what they should be doing

It is good if you have various fresh ideas on your team. Some of the fresh ideas come from the team rather than the leader telling everyone what will happen at all times.

Regarding decision-making, it can be helpful to figure out what the team members think.

That does not mean that you would allow them to run the entire show, but you would give them a platform to showcase their input. Based on the inputs, you may even decide to follow the lead.

Delegation of a key leadership responsibility

We all know that delegation can be powerful and help people develop their skills and confidence. But many leaders go on to delegate insignificant tasks.

Well, it can reduce your workload, but it will not affect employee motivation or team morale. Once again, it showcases confidence and trust and helps the team members develop their own leadership skills.

The characteristics of empowering leaders

Empowering leaders have certain common behavioral traits. Below are mentioned some of the characteristics of an empowered leader.

• They constantly remind others about their vision, sharing their overall goal and the value each team member has in achieving it. This would allow the members to understand their role and provide the motivation to bring the best of their abilities to work.
  
  
• They are effective communicators. Leaders who are empowering others are regularly adapting to new communication modes. Be it by phone, app, or text. An empowering leader takes the initiative to implement effective communication pathways for the entire staff’s benefit. They are available to address any query or obstacle that the company may face.
  
  
• They understand the value of each member. The leaders are aware that each team member was hired to increase the size of the overall team and what is needed to achieve the goal. They show value to the staff by listening carefully to their problems and acting upon the feedback.
  
  
• They delegate in an effective manner. Delegating builds trust and empowers a leader. A leader who empowers others shows that they can trust others and gives them the authority to make decisions regarding their deliverables and tasks. Reducing hassles along the way
  
  
• They recognize the value. Leaders empowering others not only understand every employee’s value but are quick to acknowledge the same. This can be done through public or private acknowledgment and understanding that reward leads to confidence.

Empowering Leadership Style

The empowering style of leadership may seem like a risk to the old employee-boss relationship, but research indicates empowering others increases the effectiveness of time management and eradicates obstacles related to productivity.

To a few empowering leaders, it may seem that it takes away respect from the employee, but this type of leadership increases trust between the employee and employer. Lack of trust prevents any time-wasting mechanisms.

Conclusion

Leaders who empower others know that a vision is rarely achieved by a single person but by a team. It is all about placing confidence and trust in your team members.

Empowering leadership makes space for creative leaders to share creative ideas and work to implement them when possible.

FAQs

More To Explore:

• What Is Transformational Leadership: Unleashing The Power Of Influence
• Empowering Leadership: Examples, Characteristics & Qualities
• Choosing the Right Leadership Styles in Management
• What Is Traditional Leadership? Characteristics, Examples
• Emergent Leadership: Definition, Theories & Characteristics