Empowerment, what businesses can expect when it’s embraced versus abandoned!
Empowerment; it’s the process of gaining freedom, strength, and confidence in controlling outcomes. It’s a process that is built on a strong foundation of trust, respect and a deep appreciation for and knowledge that every person is doing the best they know how to do.
Through Mirrored Horizons’ work this year, it has been often liberating and sometimes concerning when we have seen empowerment embraced and when we have seen it abandoned in business environments. The presence of empowerment is often the difference between maintaining successful relationships, results, and practices within business or diving headfirst into a pit of distrust, constant questioning and a lack of productivity.
This year, our Mirrored Horizons corporate workshops have had a strong focus on unlocking team potential. We move through a variety of activities, theories, and models that work in conjunction with one another to provide managers greater insight into the people who make up their team. We often ask, ‘how do you expect to get the best out of your people if you don’t truly know who they are, and what their purpose means to them?’
This deeper exploration shows managers the benefit of understanding their people, not just through the lens of the business, the results they achieve or the role they play. We challenge managers to create connections with their team members based on understanding their behavioural, thinking and learning styles, what energises them, their purpose behind why they have chosen to do what they do beyond the workplace and what truly makes them, them.
When managers develop this insight, they can design work practices and schedules that enable people to fulfill all of the things that they need to be their best selves. When team members feel at their best, the benefits to the workplace are priceless. Less sick days, higher engagement, increased morale and a tendency for people to go above and beyond because they feel darn good!
We encourage managers and team leaders to nurture their connections by showing ongoing care and support to their team members. These aren’t grandiose gestures of cakes and champagne, more focussed on the type of care and support you’d expect from someone who truly knows you. When managers focus on their ability to listen to the information their team members are offering about who they are, they can connect their team members to outcomes that resonate with them on a deeper level. For example; some team members may not be target focussed but are motivated to achieve the same outcomes by a desire to positively contribute to society. Tailoring goals around team member’s driving factors demonstrates an understanding of their motivators. Simple practices built on a foundation of care starts to increase trust between managers and team members. When trust is present in a relationship, empowerment begins to organically grow.
The impact that demonstrating managers are people too is a powerful one. Similarly, to how Mirrored Horizons works to unlock what makes each team member think, work, react and interact; we encourage managers to do the same. Successful managers are the ones who work alongside their team/s. They work on understanding each team member to develop appreciation strategies that are impactful and meaningful to them.
Empowerment isn’t a brand-new shiny theory but we have been astounded by the lack of it being embraced by teams. Layman’s terms? You get things done through your people (Mary Parker Follett), so by knowing your people, you’ll get more done. It’s as simple as embracing your people to empower them to get the best outcomes for everyone heading towards their purpose.