If you ask top managers what they want from their direct reports, the answer is almost universal. "I want people who are problem solvers and are willing to take initiative. I want people working for me who act like they own the place."¹

In other words, top managers, given a choice, would like empowered people—individuals they can respect and trust to make good business decisions, whether top managers are around or not.

Is this a problem from a worker’s point of view? No! In fact when you ask people what they want from their managers, their answers are almost universal once again. People want two things. First, they want to work for someone who values and trusts them. Second, they want to work for someone who helps them to grow professionally by allowing them to develop and practice new skills.

So if managers are looking for empowered employees—and employees are looking to work for empowering managers—why has the movement to create empowered work environments made such little progress?

1 Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard, Susan Fowler & Laurence Hawkins, 2005.

Many people will argue that the problem is that most managers are not willing to let go, that they still want to maintain control. These managers talk a good game but they still want to be in charge and prefer good subordinates who follow the lead of their superiors.

In their new book, Self Leadership and The One Minute Manager, authors Ken Blanchard, Susan Fowler, and Laurence Hawkins suggest that managers today, if they are to be effective, must think and act differently. In the 1980s, a manager typically supervised five people—the span of control was one manager to five direct reports. To be competitive in today’s business environment, organizations have created flatter and leaner organizational structures where spans of control have increased considerably. It is not uncommon today to find one manager for twenty-five to seventy-five direct reports. Add to that the emergence of virtual organizations—where managers are being asked to supervise people they rarely or never meet face-to-face—and we have an entirely different landscape emerging in the world of work.

The traditional hierarchy of leadership has evolved into a new order: empowerment of individuals. The problem is no longer how to get managers to “let go”—they have no choice anymore. The problem is how to get people to grab hold and run with the ball that is being handed to them.

Blanchard, Fowler and Hawkins go on to explain that while some people are taking to this empowered environment like ducks to water, many more are becoming immobilized: they act like victims, think empowerment is a four-letter word, and view their manager as an incompetent enemy. You hear people complaining, "My boss hasn’t done this; my boss hasn’t done that!" The truth is that most bosses today can no longer play the traditional role of telling people what, when, and how to do things. Managers just don’t have time, and in many cases their people know more about the work than they do.

What’s the solution? How can we help people move from a victim mind-set to flourishing as empowered problem solvers and decision makers?

Authors Ken Blanchard, Susan Fowler, and Laurence Hawkins recommend three steps that employees can take to begin this journey.

The first step is to challenge assumed constraints. Too many people are still waiting for someone else to give them the power. For empowerment to take hold, potential self leaders must overcome the victim mentality and take responsibility for their own success. They must stop blaming systems, managers, or circumstances for creating unfavorable conditions. The victim mentality is the greatest obstacle to self leadership and, thereby, to empowerment.

The second step is to identify and celebrate points of power. Employees looking to become self leaders need to take stock and use the power that they already have. Ask employees to make a list of the ways that they are powerful at work. If they have trouble coming up with examples, have them consider workplace situations where they have the power to influence outcomes or people. Are they the head of a task force? Do they control certain purchasing decisions? Do they train new employees? Have them list personal characteristics, attributes, and significant skills; just because they don’t have much (or any) position power doesn’t mean they aren’t powerful. Influence comes from many sources that are often not considered when the word “power” is used.

The third step is to collaborate for success. Being a self leader does not mean going it alone. However, it does mean learning how to take initiative for asking what you need to succeed. Have your employees begin this process by diagnosing their competence with a specific task that they are working on. Are they a novice at this task or an accomplished expert? If they are a novice, have them consider how they will ask for the help they need to succeed. Learning how to collaborate with your manager to get what you need is at the heart of this third point. And if they are an expert, how will they ask their manager for the autonomy to decide the best way to accomplish the task?

Empowered employees benefit the organization and themselves. Individually, they have a greater sense of purpose in their jobs and their lives; collectively, their involvement and commitment translate directly into continuous improvement of workplace systems and processes. In an empowered organization, employees bring their best ideas and initiatives to the workplace with a sense of excitement, ownership, and pride. The result is a highly motivated and effective workplace—and an organization that is well positioned for success now and into the future.

Would you like to learn more about creating an empowered work environment through better self leadership skills? Then please join us for a free webinar later this month.

Why Empowerment Failed … And How It Can Succeed through the Magic of Self Leadership
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
9:00 a.m. -10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (12:00 Noon - 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

In this webinar hosted by Microsoft Live Meeting®, Blanchard Consulting Partner Susan Fowler shares three important keys from her new book Self Leadership and The One Minute Manager®, co-authored with Ken Blanchard and Laurence Hawkins. Participants will learn how to develop employees who are self leaders—people who have both the mind-set and the skill set to take responsibility and initiative for succeeding in their work role.

New Dates Added!

Designed for individuals or organizations, our workshops provide the opportunity to learn skills to meet the challenges of today's working environments. Participating in a public workshop is an ideal way to preview Blanchard programs and processes for possible rollout in your organization. Smaller companies can also use these workshops to meet their employees’ training needs.

Situational Leadership® II
June 6-7 in London, UK
June 20-21 in San Diego, CA
July 11-12 in Toronto, Canada
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October 17-18 in San Diego, CA
November 7-8 in Toronto, Canada
November 28-29 in London, UK
December 12-13 in San Diego, CA

Situational Frontline Leadership NEW!
June 13-14 in London, UK
July 26-28 in Orange County, CA
December 5-6 in London, UK

Whale Done! The Power of Positive Relationships NEW!
June 20-21 in London, UK
September 27-28 in San Diego, CA

Coaching Essentials for Leaders NEW!
June 27 in San Diego, CA

The Magic of Situational Self Leadership
July 25-26 in San Diego, CA
October 24-25 in San Diego, CA

Gung Ho!®
September 19-20 in San Diego, CA
September 19-20 in London, UK

We also offer Training for Trainers (T4T) sessions for most of the programs listed above. We give prospective trainers all the knowledge and tools needed to roll out a program in their organization.

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The Master of Science in Executive Leadership (MSEL) cohort-based program provides both established and emerging organizational leaders with an unsurpassed business leadership development experience. Executive-level participants engage in an applied-learning curriculum co-facilitated by expert authors, theorists, and business leaders drawn from both The Ken Blanchard Companies and the University of San Diego’s School of Business Administration.