In July 2020, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel came out with its Top Workplaces 2020 report1. A little background. The Top Workplaces program is administered through the firm Engage LLC. They invited over 1800 employers in southeastern Wisconsin to be surveyed and 238 signed up. Employees answer 24 questions in 7 categories. The firm does similar surveys in cities across the United States2.

Those surveyed answer how positive they are about statements such as “My manager makes it easier to do my job well”, “I feel genuinely appreciated at this company”, “This company motivates me to give my very best at work.”7

I don’t have any issues with these questions, or any questions in the survey. Certainly, a high positivity score indicates the organization puts people first. But there’s a missing question.

The missing question

Here it is:

How positive to you feel about the following statement? “I am empowered to make decisions.”

Empowerment! David Marquet’s definition of empowerment is pushing decision-making to where the information is. Empowerment is one of the foundational blocks of Marquet’s intent-based leadership approach (which he proved was a solid methodology for being a ‘top workplace’, even when that workplace was a nuclear submarine.)

Brendon Burchard, high performance coach (his elite clients include Olympians and Fortune 50 CEOs), has said many times, “People support what they create.”3 People support what they create. Not, people support what they are told to create.

In the Agile Manifesto4, one of the 12 principles stated is:

Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.

Agile Manifesto

What I’m not saying (and what I am)

I’m not saying the companies that topped the chart of “Top Workplaces” don’t deserve it. I’m also not saying that these organizations don’t empower their employees. I am saying that I’m interested in how the employees of these organizations would answer the question.

Empowerment can be difficult to get right

Of course getting empowerment right is difficult. Patrick Lencioni’s Table Group lays out a spectrum from micromanagement to what he calls “abdication management.”5 Empowerment lies somewhere in that continuum, but, they argue, leaning towards micromanagement isn’t a bad thing when the alternative is abdication management.

John Maxwell, well-known leader and leadership trainer, even has a law around empowerment. He calls it the Law of Empowerment: Only Secure Leaders Give Power to Others. He explains that:

“the number one enemy of empowerment is the desire for job security.”6.

John Maxwell

Maxwell states that expectations on leaders is high, and they can’t possibly do it all; leaders must empower others to be able to accomplish goals.

engineer your life

  • Ask yourself how empowered you feel at work and how that contributes to how satisfied you are with your job. Do you feel there is a correlation?
  • If you are in a manager or leader role, do you empower your team? If not, what holds you back?

references

1 “These Top Winners Have Won Each Year”, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, July 26, 2020

2 https://www.energage.com/top-workplaces/, accessed October 18, 2020

3 Burchard, Brendon, “How to Motivate Others: Be the role model.”, July 30, 2019 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-motivate-others-brendon-burchard/, accessed October 18, 2020

4 “Principles behind the Agile Manifesto”, https://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html, accessed October 18, 2020

5 Table Group, “Micromanagement is Underrated”, https://www.tablegroup.com/hub/post/micromanagement-is-underrated, accessed October 18, 2020

6 Maxwell, John, “The Law of Empowerment”, June 11, 2011 [blog post], https://www.johnmaxwell.com/blog/the-law-of-empowerment/, accessed October 18, 2020

7 “What are workers most positive about?”, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, July 26, 2020