Empowerment, now there’s a word that has been overused, misunderstood and has become cliche.  This is actually sad in my point of view as it is such a powerful tool. 

First, what is Empowerment? Empowerment is “to give power and authority”.

Secondly – don’t be scared you are not letting employees take over your business.

Lastly – what does this look like in practice? Very simply it is giving people the authority to make more decisions relevant to their job.  Let me give you some examples:

• a waiter that can comp your dessert without asking the manager
• the accounts receivable person who gives your biggest client an extra 10 days to pay without asking the controller
• the cable installer that gives you free movie channels for a month for having a problem installation
• the production person on the floor that can stop the line when he spots a QC issue

I’m sure if you think about you can come up with several in your own business.  Each time you empower your employees to do more – they will be appreciated, grateful and satisfied.

Remember, Successful People = Successful Business