194. Empower, Don't Abandon

Empowerment sounds good on paper, but in the workplace it often falls short.

Especially in leadership stretch moments, like promotions and novel, high-stakes projects, what leaders call empowerment can feel like abandonment to the person on the receiving end. 

In this episode, we look at the history of empowerment in organizations, explore how the brain reacts in stretch moments, and share practical ways leaders can provide just the right level of support to turn stretch into strength.

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Transcript

Teri Schmidt: 0:00

Have you used or said the word empowerment today? I bet you have. It's one of those words that we throw around in leadership conversations. Leaders want to empower their teams. Organizations promise to empower employees. It shows up in value statements, strategy, decks, even recruiting ads. To be honest, I used to think that I was really good at it. I actually thought it was one of my leadership strengths. After all. One of my core beliefs is in the unique value that each person has to bring to the situation or project. But after getting some feedback, I realized that what I was calling empowerment was at times bordering on abandonment in my attempt to avoid micromanaging and show people that I believed in them. I was failing to provide clarity, stability, and support. Today, we'll explore the history of empowerment in our workplaces, what happens in the brain during high stakes transitions that I like to call leadership, stretch moments, and how empowerment can either accelerate growth or feel like being left alone on a rock face without a harness. I am Terry Schmidt, executive and leadership Coach at Strong Leaders Serve, where we partner with organizations to prepare leaders for the everyday stretch moments of leadership, the promotion that makes old habits obsolete, the reorg that shakes trust, or the high stakes project where influence matters more than authority. And this is the Strong Leaders Serve Podcast. The word empowerment wasn't born in the workplace in the 1960s and seventies. It was tied to social movements, civil rights, feminism, community organizing. It meant giving voice agency and power to groups that had been silenced. By the 1980s and 1990s, management thinkers brought the word into business. Empowerment became about flattening hierarchies, giving employees more ownership and moving decision making closer to the front line. But here's the rub. Many organizations stopped at slogans. They told people they were empowered, but didn't change the systems, resources, or leadership support to make that empowerment real. And that's the tension we still live with today. So let's start with where many of you are in the leader's shoes. Why do leaders like me sometimes think they're empowering their teams when they're really abandoning them? Well, there are a few reasons that I can think about. Sometimes it's optimism. They think I grew when someone threw me into the deep end, so they will too. Sometimes it's overload. They're thinking, I don't have the capacity to stay involved, so I'll call it empowerment and let them be on their way. And sometimes it's fear. The thought creeps into our head. If I stay close, I'll look like a micromanager. In all of these cases, the leader's intent may be positive. Your optimism about how they might grow when you throw them into the deep end is probably paired with trust in their abilities. But the problem is the impact is often the opposite. It's often negative because in stretch moments like promotions, reorgs, or novel high stakes projects. The brain is already on high alert. If leaders disappear, the brain interprets the silence as danger, not trust. So let's flip perspectives with a story. Elena had just promoted Carlos into a director role. She'd been working to develop him for years, and when the chance came and he was given the promotion, she told him. This division is now yours. You have full authority. I'm here if you need me. Does that sound familiar? I know. It kind of does to me. You see in Elena's mind, she had just empowered Carlos. She walked away proud of the trust that she had shown. After all, she was happy that she was finally comfortable delegating. Carlos, on the other hand, walked away with his heart racing. At first, it felt exhilarating, but as the weeks went on, the pressure mounted, his brain went into stress mode, pumping out cortisol. That's when we slip into fight, flight, or freeze in fight mode. Carlos snapped at his team in meetings. Micromanaging every detail to try to claw back a sense of control in flight mode, he avoided decisions, hoping someone else would step in and in freeze mode. He procrastinated on prepping, for a crucial board presentation. Paralyzed by the fear of getting it wrong to Elena. These behaviors looked like Carlos wasn't ready. She thought maybe she was wrong, but inside Carlos's brain, they were simply survival responses to what felt like abandonment. He was on a rock face with no harness. Now, thankfully a turning point came. Eventually a peer asked Carlos how he was doing, hesitant. At first he admitted, honestly, I feel like I'm failing. I don't even know if Elena cares how this project goes. That conversation gave him the courage to approach her, and when he did, Elena was surprised. She thought she was empowering him by staying out of the way. They agreed on weekly check-ins not to take control, but to provide clarity and a sounding board. That small shift lowered the threat level in Carlos's brain. His stress response eased and his prefrontal cortex and part responsible for problem solving and strategic thinking came back online with scaffolding in place. What had started as abandonment? Turned into real empowerment. So now to you, how do we reclaim empowerment from the buzzword bin? How do we make it actually mean something? How do we make it actually beneficial for our teams? And for us, it's not about disappearing. It's not about micromanaging. Real empowerment is about presence without control. It is saying, this is yours to lead and I'll walk alongside you. It's helping push our team members just outside of their comfort zone, but providing them just enough support for them to grow in educational language. This is called scaffolding notice. It's not providing a fully constructed set of stairs. But instead just enough temporary support to help the employee ascend. When leaders combine autonomy with clarity, trust with coaching and challenge with connection, empowerment really means something, and that's when stretch moments turn into growth instead of collapse. So as you go into your week. Think about these two questions. If you're a leader, think, am I empowering or am I abandoning under the banner of trust? What can I do to provide just the right level of temporary support that my employee needs to grow in this situation? If you're one in the stretch, ask yourself, do I have the support I need? And if not. Who can I invite to step alongside me? Because beneath the buzzword empowerment isn't just about stepping back, it's about providing just enough support to enable your employees to learn and grow into the novel situation. Join us next week as we continue to go beneath the buzzwords and talk about what effective communication as a leader actually means. We have a real treat as Jen Mueller, who is in her 16th season as the Seattle Seahawks Sideline Radio reporter is on to talk about how she takes what she has learned in her career as a sports broadcaster into the world of business communication. You don't wanna miss it. Have a great week, and I will be back with you then.