Eliminate the #2 Reason for Job Hunting

Does the list of all that you’d like to accomplish in your lifetime excite you and simultaneously seem impossible? Are you in a place of feeling constantly overwhelmed by all that you have to do or that there simply doesn’t seem to be enough time to do all you feel called to AND be there for your loved ones? Or maybe even worse, do the people you see great potential in and then bring on to work with you leave way earlier than you ever imagined?

While the adage “leadership is lonely” certainly can be true in many respects, it doesn’t have to be. Yes, you will feel stretched as a leader, and likely out of your comfort zone a LOT when things are going well (and even when they aren’t). But being stretched and being overwhelmed because there is too much for you to do by yourself are two entirely different things. The first is normal as we grow in our leadership (which is hopefully always); the latter however is typically something we bring on ourselves, but has an easy remedy: empowerment.

One of the hallmarks of effective leadership is empowering others. Empowerment is not dumping your stuff onto others; rather it is the fullest sense of truly leading others so that they develop to their fullest potential.

Benefits of Empowering Others

The benefits of empowerment to you, those who work with you, and your organization are too many to ignore! Studies have demonstrated that the simple act of empowering others:

• Promotes other’s personal growth and development,
• Ensures consistency in execution throughout organizations, and
• Frees leaders to focus on other areas, like their strengths.

Empowerment is used to its fullest when leaders genuinely share their power and authority with others. Empowerment is not loaning your power and authority, which can be seen in what we call “helicopter” parents or leaders who swoop in to “save” the day whenever something goes “wrong”. This is literally the furthest thing from empowerment and is actually one of the leading causes of good leaders leaving organizations.  In his management research, Michael Losey found that the Number 2 reason people leave an organization is because of a lack of career development (the Number 1 reason is compensation and benefits).

“Employees do not leave good companies, they leave bad bosses.” –Coleman Peterson

The number 1 remark I hear from people who work in churches, non-profits, the government, and for-profit companies is that their boss or manager does not develop them. I get it, most managers were promoted because they were a great technician and suddenly they have people working under them and they were never trained to lead others well. It happens all the time in every industry. But just because that might be how you landed in your position, doesn’t mean you can’t start implementing this crucial component of leadership.

Empowerment in Use

So what does it look like when empowerment is at work? The hallmarks of empowerment include creating environments where people:

• Enjoy the freedom of working independently,
• Can be self-sufficient,
• Have the power to make decisions on their own, and just as importantly
• Hold ownership of the outcomes, desirable or not.

People will feel like they can be truly self-sufficient when they feel like they have control, have all the resources necessary to accomplish their tasks, are sufficiently trained and equipped, and their self-confidence is developed. In their book The Leadership Challenge, James Kouzes and Barry Posner suggest that the best way for leaders to empower and strengthen others is by enabling them

to take ownership of and responsibility for their group’s success by enhancing their competence and their confidence in their abilities, by listening to their ideas and acting on them, by involving them in important decisions, and by acknowledging and giving credit for their contributions…[Conversely, people] who are not confident about their power, regardless of their organizational position or place, tend to hoard whatever shreds of influence they have…  Powerlessness also creates organizational systems in which political skills are essential, and “covering your backside” and “passing the buck” are the preferred modes of handling interdepartmental differences.

As leaders, if it feels like we are constantly overwhelmed with what needs to be done, everyone keeps deserting us, and there is never enough time to get everything done, perhaps we are the ones hoarding our power or passing the buck. Our people and organizations will thrive only as much as we place the empowerment of our people first.

By focusing on empowering those around you, you’re helping people thrive and eliminating one of the reasons people look for new jobs. Not to mention freeing up time for you to focus on your areas of strength and new ventures!