Tweet

Empowerment – The Rewards are Greater Than the Risk

Written by: Dr. Rick Johnson

Article Overview: Employees must take ownership in the success of the organization. This means they must become part of the strategy employed by the company. Acknowledge their presence and contributions, and praise them at every opportunity. But, be sincere. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, had a favorite method of sending personal handwritten notes to employees who demonstrated some form of success. This is an employee issue that cannot be emphasized enough. Employees want to know how they are doing and they want to be held accountable. Winning organizations continuously build leaders at every level in their organization. Leaders, who actively attempt to mentor, coach and build other leaders gain respect throughout the organization and transfer knowledge, ideas, values and an attitude about success.

Empowerment – The Rewards are Greater Than the Risk

Empowerment is a common trait used by most effective leaders. The rewards of empowering your employees are far greater than the risk. Give them some independence in choosing their work schedules or other factors that won't affect overall objectives. Empowering employees allows them to use their own initiative and creativity to accomplish things you never imagined they could.

Allow your employees to take risks and demonstrate initiative.

Employees must take ownership in the success of the organization. This means they must become part of the strategy employed by the company. Acknowledge their presence and contributions, and praise them at every opportunity. But, be sincere. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, had a favorite method of sending personal handwritten notes to employees who demonstrated some form of success. This is an employee issue that cannot be emphasized enough. Employees want to know how they are doing and they want to be held accountable. Winning organizations continuously build leaders at every level in their organization. Leaders, who actively attempt to mentor, coach and build other leaders gain respect throughout the organization and transfer knowledge, ideas, values and an attitude about success. They ...........

• Create a sense of urgency
• Project and articulate the vision
• Create stretch goals
• Develop trust and a spirit of teamwork
• Develop realistic expectations for success
• Promote an environment of success, trust and belief

• Demonstrate honesty-to tell the truth-to do the right thing- with no hidden agendas

• Lead with Integrity and respect-responsiveness -recognizing employee value-empowerment
• Show passion and commitment
• Motivate and inspire

Effective leaders must have an edge. They must be courageous enough to take risk and have an unrelenting readiness to act. Popularity is not a requirement, but the ability to generate respect from the employees is, without a doubt, one of the most critical attributes. They must be relentless in their efforts, unconcerned about personal sacrifice of their time, and willing to go beyond normal expectations. Tough decisions are commonplace; uncharted territories will be the norm. Honesty and impeccable character are musts.

Leadership is often described as the art of getting people to accomplish specific objectives. However, organizations are complex social entities with widely distributed responsibilities and assets. Unilateral action toward specific objectives is seldom sufficient in itself to create the kind of success expected for a company seeking growth and increased market share. Leadership is key to harmonizing diverse group interest into a focus-specific mode that supports the mechanics of execution. Those mechanics must include empowerment. The focus is on the way managers orchestrate activities and events and engage others in tasks, empowering them so that the desired results are realized. Action is essential and is implicitly equated to professional leadership. This skill is subjective and often artistic. It varies with every situation and every individual. Leadership skills can be enhanced and fine-tuned but a basic ingredient of humanistic understanding must exist to create a platform for leadership development.

Leaders get results. They make things happen. They continually advance a clear agenda, get others to buy in and move the organization to accomplish specific objectives. They are explicit, consistent, concise and sincere. They generally have an abundance of charisma although some leaders gain success with a quieter influence. Leaders take charge and are not afraid of responsibility or risk. Most people want to follow them. A good leader develops openness, honesty, clarity of purpose and a sincere caring for the people they lead. They gain commitment and trust by demonstrating respect for the individual. They have a keen sense of understanding. They believe in their task, they understand the objectives, they communicate clearly and they honestly project the understanding that they need the efforts of everyone to succeed.

Allow room for a few Mavericks to exits in your organization. Empower your employees so they will take calculated risks. The worst thing you can have happen in your organization is for all your employees to do exactly what they are told to do - exactly how they are told to do it. Release the initiative and creativity in your employees by empowering them.

Related Articles
  Leadership empowerment: what is it and how do you do it?
  Do Not Be Afraid to Take the Lead
  Employee Empowerment
  Changing the Way You Think Can Empower You
  Empowerment, Autonomy & Discretion – Oh My!

Article Tags: delegation, empowerment, leadership



Related Forum Posts
How to valuate a business - Hi Garth - here is how we did it at Northern Crown Capital when I was helping them raise venture capital for Toronto-based entrepreneurs. Assume the start date is 2003 so 2008 projections are 5 years out: How Northern Crown Capital Valuates a Business 2008 Financial Projections Earnings Before Tax $5,865,000 Tax Rate 42% Taxes $2,463,300 Net Earnings $3,401,700 Amount Seeking to Raise Today $3,500,000 Discounted Value of Future Opportunity, 5 Years Out 2008 P/E Ratio 15 Value of Company in 2008 $51,025,500 Discount Rate Applied 30% Year 2008 $51,025,500 Year 2007 $35,717,850 Year 2006 $25,002,495 Year 2005 $17,501,747 Year 2004 $12,251,223 Value of Company at Investment in 2003 $12,251,223 Less: Investment Amount $3,500,000 Present Value $8,751,223 Discount for Risk & Private Company 40% Less: Discount for Risk & Private Company $3,500,489 Private Company Value $5,250,734 Present Value (What the Owner Keeps) $5,250,734 60.00% Financing (What the Investor Gets) $3,500,000 40.00% Total $8,750,734 100.00% I hope this helps!
Show the Benefits - Offer a free test drive of the Product or Service with a Money Back Guarantee - Take the Risk out. This will help them make the decision but you have to work with them to realize it by explicitly state the benefits they are receiving.
Unsecure Neighbourhood - Instead of knocking on their door why don't you leave a letter in their Mailbox in a hand written envelope. You can advise them via the letter that their internet connection is unsecured and write how an unsecured internet connection can affect them. Note: this is time consuming but I'm assuming that your willing to spend the time to drive neighbourhoods to find your target market. People on this forum may be able to assist you in determining how to make more use of your time. Maybe you can post flyers in the neighbourhood stating "This Neighbourhood is Unsecure!" "Your Internet connections may be at Risk" Call me now for a free assessment of your Wireless Connection at 509-xxx-xxx The free assessment is critical in getting strangers to contact you. I'm sure you'd be able to come up with something more creative and I hope you use this as a launch pad for new ideas. GoodLuck and tell us what you plan on using to attract new clients and the results of your effort - we like helping people that come back with their reuslts (good or not so good).
Re: Does birth order influence the desire to start a business? - Are you the oldest sibling in your family, the youngest or somewhere in the middle? Your birth order can influence your work and management style and perhaps even the career you choose. While far from an exact science, analyzing psychological values associated with birth order can give valuable clues to how you're handling your work and management duties -- and may even help you get ahead in your career. Firstborn children tend to be responsible, intellectual and interested in practical, down-to-earth professions. Parents usually have great expectations for their first child and can spend a lot of one-on-one time fostering these expectations. Studies show that parents tend to be more lenient with later-born children, supporting desires for careers in the arts, literature or music. Firstborns, however, tend to pursue careers in business, law, medicine or finance. Management traits of the first child: First children are often practical, confident, able to delegate and make rapid decisions and possess the desire to win or excel. Often, firstborns simply want to be the best they can be. This can translate into exceptional management skills and a rapid career path. Also, firstborns often work well with older individuals in the firm, including supervisors and executives. Management challenges for the firstborn: Firstborns may be intolerant of those who do not work at 100 percent capacity. They may not be the best team players, since they always had the upper hand on younger siblings. They can be disappointed if passed over in promotions for younger workers and may be overly cautious and avoid risks, hindering career advancement. What it means: Firstborn children can be excellent as small-business managers and owners because they are confident and have the desire to excel. Risk-taking is a vital ingredient in small-business success, so firstborns need to be aware that playing it overly cautious can be a detriment to long-term success...............
True Characteristics of an Entrepreneur - It is said that in order to become a successful individual in whatever endeavor you wish to take, you must have the right attitude and characteristics. This is also true with an entrepreneur. Not everyone can become an entrepreneur. What are the characteristics of an entrepreneur? Are they really important? Well, of course the characteristics are important because if you don’t possess them, you will have lower chances in terms of business success. The characteristics are as follows – 1. Risk taker – this is a very important characteristic of an entrepreneur. If you're not willing to take any risk, then you will not succeed as a businessperson. In the everyday course of the business, you will encounter a lot of problems and challenges which you need to decide the soonest. Some risks are worth taking after careful evaluation especially if it's for the good of the business. If you're not a risk taker, then you're not an effective entrepreneur and you're bound to fail in your business undertaking. 2. Smart – being smart is another characteristic of an entrepreneur. You have to be clever, keen, and witty in all your business dealings. You have to show mental alertness and intelligence so that you can win the respect and trust of customers and other clients. 3. A leader – leadership is a characteristic that is hard to find among individuals. Not many individuals have the nerve to take the lead. To become a good entrepreneur, you must be a leader. Some say that this is a born characteristic but if you don’t possess it, you can also learn to become a leader. You're quite lucky if you're a born leader because you only have to develop your other qualities and use them when you choose to become an entrepreneur. As a leader, you should be able to guide, influence, and direct people. This way, you can handle all your business activities with ease and fewer worries. 4. Inner passion for business – another important characteristic is having the right passion for business. You have to maintain your enthusiasm and interest in the business. As long as you have the right drive and passion, you can run the business for a long time. 5. Honest and trustworthy – some say that eighty percent of an entrepreneur's time is dedicated to pooling and attracting customers. This may be true because without the customers, the business will not exist. You have to be honest and trustworthy so that you can develop good will. There are other characteristics that an entrepreneur should possess. These characteristics help him or her do all the business responsibilities and obligations that need to be done. These are also the keys to business success. If you want to finance a certain business venture and run the business yourself, you should develop these characteristics. Without them, your business will soon fail and you will suffer the losses. Be thankful if you already have the characteristics of an entrepreneur. All you need to do now is to study the market carefully, think of a good business venture, and provide for the capital and you're all set.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Four Secrets to Earning Income as an Author

Maximum Impact Restaurant Greening

The Golden Rule of Communications

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.