Power shift: creating an empowered workforce

To do more with less requires being able to empower others so that they are accountable and responsible. In many situations, staff resist empowerment and often make comments to the effect that it is the manager's job to get certain things done--not theirs! In moving toward empowerment, the most difficult first step must be a personal step to gain insight into the type of power the manager uses to achieve outcomes. If in the process of self-examination they find that their personal style of power does not support empowerment, then they must first make a power shift to a style that creates an environment where staff empowerment can be accomplished.