Empowerment: what it is and what it is not

Abstract

Discusses empowerment in terms of common misunderstandings. Everybody talks about empowerment these days and many company leaders claim to be practicing it, but there are a great number of managers ‐ and employees ‐ who do not really understand what empowerment involves. As a result, many problems have arisen as confusion over decision‐making authority and access to information reigns supreme. Lays out, in a straightforward manner, what empowerment is, common misconceptions around it, and a process for increasing the chances that employees will be empowered with success.