The 3 Ingredients For An Empowered Team
I often say that to grow with ease, business owners need three things.
A clear vision. An empowered team. And an operating system.
While the first and third are relatively straightforward, I frequently get asked, “What exactly is an empowered team?”
Well, I’ll tell you.
An empowered team feels a sense of ownership in making your business a success.
An empowered team shares your values, takes initiative, and keeps pushing the organization toward your vision.
An empowered team is trusted to make decisions and solve hard problems.
Empowered team members sometimes get mistaken for owners because their investment in the work is that meaningful.
But not all teams charge ahead.
Why do some wait for direction or wait for the owner to act first?
They may be missing one of these:
The 3 Ingredients
Clear Expectations – A picture of success, why it matters, and how to get there. Where is the bar at?
Psychological Safety – The freedom to try new things and make mistakes. If responses to ideas, concerns, questions, and admitting to mistakes is often negative, team members will cease to speak up.
Autonomy – The freedom to make decisions and complete tasks without external control. Being able to independently achieve a goal makes us feel valued. That feeling motivates us to keep adding value. That’s just human nature.
Multiply Value
Leaders with hyper-empowered teams are what author, research, and executive leadership advisor, Liz Wiseman, calls multipliers.
She contends that the best leaders make everyone smarter and able to deliver 2x the value of a comparable team.
I recommend her book “Multipliers” and the tools on her website if you are curious about the leadership traits you should strive to develop to maximize the performance of your empowered team.
The Real Results of Empowering Your Team
I have a very talented client whose sales forecast is up 40% YOY after empowering his team. You can read his story in Edt. #012.
Here’s what an empowered did for him, and can do for you too:
- More time for you to focus on what matters most. You’re not the bottleneck in your business. Your team handles decisions, freeing up your schedule for strategic work—or even a real vacation.
- Better ideas, faster. Empowered teams aren’t afraid to share bold ideas, leading to fresh innovations and improvements. And as a leader that hasn’t succumbed to decision fatigue, you’re also able to better contribute and appreciate new ideas.
- Problems solved early. Issues get addressed and solved before they become crises because your team takes ownership and knows how to handle it.
- Happier, more committed people: When people feel trusted and valued, they’re more engaged and less likely to leave.
- A business that runs without you. Your company thrives even when you step away because leadership exists at every level.
Empowering your team isn’t about relinquishing control. It’s about creating the conditions where people can excel without you having to control everything. It requires clear expectations, a safe environment for your team to explore – and possibly fail, and courage to let go of tasks.
When you build an empowered team, you don’t just grow your business. You create an engaging and inspiring atmosphere where everyone, including you, can do their best work.
Takeaways:
Empowerment for the win-win-win
- Owners: reclaim time for the work that lights them up
- The business: grows based on the wisdom of many involved stakeholders
- The team: is challenged and happy.
Need I say more?
Here to help you add the 3 ingredients of team empowerment back into your recipe,
Laurie
