I ran across a great quote over the weekend: “An army of deer led by a lion is more to be feared than an army of lions led by a deer.”
To me, this quote speaks of empowerment. If a lion has empowered a group of deer enough to bravely march into battle, then that army is to be feared indeed!
In practical terms, how can a leader empower their team?
They can spend time developing an employee’s customer service skills, rather than taking the time to personally handle customer service complaints when they are escalated up to the management level. They can give the team the skills needed to resolve their own conflicts, rather than personally mediating situations or ignoring conflicts and hoping they will go away. They can challenge team members to make presentations at meetings, or take turns leading meetings. They can delegate leadership tasks to responsible team members to help stretch their abilities.
In short, leaders can help the team develop the skills they need to function like a well-oiled machine without constant intervention from the leader, freeing the leader to strategically propel the business forward rather than resolve crises all day long. This long-term investment in the team will result in a happier team and better business results overall – a win-win solution for everyone involved.
Leaders: empower your team!
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Dearest deb,
The quote was absolutely fabulous. Its a wonderful idea for real leaders, and somehow i think that the leaders who are confident about their own merit do it, only those who are scared of being toppled over by someone of the team run away from it.
if leaders really follow these points teams will be able to improve as persons and performers.
Wish you love, peace and happiness.
Trisha
I feel the same way that Trisha does, Deb. What popped into my mind while reading this is the fact there are a lot of very insecure "leaders" out there. It's unfortunate, but many leaders do not want to empower their team for fear of losing their position to someone else that might end up shining brighter than they do. They may even work to keep things not working smoothly so that they can insure that they always have some problem that "they" have to fix.
I loved all your ideas for creating a strong, efficient team, where everyone is involved and appreciated, it sounds like a much more intelligent and inclusive way of working together to me.
We can always hope…
With love,
Gayle
Thanks, dearest Trisha and Gayle! I agree that leaders often feel insecure about empowering their team, and then everyone (unfortunately) pays the price. Many leaders stay in "crisis management" mode permanently, because that's perceived as a path to job security.
I have a friend in Seattle who believes that a national healthcare plan would free more people to quit their job and start their own business, if they want to, which would put increased pressure on corporations to ensure that their employees are happier and more secure. I have no idea if that would happen, but as Gayle said, we can always hope!
Peace and love,
Deb
dearest deb,
Recently a very bright friend of mine narrated a story similar to gayle, he had to pay with his job because his senior was scared to lose his in his hands.
Your second option is more optimist and we can hope for that in india too
Wish you love, peace and happiness.
Trisha
Dearest Trisha,
I'm always saddened to hear stories where someone loses their job for being *too* competent. I'd really like to think that the corporate culture is still in its infancy and will evolve to become much more humane and nourishing over time, but I think some kind of trigger or catalyst would be needed to propel the whole thing forward.
Hope you're having a good week!
Peace and love,
Deb
Dearest deb,
I too agree with you, we will be needing catalyst, it wont happen on it own.
You will hear the strangest reasons for people losing their jobs, being hardworking, sincere, dedicated.. these people survive only when the boss is directly observing him/her, which is not possible in corporates or big offices.
Wish you love, peace and happiness.
Trisha