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Professor Jim Logan. Required course for UNO Master of Accounting program....

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Patrick LaCour MANG 6401-476 Dr. Logan 13 November 2019 Thought Paper 3 The culture that we live in today is a selfish one. The message wherever we look seems to be “Focus only on yourself. Don’t let people stop you from doing what you want to do.” Many people have the mindset that “it’s more important to get others to do what you want them to do than it is see what they want to do.” However, a formula for effective businesses, relationships, and personal interactions involves a countercultural idea. The secret to profitable companies and stellar engagements is empowerment. Power is too often seen as means of expressing one’s authority over others. Although power can be used effectively and correctly to benefit companies, it can also be abused due to selfish motives. Empowerment, though, is the expression that allows people the freedom to do the tasks or deeds that they want to do. Ultimately, a manager should seek to empower employees to do and think what they choose while all striving to achieve the common goal of successful business (usually seen as increasing profits, customer satisfaction ratings, and stronger collaborative relationships among coworkers). To be empowered, an employee must first allow himself/herself to be empowered by others, which requires trust. Trust allows someone to feel secure in the work environment, around co-workers, and with the work that he/she performs. Empowered people trust that they are being asked to produce work that will bring positive results all within an environment in which their thoughts and efforts are welcomed. Through instilling trust, an empowering manager must prove that an employee is performing meaningful work. Regardless of the large or small effects an employee’s job may have, the manager must truthfully reveal the importance of each task to a larger goal. Proving the meaningfulness of someone’s work gives the employee more “personal consequence” or feeling of importance. Personal consequence can easily be overexaggerated, by telling someone that a company’s success solely depends upon his/her work. Rather a manager should truthfully explain the results that will come about from an employee’s work. Upon showing the significance of an employee’s tasks, an empowering manager must then prove to the employee that he/she is capable of performing the task at hand. Managers are tasked with determining what responsibilities best suit their employees and, therefore, knowing where to place employees. The final step in empowerment is to give employees the choice to perform tasks. An empowering manager can prepare an employee to perform the work at hand; however,

the manager must ultimately allow the employee, himself/herself, to choose to perform the important work. Knowing where and how to empower is equally as important as identifying what is involved in empowerment. Empowerment is difficult to achieve in a hostile environment or one where employees aren’t allowed to flourish in the work that they perform. Before attempting to empower someone, a manager must ensure that the environment is appropriate. If changes need to be made, the manager should first consult with others on how to implement new measures to improve the conditions. Once the environment is sufficient, a manager can them identify the best way to empower individuals. Regardless of someone’s personality, an empowering manager should establish goals that he/she truthfully believes are for the company’s success and which he/she wants others to strive toward. After establishing goals, a manager can use various methods to empower others. Managers may choose to empower their employees by providing information to them about an important job, client, or project. The information may lead to empowerment because the workers will gain a sense of trust in knowing details surrounding a task. Managers may also choose to empower by establishing a model for others to follow. In certain scenarios, the best way to empower people is to demonstrate the task, behavior, or job that must be accomplished. The most important method for the manager involves instilling confidence in the employees. This allows the employees to trust in the manager as their leader and to give himself/herself security in the manager and company. Confidence must be sought regardless of the empowerment method used, as I have witnessed in my own experiences. I first experienced empowerment in the form of athletics. Various coaches that I have competed for used empowerment methods ranging from modeling to creating confidence to emotional arousal. I personally respond best to the people who instill confidence within me, both in a work environment and elsewhere. This has transitioned over to my academic and work experiences as well. The greatest professors that I have known are the ones who have shown me that I am capable of overcoming setbacks and poor grades. These are the professors who showed me that I could perform better in classes if I was willing to work. Transitioning this into work experiences in prior internships I have held, I most often saw empowerment in the modeling form. I was taught how to complete a client’s tax return or perform related other tasks by a mentor or peer. With each person that I worked, there was an assumed trust that they placed in 2

me to complete the job and a trust in my ability to do the work. I had the necessary resources and information to complete the work, in addition to realizing that my work was meaningful. I had the choice to perform the work each time; however, I never considered saying “No” to the responsibilities because I found myself inside of an encouraging, empowering environment. The environment truly made a significant impact on my ability to be empowered by mentors and peers around me. Empowerment is a gift that is easy to claim but difficult to use because it goes beyond telling somebody “you can do this job.” Empowering someone involves developing trust with them, helping them to see the meaning in their work, building confidence within them, and proving that they are capable of performing jobs that have meaning to a company. An empowering manager can show his employees that there is a common goal to achieve, yet the manager never forces his employees to do the work. Instead, he lets the employees make the choice themselves to impact the company and contribute to its success.

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