- actual empowerment, that granted by the organisation to an employee, and
- psychological empowerment, the feeling of empowerment that an employee has.
Academics studying the subject generally approach the two types of empowerment as separate and distinct phenomena.
For the purposes of leadership, you should note that there is a difference between actual and psychological empowerment and understand that even when you grant employees more power and authority, they still might not feel empowered. And when employees don’t feel empowered, they are unlikely to act empowered.
Leadership must help bridge the gap between actual and psychological empowerment. Don’t just give your team the power, make sure they truly feel empowered.
Without psychological empowerment, actual empowerment is of limited value.
The Institute of Leadership and Management(ILM) talks about empowering leadership – DOWNLOAD – –Leadership Essentials
Next Steps
empower|me is all about increasing employee engagement, health and well-being and developing an empowered organisational culture.
It is the nature of individuals to be risk averse, and it is the nature of organisations to create rules to prevent problems from recurring. However by giving the relevant skills that provides employees and leaders with the confidence, technically and physiologically, to work in an empowered way, business and people will thrive.
The empower|me tool box of workshops, coaching and mentoring provide the required skills that are key to for an empowered workforce to operate.
