Powered by…Self!

It is important in your role as a relevant leader that you successfully develop the ability to empower others.

Empowering others is accomplished through strategies designed to assist them in cultivating their own leadership qualities. There are many ways to empower others including:

• Delegation
• Creating an environment where people are free to share their authentic perspectives
• Encouragement
• Recognition
• Establishing trust

This is by no means an exhaustive list for empowering others, but what I want to focus on in this article is the concept of self-empowerment.

I believe that one of the greatest leadership skills that you can model and teach to your team is the ability to self-empower.

What does it mean to be empowered? It means that you are energized, enthusiastic, inspired, and authorized.

As a leader, you do a great disservice to your team, peers, colleagues, and the organization if you do not possess the ability to self-empower.

This is a topic that frequently surfaces with my emerging leader coaching clients. Often, they do not feel empowered and are looking externally for someone else to empower them.

Learning to self-empower means that you do not wait for external events to occur in order to feel and be empowered. It means that you take a stand to BE empowered and your behavior, decisions, and choices reflect that sense of empowerment.

One of my favorite words that is closely related to “empowerment” is liberation. With the ability to self-empower you are liberated from external experiences. This liberation permits you to engage in those experiences with a sense of confidence and assurance.

Confidence is another important and vital leadership characteristic. Leaders who are confident create cultures where others feel safe and are willing to follow them.

So how do we move towards developing self-empowerment?

1. Start by asking yourself what makes you feel empowered? If you are unable to answer this question immediately sit with it until an answer emerges.
2. Notice how often you look to others for your sense of empowerment.
3. What behaviors do others engage in that cause you to feel more empowered?
4. Once you have identified the answers to the questions above, start a practice of providing those same behaviors to yourself.

If you repeatedly look to others to acknowledge and recognize your contribution begin acknowledging yourself.

If you need encouragement from others, start a practice of encouraging yourself.

Think in terms of proving to yourself that which you are looking for from those around you.

Consider being self-empowered as taking a stand. Taking a stand means that philosophically and behaviorally you adopt a position. You do not wait for external events to create the stand you take.

When YOU take the stand to be self-empowered it means that your choices, behaviors, and related outcomes reflect empowerment.

Be BOLD… be Self-Empowered!