An Empowerment Example

One of my primary functions as a lean practitioner is training and training development for our "Boeing Portland Fabrication System" (a lean management culture based on University of Kentucky's True Lean program).  I am the resident training developer for my site, and most of my training is adopted by the other 19 business units that make up all of Boeing Fabrication).  Recently, I was asked to support our executive leader on developing training for his leadership team around Ken Blanchard's Situational Leadership II model.  While my previous role was instructional designer, I've been out of the general instructional design "game" for a few years.  In addition, this training is for a higher level employee than is my usual audience.  This crowd has potential to be quite a bit more critical.  I know that I was selected because of my background; this was the next step in "fostering personal mastery experiences," (Whetten & Cameron, 2016, p. 373).

I had the full confidence of the executive team.  I know that because the request came in as, "you can do this no problem, right?" followed by a bit of a smirk.  This was a great confidence booster to me.  It's nice to be trusted to the point where my leaders think they are making a joke when asking me if I have the necessary capabilities to complete a task.  That definitely provides some confidence.

Luckily, I wasn't going in blind.  A clear set of goals was created, including times and dates of training delivery.  The executive team was straightforward about why they wanted to provide the training for their senior managers and the issues that they hoped it would help address.  I also attended a two-day training intended to support people that, like me, were planning to bring the training back and share with others.

All the "prescriptions of empowerment" were there (Whetten & Cameron, 2016, p.372).  Now, development is completed and I'm looking forward to participating in the delivery of the training in March!

I think the element with the most for me was the confidence bestowed upon me.  I think if I don't have that confidence in one of my followers, then it is my job to provide the support, information, and resources they need to ensure that I can have that confidence in them.  Thinking in this way is crucial to follower growth.

References
Whetten, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills, 9^th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.