A cocky intrapreneur once said,
"better to apologize when things go wrong than ask for permission to get
something done.”
It's OK if the boss takes the credit.
You got to do what you wanted to do.
Effective empowerment works only when people empower
themselves. Those who are not able to empower themselves are not going to move
the needle much when seemingly empowered by their boss.
Empowerment when done must be based
on end goals, milestone achievements, and regular catch up for feedback and
directions so boss cannot wash his hands off when the project fails.
Empowerment is adjusted-risk (as finance mavens would put
it).
An example of an empowering boss is Dr
Satish Dhawan, former Chairman ISRO, who addressed a press conference taking
the blame on himself when the rocket launch of 1972 headed by Dr Abdul Kalam
failed. He nevertheless praised the team for the effort.
When subsequently the launch
succeeded, Dr Dhawan asked Dr Abdul Kalam to address the press (as related by
former President Dr Abdul Kalam).
Empowerment is risky. The boss must possess
a risk-and-product-management mindset to empower ably. The converse of poor or
no empowerment is the boss himself or herself burning the midnight oil on a
project with the employees doing the clerical stuff.
Or more likely without any of the employees because of a
fallacy in the boss's thinking that he has more control over the project if he
is doing it all by himself. Such fear of failure deters from full empowerment
of the team.
Credit must always go to the empowered
team; blame always to the boss.
Why?
If the project has failed it means
only one thing: the empowerment process designed by the boss was flawed.
Growth from manager to leader is a
steep learning curve. The stepping stones are the ability to build a talented,
independently functioning, disciplined and empowered team. The alternative is
burnout for the boss.
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