As an empowered leader, you can focus on bringing out the best in people. You can promote engagement, flexibility and growth. You can coach, inspire and develop self-leadership in your teams, leaving your employees feeling trusted, supported, and able to take the initiative. The transition from being less directive and more empowering is not easy, but the benefits are significant:

• Employees will care more about work
• Employees will take calculated risks
• Workplace culture will improve
• Employees will be more creative
• Your business will perform better

Directive Leadership

A directive leadership style can contribute to employee disengagement. Autocratic, directive leadership tends to restrain employee motivation and innovation. This style has a challenging time handling creative tasks, and this level of supervision hinders individuals in creative professions. This type of leadership puts much more pressure on you, the leader, causing you stress.

How to Become More Empowering

Are you ready to start bringing empowered leadership into your organization? Great. Remember that learning and sticking to new habits is complex and demands commitment and time. Here are ideas to help you get started:

Understand what is ahead of you.

Do not overestimate your skills. Even the most experienced managers tend to believe that they are better at coaching employees than they are. Be realistic about the time and effort needed to adapt your style.

Plan your learning agenda.

You will have to work on your skills in particular settings. If you have identified a strength you want to develop, try using it in different contexts.

Create a learning space.

Set aside time for reflection. It will speed up your progress, help you acknowledge small wins and learn more from setbacks.

Make work meaningful.

When companies get large, it is easy for employees to feel like just another laborer. Your team knows they must work. They also need to understand why. Help them see how their work affects the overall company mission, and it will empower their future success.

· Know when to take a back seat. Learning to let go is not easy for many leaders. However, you would not be in the position you are in today if someone else had not let go. Be aware of when your leadership is an asset and when it is a bottleneck. Micromanage less and trust your employees more.

Provide employees with opportunities to explore other areas of the organization.

Options can help to nurture a sense of empowerment. Your organization can do this with job alternation or transition within another department or location. Allowing your employees these opportunities gives them a sense of empowerment. Exact Staff can provide top-notch employees for your unique staffing needs.