The best leaders are those who empower others. Empower means to put energy into something or someone. When we empower someone, we infuse him or her with our strength, support and acknowledgment to carry things forward.
Empowering others is something all good leaders must do. As a leader, there’s no room for the lone ranger mentality. Leaders accomplish great things through other people. They don’t do it all themselves. They provide the leadership, inspiration, vision, and guidance to make things happen. Delegation is a necessary and important part of being a leader and the only way to truly get anything accomplished.
For this reason, it’s important that leaders empower others to manage and lead. That means transferring knowledge and resources as much as it means being there to provide mentorship and guidance as projects are executed. Empowering others develops trust; it teaches, it inspires, and most importantly, it serves to train the next generation of leaders. We have learned all that we know from others.
A good leader knows that his or her number one job is to create the opportunity and the environment to grow great leaders. Empowering others is a lot more than providing mentoring and coaching, or handing off roles and responsibilities. It’s about sincerely helping another person to step into their greatness so they can share their talents and gifts with others.
What types of things do you do to empower others to step into leadership roles? How has empowering others allowed you to grow in your own career?
“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.”
— Andrew Carnegie
Tara Kachaturoff is the creator, producer and host of Michigan Entrepreneur TV, a weekly television talk show featuring business leaders and businesses from start-up to stellar. With over 15 years of experience in corporate finance in the tech sector, she now coaches executives, business professionals, and entrepreneurs on leadership, management, productivity, and marketing issues. Tara is also the author of 21 Qualities of a Leader from which this article is excerpted.
