The Delicate Balance of Power and Empowerment in the Workplace

Passion for a company is contagious — especially when it emanates from the CEO or business owners. As a result, employees often feel energized about the goals of the company and its direction.

However, for some executives, the passion for their brand translates to a higher level of micromanagement — their personal stamp is a requirement on any project, big or small. Employees can feel suffocated and unempowered to make decisions. Over time, this can result in perfunctory efforts on projects because the employees know that, ultimately, their work will be changed and/or overruled.

This type of management style permeates day-to-day office life. For example, I was assisting a team who was helping the CEO of their company prepare for a big product launch. Presentations, marketing materials, etc. had to be created. Yet, the implementation team could not finalize anything because they did not have the ultimate decision-making power. Their creativity and productivity was significantly stifled as a result. They began to orient their efforts toward doing the minimum they needed to satisfy the request knowing that the CEO and his directs would adjust and refine.

I have successfully worked on both sides of this equation with executives and staff members alike to shift this dynamic in the workplace.

Empowering Staff Members

Staff members can become entrenched in behavior patterns. The key is to help the staff member change their way of being in vivo. For example, I worked with a young woman who could not commit to a project structure. Instead of owning her project, she kept asking for opinions from various people.

Finally, during the process, I said to her, “This is your project; you make the decisions. It’s your job to get everybody on board with how you want to do it, not the other way around.”

I helped the staff person to embrace their decision-making power and increase their sense of personal empowerment.

Big(ger) Picture Focus for Executives

It can be more challenging to try and reduce the level of involvement of an executive. An effective approach is to showcase areas where efficiency could be improved if employees were able to make the final decision. For example, productivity on a two-week timeline is vastly improved if the executive is only involved for a final sign-off — and not beforehand. 

Regardless of company size or structure, this awkward (and detrimental) dance between super-involved C-Suite and uninspired employees can occur. It is important for business owners to distinguish which decisions are critical in order to empower employees — ensuring that everyone feels that they directly contribute to the overall success of the company.  

Contact me with questions.

Change Management & the Importance of Staff Buy-in

As a business leader, you’ve embraced change within your organization. But a big question remains: Has your staff done the same?

Staff buy-in is a key component to change implementation. It is important for staff members to not only understand how the business will benefit from the changes, but they also need to understand how the changes will affect them personally. 

Change is scary. Given this, empathy is imperative. 

Highlighting the changes and discussing concerns as well as pain points with the staff creates a partnership and allows for staff input. Staff members are able to talk about what scares them. This input is also very useful to the business leader—it helps to determine whether something needs to be actioned or if it is just a general concern about doing things differently. 

As the consultant who helps roll-out the changes, I work with all stakeholders to analyze the resistance and make updates accordingly. 

In addition to creating an open, productive dialogue with staff members, I promote buy-in by helping to design a reasonable timeline. When changes are implemented too quickly, it is challenging to be thoughtful about the effects on the staff members’ day-to-day workflow. Conversely, if the changes take too long, momentum is lost, and people tune out.

I work with the business leader and organization to find their sweet spot—where the change has momentum but doesn’t turn everything on its head. 

With an empathic, well thought-out, and flexible approach, the business leader will be viewed as a partner (as opposed to an iron fist). A true connection with, and understanding of, the affected staff members will help the program move forward. 

Nothing occurs overnight, and the roll-out timeline is influenced by a variety of factors including company size, market environment, etc. Regardless of the size and scope of the changes, business leaders have an increased chance of sustained change if there is a foundation of trust and camaraderie. 

Thinking of making changes in your organization? Contact me today!