EMPOWERMENT COLLECTION

"What must be abandoned by management is a whole ideology,
a whole way of thinking about power. Power no longer belongs in
boxes, in titles, in ranks. What counts, for power, is what you do
yourself with your own skills."
Author James Champy

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Treat people as though they were what they ought to be,
and you help them become what they care capable of being.
Goethe

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Empowered employees are dramatically enabled,
and powerless employees are dramatically disabled.
When you put fences around people you get sheep.
Unknown

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"As a manager, the important thing is not what happens
when you are there but what happens when you are not there."
Ken Blanchard and Robert Lorber

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Empowerment is achieved through the equation of

E = A x D x S

where A = Autonomy, D = Direction, and S = Support

Autonomy - handing the ball off and allowing people to run to daylight.
Direction - providing well-defined objectives and setting clear-cut goals
Support - providing resources, training, and validation by continuous recognition

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The 10 Commandments of Empowerment

1. Let go of things others can do.
2. Involve, delegate, and challenge.
3. Share knowledge, information, and skills.
4. Value, trust, and respect each individual.
5. Encourage initiative, ideas, and risk taking.
6. Ensure that people have goals and know how they are performing.
7. Provide support without taking over.
8. Coach to insure success.
9. Reinforce good work and good effort.
10. Model the way - Practice what you preach.

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Empowerment replaces self-interest, dependency, and control
with partnership, responsibility, and commitment.

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Empowerment...A Blinding Flash of the Obvious

Empowerment works like a candle.
When you share light from a candle by lighting another person's candle,
there isn't less light because you have given some away, there is more.
That works with empowerment too. When you share power,
there isn't any less power because you have given some away, there is more.

Power, like light, is infinite.
Power is never used up...it increases by diffusion and grows by dispersion.
Empowerment begins with the understanding that to empower is not to lose power
but to gain power.

Power shared is power gained.

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There was a very young girl
Attempting to fly her kite.
And as the wind grew stronger and stronger,
The child held on with all her might.

But instead of letting more string out,
She thought holding on was all she could do,
And in only just a few seconds,
The kite string broke in two.

The kid was quite perplexed
As a tear ran down her face.
The kite was hers no longer
As it drifted into space.

As I hope this example illustrates,
You must consider this to be the truth---
Gripping tighter might not be the answer;
Sometimes you have to let loose.

Whether it's a relationship or your child,
There is something you must know---
That in order to hold on,
Sometime you have to let go.
Christopher P. Neck

EMPOWERMENT COLLECTION