"Empowering means defining the parameters
in which people are allowed to operate,
and then setting them free."
-- John C Maxwell from The 360 Degree Leader
Empowerment is something a lot of people want in the business world and probably most do not receive as they would like. I know I used to feel that way in certain positions. I would wait and hope to be empowered to act with a certain degree of autonomy, and then I decided to empower myself and wait no longer. It was that decision that gave me any success I've received, because that was how I got a lot of things done that would have otherwise waited for a better time.
As part of that personal empowerment, I developed another mindset wherein I would rather beg forgiveness than ask permission. I am sure the managers above me appreciated that most of the time, as I would as a manager. Self-starters are to be praised generally. So many people are afraid to act.
This empowerment gave me a personal feeling of freedom that I loved. I would even do things for free just to get the experience to add to my collection.
Yes, I've made some errors and even had to suck it up and apologize here and there, but the good news is the gains that were made far and away overshadowed the errors. I'm reminded of how many times Babe Ruth struck out versus how many home runs made, but there was no doubt in his enthusiastic efforts.
Since I have felt the joy of empowerment as well as the confinement of being micro-managed, as a business owner and manager now, I really want the people on my team to have the freedom to excel by having me stay out of their way as much as possible.
We Can All Empower Ourselves.
Spread Some Joy Today--Give yourself the authority to act. It is a joyful experience.
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