There are many different kinds of managing styles that get utilized each and every day. But there is one style that gets utilized the least.Its called Empowerment.
Empowerment is managing to the individual strengths of each member of your team. It means that as a manager, you allow your employees to focus on certain sectors of the organization and allow them the latitude to lead, change, and make important decisions.
It means that as a manager you have total faith that the decisions an employee makes will be the right ones. Basically it means that you are more than just a manager. You are more of a visionary pacesetter that empowers your team to ALL be managers of their own little niches inside the company.
This is a kind of management philosophy that is extremely rare. However, it is the hallmark behind true greatness.
Many managers operate under a different theory.
They believe that it is their responsibility to manage to the weakest team member. What I mean by that is on any given team there is going to be a group of people that can handle almost anything. Then there will be another group of people that probably can do anything, but they lack some form of internal fortitude that promotes self motivation that drives them. Finally, there is a group of people that has a lower skill set and learning capability than the other two groups, but these people typically have a very good attitude and willingness to improve.
Having been a manager in various facets, I always enjoyed the first group that I mentioned and the last group. The middle group of the skilled but not motivated people is what can be frustrating.
So what happens is this. Many managers believe they cannot give certain "freedoms" in decision making to just certain groups for fear it will alienate the other team members. Specifically those that either do not have the knowledge yet, or those that lack the motivation to put the work in to make the best decision.
The theory behind this thinking is understandable. After all, the manager does have an obligation to keep a cohesive team in place that can produce consistent performance.
The inherent problem though is that the group of people you are not catering too is that group of intelligent and motivated people that are also typically your top performers.
Too justify the actions, the manager feels confidant in explaining to their top tier performers why they cannot have certain "freedoms." The manger feels that this group of people is smart enough to understand why they are not allowed to make certain decisions.
It's really more about keeping the peace and attempting to remain consistent.
This is the average cycle for many businesses which is why you see so many average to below average operating companies. They are only working at about half of their real capability, but they don't realize it.
The difference between managing and empowering is that empowerment is NOT about managing anything. It is solely focused on leading.
On any given day, there are many decisions to be made. Some big and some small, but they ALL need to be made.
The job of the visionary pacesetter is to discover and observe the strengths of the team. They need to decide which people should be responsible for what. The key here is about role definition. Ambiguity will lead to confusion and will not be good.
What the Visionary Pacesetter MUST do:
- Each person needs to have a specific core scope of responsibility. No crossover of job tasks amongst the team. This creates a lack of decision making and a lack of that feeling of identifiable responsibility that people need.
- NOT Micro-Manage the new responsibility. Make the decisions you feel are correct and be willing to live with the results. If an individual shows they are not a good decision maker, then re-evaluate their current role.
- In a weekly or regular staff type meeting, recognize those individuals that have shown excellence in their new position.
- Allow the flow of creative "new" thoughts to be recognized and discussed for implementation.
- Production will improve.
- Motivation will improve.
- Attitude will improve.
- Energy will improve.
Anybody can be ordinary and boring. Why not shoot for Extraordinary and fun. There is no rule that says work must be painfully boring and unproductive. Why would you even become a manager if you are just going to implement the exact same processes that the person before you did?
People want to feel important. They want to feel necessary. Be the catalyst that perpetuates the changing of the "old school" of thought. Be a Leader. Be a Visionary Pacesetter.
Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, "How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income," Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!
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