Inspiration & Paradox 57: Give Away Power to Become More Powerful!

I love to read about organiational management, principles, beliefs, and stories. The greatest paradox of organizational life I have so far learnt perhaps is “The more power leaders give away, the more they have.” But even the most enlightened leaders, who recognize that empowering their employees is the key to a faster, more flexible organization, are struggling to answer these questions: "How will I know what is going on?" "Wouldn’t things run wildly out of control!"

Many leaders seem to think that all the stuff about empowering are not more than just nice sounding, politically correct theories that as long as they don't deny it publicly, they won't get criticised. However, relinquishing power to others takes great courage and wisdom. Only committed visionary leaders will find ways to embrace paradox no matter how hard it is. These successeful and enduring eaders discover that real power comes from committed employees who feel empowered. They want their followers to be knowledgeable and fully informed on all aspects of an operation. As a result, they strive for openness and spend much time and effort clarifying misunderstandings quickly and promoting open, two-way communication. These leaders recognize that the stronger each of their follower is, the more each can do. The better decision maker each follower is, the easier it is to push the bigger decisions down to lower levels. And all these ultimately strengthens the position of the leader, bringing him/her even greater success, which one alone can never achieve.