The Nature of True Empowerment

The term empowerment is widely bandied about today in corporate board rooms, human relations training laboratories and popular books on management. Empowerment is a good term and is responsible in part for the growing interest of many organizational leaders in bringing their subordinates more fully into the dialogue regarding the way in which their organization should operate. However, the term often moves an organization no further than rhetoric and good intentions—for it lack the “muscles” of a practical, informed notion of the ways in which individuals and groups truly begin to effectively influence the ways in which an organization operates.

The Keys to Empowerment

A new organizational mind-set requires a fundamental shift in personal attitude, group process and organizational structure.  Let’s look at each of these shifts, one at a time. First, as Goodwin Watson noted, a shift in personal attitude is required for any sustained organizational change. Watson further proposed that sustained organizational changes require a shift in the processes of the group. Finally, Watson would encourage a shift in organizational structure if empowerment is to occur.

It would seem that any effective empowerment must ultimately incorporate a wide range of strategies and tools that impact on the structures, processes and attitudes of individual employees, work groups and the overall organization. Everyone seems to agree that these conditions are necessary. But they are not sufficient! The key to empowerment lies not only in the ways in which people work together, but also in the manner by which individuals and groups specifically work within one of the three domains: the domain of ideas. Empowerment concerns ideas. It concerns the creation of settings and the development of individual and group capacities to work with ideas. Empowerment exists when ideas are being freely generated. It exists when ideas are being discussed and tested out. In particular, empowerment exists when differences in opinion regarding ideas are not just tolerated. Differences are actually welcomed as the basis for expanded dialogue and further development of a solution or new program.

We cannot begin to review all of the many ways in which empowerment can be engendered in an organization. We have chosen to focus on the group rather than the individual. Most of the concepts and tools being presented, however, are readily translated into individual actions. Specifically, we identify four building blocks for group empowerment.