There are 2 varying perspectives of empowerment across industries, organisations and business literature.
From one perspective, empowerment is when employees take ownership of their own strengths, motivation, development, goal setting and search for opportunities to progress.
From the other, it is when the organisation’s culture and leadership behaviours actively develop trust, share power, create opportunities for growth and grant autonomy to their employees.
Which version do we want in our teams?
Naturally it is both. We want to create the environments where people can and want to perform; including ourselves.
Empowerment is like the ultimate combination of organisational leadership cultures and self-leadership behaviours.
So what does it look like in your organisation today?
Behind organisational culture are the shared beliefs, values, biases, traditions, accepted norms and attitudes of a group of people.
Culture can define the terms for acceptance in a group, and guide workplace behaviours, often unconsciously.
To begin understanding what empowerment exists in your current environment, start identifying the obvious culture components within your team. These might include:
🤝 the level of willingness to trust each other
💭 the level of decisions an individual can make on their own
🚫 how accessible are development opportunities
❌ what happens when someone makes a mistake
👥 the level of acceptance for diverse personalities and character traits