Case Study:
Enabling Others to Act
Empowerment is a powerful organizational tool which can instill in its members a sense of commitment, loyalty, and accountability. Empowerment allows people to feel more valued, to feel more in control of their lives and actions. Empowerment gives people the opportunity to grow and to advance within the organization.
The first step in the empowerment process is building trust. Trust in an organization can take many forms. Leaders can involve employees in the decision making process, allow them creativity in finding solutions, and provide autonomy and less supervision. Additionally, leaders can provide job flexibility and allow collaboration in the goal setting process.
Consider your present or past work experiences and how empowerment and collaboration are/were or are/were not part of the organizational culture and climate. In your initial post, please respond to the following points:
1. Describe how collaboration is fostered in this organization. Give three specific examples of how a particular leader fostered collaboration among members.
2. Describe how empowerment is part of this organization. Provide three specific examples of how a leader empowers the organization's members.
3. Based upon your observations in this organization, how does empowerment add to the success of the work group? What level of trust exists? How is trust established among its members?
4. Consider a situation (any situation in your professional or personal life) when you "enabled someone to act." Describe the situation and the outcome. What opportunities did you give this person? What did this person learn from the experience? How did this person feel more valued? What did you learn from this experience?
It is important to stay current in discussion threads. When you reply to your classmates, analyze his or her experiences with collaboration and empowerment. How are these experiences similar or different from yours? Offer suggestions as appropriate. Additionally, be sure to field to any questions and comments we make to your own post.