Empower Close Window
Babson College newsletter :Insight" - Professor J.B. Kassarjian
"The popular dictum to 'empower your people' is just a fad, because real self-confidence follows achievement. True learning that can be translated into action has to be internalized – it is self-discovered learning. This form of learning starts with living through a novel situation and being jolted into a new level of awareness. It tends to follow the sequence: Sharp Challenge to Hard Stretch to Integration. Often through the actions of a boss you respected, when the bar of expectations is raised sharply, or sometimes when it is tilted to new angles, AND if YOU are willing to stretch hard, you may gain the confidence – but because of public results, achieved through your efforts, not because someone confers it on you."
The practice cycle has the capacity to empower those on the frontlines of daily operations by leading the "How" for achieving the "What" needs to be done as determined by senior management. Senior management has the responsibility and accountability to determine "what" needs to be done long-term for the enterprise to reach its objectives. They also outline "how" to get it done but true empowerment comes when they support frontline managers in "how" to get it done daily through operations.
