Shifting from Em-powerment to Self Agency

We get to hear a lot these days that leaders need to empower their people.

What leaders miss to understand is when they em-power their people who is the ‘who’ that really has the power? Empowerment is usually characterised by the word 'allow'.

-Allow people to take risks
-Allow them to make mistakes
-Allow them to take decisions.

There is a give & take relationship in empowerment. This makes people always wait for power to be given to them.

To build a truly autonomous & and accountable team, leaders must coach their people to discover their self-agency. Instead of saying 'Yes' to permission seekers, leaders need to inquire 'Why do you ask?'

When you hear less of 'Can I' and more of 'I want to' then you have really built a team that is high on self-agency and eventually, accountability.