The paradox of power is a theory that exemplary leaders live by: leaders become more powerful when they give their own power away. Before ‘empowerment’ became a popular vocabulary word, leaders understood that when their team members felt weak and incompetent, it was because of the leader’s dictatorship style and poor collaboration. Team members would feel as such:
“No one was interested in, listened to, or paid attention to my opinion.”
“My boss argued with me in front of my colleagues--even called me names.”
“My decisions were not supported by my boss.”
“Someone else took credit for my hard work and results.”
“My supervisor pushed me to do things but wasn’t willing to do them himself.”
These are just a few comments that powerless team members feel in organizations when leaders (better known as managers) undertake. But in an organization where leaders empower their people, members feel as such:
“I was asked to take on an important project that I had never done before.”
“My manager told me that I had great potential and that he/she believed in me.”
“ I was able to make a key decision about the project.”
There is one message clear from the above examples of the powerless and powerful: Feeling powerful stems from a deep sense of being in control of your life. And for a leader to create that kick of power in their team, the leader must increase others’ determination, self-esteem, and personal effectiveness.
Provide Choices
“Organizational citizenship behaviour” is a term used to elaborate on a team member's actions that are above and beyond their task requirements -- the difference between ordinary and extraordinary organizations.
Tim, a personal trainer at a gym, experienced organizational citizenship behavior when there was a change in management. One of the first changes that new leadership made was health benefits, vacation time, and sick time. This created a new level of trust where trainers felt that leadership had their best interests in mind. In addition, leadership changed salaries based upon the number of hours worked, and this required trainers to set new goals for themselves. Trainers felt that they were their own bosses, but within a larger organization. At the same time, leadership provided workshops to them without cost. Trainers were also able to input suggestions, observe each other at work, and build their confidence as a team.
Tim learned that not only was there an increase in salaries, but also in commitment and productivity. This story shows that leaders exercise guided autonomy: they give the people an opportunity to make choices about how they will reach shared goals.
Structure Jobs to Offer Latitude
To feel control over their own work lives, team members need latitude; the ability to exercise independent judgment, and make decisions that affect how they do their work without having anyone to check on them. It means allowing the flow of creativity and flexibility in an organization.
When author and optimist Simon Sinek visited Las Vegas for a business conference, he stayed at the Four Seasons hotel. On one particular day, he drank coffee at the hotel’s cafe and was intrigued to have a conversation with the barista, Noah. When Simon asked him about how much he loved his job, Noah replied “I love my job!” Loving a job is vastly different from liking a job, because one works with full joy and happiness. Noah explained that his bosses always listen to him and give him the privilege of doing what he wants. This accessibility to creativity motivates Noah to perform his best and make his customers delighted as well. He adds that in his previous workplace, his bosses took on a commanding role and did not show effective communication. Thus, Noah’s satisfaction and creativity suffered, which led to the customer's satisfaction suffering as well.
The difference in Noah’s experiences was that in one organization he was trusted and given the latitude to use his judgment, whereas the other did not.
Final Thoughts
Self-Determination is a characteristic that all team members need to surpass their potential in an organization. It’s the leader's job to create such an environment, and it all comes from trust. Trust is the definitive factor that will decide an organization’s impact, and it begins when leaders give away their power to their team and offer them full autonomy.
Note: All knowledge and ideas are attained from the book "The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations 5th Edition". This blog summarizes the content from the book, but may unintentionally contain the same wording.
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