Michael Parent Have you ever felt like you have to do everything yourself to make sure it gets done right? Maybe you’re in charge of a project at work, or maybe you lead a team, or even just find yourself being the one who always steps up in a group. It’s a common feeling, isn’t it? You might think, “If I want this done perfectly, I just need to do it myself.” You might even feel like it’s faster that way, or that you’re the only one with the exact right skills or understanding to handle a certain job. It’s a powerful pull, this idea that holding onto control is the best way to guarantee success.
But here’s a secret I’ve learned over many years in the business world, through successes and failures, through smooth sailing and choppy waters. A truly strong leader isn’t the one who can do all the tasks the best. The strongest leader, the one who makes the biggest difference in the long run, is the one who can help others do great things. It’s about stepping back a little, trusting the people around you, and creating a situation where they feel ready, able, and even excited to take charge. It’s about finding the hidden talents and strengths in your team and helping them shine. It’s about unleashing their potential.
Just think about the world we live in today. It’s busy, it’s complicated, and it’s always changing. New ideas pop up out of nowhere, unexpected challenges appear around every corner, and you simply can’t be everywhere at once, handling every detail, making every single decision. If you try to manage everything yourself, you’ll quickly find yourself tired, stressed, and probably not doing your best work because you’re spread too thin. And just as importantly, you’ll slow down the whole process. Things won’t move as quickly as they could, and opportunities might even slip away because you were the bottleneck, the one person everything had to go through.
But imagine a different picture. Imagine you’ve built a team where everyone feels capable and ready to step up when needed. Where people don’t wait for you to tell them what to do next, but instead look for ways to contribute and solve problems on their own. If you can create that kind of team, you can achieve so much more together than you ever could by yourself. You can tackle bigger projects, respond faster to changes, and come up with more creative solutions because you have a whole group of smart, engaged people working with you. That’s the real power of empowering your team.
Now, empowering your team isn’t just about handing out tasks and saying, “Good luck!” It’s a careful process, and I like to think of it as a mix of art and science. The art is in understanding the people on your team – what makes them tick, what their strengths are, what they hope to achieve, and how you can help them grow. It’s about building strong relationships based on trust and respect. The science is in setting things up in a smart way so they have the best chance to succeed. It means making sure they have the right tools, the right information, and the right support. It’s about creating a workplace where taking ownership of your work and being responsible for the results go hand-in-hand, where people feel safe to try, and even to stumble sometimes, knowing they’ll learn from it.
I remember a time, not so long ago, when my team was working on a really big and important project. It was one of those projects that had a lot of different pieces, like a giant puzzle, and each piece was pretty complicated on its own. At first, my natural instinct kicked in. I started trying to control every little detail, wanting to make sure nothing went wrong. I was constantly checking in, asking for updates, and sometimes even just taking over tasks because I thought I could do them faster or better myself. I genuinely thought I was being a helpful and responsible leader, keeping a close eye on things to ensure success.
But what I was actually doing was slowing everything down. My team members were waiting for my approval on small things, they weren’t making decisions on their own, and I could sense a bit of frustration. More importantly, I realized I was sending a message, maybe without even meaning to, that I didn’t fully trust them to handle things on their own. They weren’t feeling the sense of ownership that makes work truly engaging.
Then, I decided to try something different. It was a conscious decision, and honestly, it felt a little uncomfortable at first because it meant letting go of some of that control I was holding onto so tightly. I looked at the different parts of the project and thought about the skills and strengths of each person on my team. I started giving different, significant parts of the project to team members who had the right skills, even if they hadn’t done something exactly like that before. I sat down with each person and explained the goal for their part of the project and why it was important to the whole thing.
I made sure they had the resources they needed – access to information, necessary tools, and the authority to make certain decisions related to their part of the work. And I told them clearly, “I trust you to figure out how to get this done. I’m here if you need support, if you hit a wall, or if you just want to talk things through, but this is yours.”
It was a little scary at first, for both of us! They were taking on new levels of responsibility, and I was taking a step back, trusting in their abilities. There were moments when they came to me with questions, and instead of giving them the answer, I’d ask questions back to help them think through the problem themselves. There were small stumbles along the way, as there always are when people are learning and pushing themselves. But we talked through them, focusing on what we could learn for next time rather than dwelling on the mistake itself.
And guess what happened? My team didn’t just meet the goals I had set for them; they found new, better, and more efficient ways to do things that I never would have thought of on my own. They were creative, they were resourceful, and they were deeply committed to making their part of the project a success. They felt a real sense of pride in their work because it was their accomplishment. They were more engaged, more motivated, and more connected to the project and to each other as a team. That experience was a powerful lesson for me about the amazing, sometimes unexpected, things that can happen when you truly empower your team and give them the space and trust to succeed. It wasn’t just a project that got completed; it was a team that grew stronger and more capable right before my eyes.
Why Letting Go Helps Everyone Grow and Makes the Company Stronger
When you make the choice to empower your team, it sets off a chain reaction of good things that benefit everyone involved. It’s not just about making your own life as a leader easier, although that’s a nice bonus; it’s about creating a positive cycle of growth that helps your team members develop in important ways, and in turn, makes your whole company stronger and more successful in the long run.
Think about it from the perspective of your team members. When you give people important tasks and the freedom to figure things out for themselves, they learn new skills and get better at what they do much faster than if you were just telling them exactly what steps to follow. It’s like the difference between reading a book about riding a bike and actually getting on the bike and practicing. The hands-on experience, the need to problem-solve on their own, that’s where the real learning happens.
And as they successfully complete tasks and overcome challenges because you trusted them, they start to feel more sure of themselves. Their confidence grows with each accomplishment. When you, as their leader, show that you believe in their ability to handle responsibility, that belief is contagious. They start to believe in themselves more too, and that confidence allows them to take on even bigger challenges in the future.
Nobody likes to feel like they’re just a small, unimportant part of a big machine, doing the same repetitive task over and over. When employees are given responsibility, the power to make decisions about their work, and a sense of ownership over the outcome, they feel more important, more valued, and more connected to the overall goals of the company. This leads to them being happier and more motivated to come to work each day.
Empowering people is also like training for the future, not just for their current job, but for what comes next. It helps them get the kind of experience and build the confidence and decision-making skills they will need to take on leadership roles themselves one day. You are essentially building the next generation of leaders within your company by giving them opportunities to lead and take initiative now.
And here’s another exciting benefit for your team members: when people feel trusted and free to try new things without fear of being immediately shut down or criticized for not doing it the “right” way (meaning, your way), they are much more likely to think outside the box. They’ll come up with creative solutions to problems and new ideas that can help the business improve, innovate, and stay ahead of the competition. They feel a sense of psychological safety that allows their creativity to flourish.
Now, let’s look at how it’s also good for you as a leader. This is where the “making your job easier” part comes in, but it’s more than just that. When you’re not trying to do every single task yourself, you free up your most valuable resource: your time. You have more time to focus on the big picture, to think about the company’s strategy, to plan for the future, to build relationships, and to work on those important leader tasks that only you can do.
By empowering your team, you’re also building a stronger, more capable, and more committed group of people. A team that feels trusted and valued is a team that works harder, smarter, and more effectively together. They support each other, they collaborate more naturally, and they are more invested in the team’s overall success.
And just as your team members learn and grow, you will too. Sometimes, as I mentioned from my own experience, your team will find better ways to do things than you ever thought of. They might have insights or perspectives that you, from your vantage point, might miss. Being open to their ideas, learning from their approaches, and being willing to adapt your own thinking helps you continue to learn and grow as a leader. It keeps you from getting stuck in old ways of doing things.
Finally, there’s a deep sense of personal accomplishment that comes from helping others succeed and watching them grow. Seeing someone you’ve mentored or empowered step up and achieve something great is one of the most rewarding parts of being a leader. It’s a different kind of success than achieving something yourself; it’s a success that is multiplied through others.
And for the whole company, empowering teams makes a truly significant difference that impacts the bottom line and the company’s ability to thrive over time. When teams are empowered, they can make decisions and solve problems quickly without needing to wait for approval on every little thing. This speeds up processes, removes bottlenecks, and makes the company much more efficient and agile.
In a fast-changing world, companies need to be able to adapt quickly. Teams that are used to taking initiative, thinking on their feet, and solving problems are much better equipped to handle unexpected changes, market shifts, or new challenges. They don’t freeze up; they figure out how to move forward. This makes the company more resilient and better able to navigate uncertainty.
When everyone feels like they can contribute their ideas and try new things, the company becomes a place where innovation and creativity are not just encouraged, but are a natural part of how things are done. This constant flow of new ideas is essential for staying competitive and finding new opportunities.
Employees who feel valued, trusted, and have opportunities to grow and take on more responsibility are much more likely to stay with the company for a longer time. This reduces employee turnover, which saves the company a lot of money and effort in hiring and training new people. Keeping talented and experienced employees is crucial for maintaining knowledge and momentum.
Ultimately, all these things together – faster work, increased efficiency, a constant flow of new ideas, the ability to adapt quickly, happy and engaged employees who stay with the company – lead to a more successful and profitable business. Empowering your team isn’t just a nice-to-do; it’s a smart business strategy.
The Art of Letting Go: How to Truly Empower Your Team in Practice
So, if empowering your team is so important and has so many benefits, how do you actually do it? As I said, it’s not just about saying “you got this!” and walking away. It’s a thoughtful process that involves several important steps, and it requires conscious effort and practice.
The first step, and it’s an ongoing one, is to really know your team and what they’re good at. Take the time to understand each person as an individual. What are their skills? What are their strengths? What kind of work do they enjoy? What are their career goals? What do they hope to learn? This understanding helps you know who is the right person for different tasks and how you can best support them to succeed. It’s about seeing their potential, not just their current role.
Next, when you’re giving someone a task or a project, give them clear goals, but try not to give them all the exact steps. Explain what needs to be done – the desired outcome, the standards you expect, and any deadlines. And importantly, explain why it’s important – how this task fits into the bigger picture and contributes to the team’s or company’s goals. But then, resist the urge to tell them exactly how to do it, step by step. Let them use their own skills, creativity, and ideas to figure out the best way to reach that goal. This shows you trust their judgment and their ability to problem-solve, and it’s where they will learn and grow the most.
Empowerment isn’t possible if your team doesn’t have what they need to do the job well. You need to make sure they have the right tools, information, and resources. Do they have access to the necessary software, equipment, or data? Do they have the budget if needed? Do they have the authority to access information or make decisions they need to make? Make sure they have everything necessary to be successful in the task you’ve given them. Trying to empower someone without providing the resources is setting them up for failure.
As your team members work on the tasks you’ve given them, it’s important to offer support, but don’t take over. Be available to answer their questions, offer guidance when they get stuck, and help remove any roadblocks that are outside of their control. But here’s the tricky part: resist the urge to jump in and take over the task if they struggle or if it’s not being done exactly how you would do it. Let them work through the challenges. Offer support and coaching, ask questions to help them think differently, but allow them the space to figure things out. This is where they build resilience and develop their problem-solving skills.
For the tasks you’ve empowered them to handle, give them the power to make decisions within certain agreed-upon limits. Define clearly what decisions they can make on their own without needing your approval and when they need to check with you. This builds their confidence in their own judgment, speeds up the decision-making process, and shows that you trust them to manage their area of responsibility.
You want your team members to feel personally invested in the work they are doing. So, encourage them to take ownership of their tasks and projects. Help them understand that they are responsible for the outcome, and that their contribution is important to the team’s success. When people feel a sense of ownership, they are more likely to be motivated, committed, and dedicated to doing a great job. They take pride in their work.
Regularly give honest and helpful feedback. Don’t wait until the end of a project to tell your team how they did. Provide feedback along the way. Point out what they did well, acknowledging their efforts and successes. And offer constructive suggestions for how they can improve or do things differently next time. Feedback is a gift that helps people learn, grow, and get better at what they do. Make sure your feedback is specific, timely, and focused on the behavior or task, not the person.
When your team succeeds, even in small ways, celebrate their successes. Acknowledge their hard work, their efforts, and the results they achieved. This reinforces that their contributions are valued and motivates them to continue doing great work. And if mistakes happen, which they will because that’s how we learn, learn from those mistakes together. See them as opportunities to understand what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future, rather than reasons to blame or criticize. Focus on the learning, not just the outcome.
And finally, the most important part of empowering your team is simply this: Trust Them! You have to believe in your team’s ability to handle the tasks you give them, to learn, and to succeed. Trust isn’t something you just have; it’s built over time through consistent actions, open communication, and demonstrating that you believe in their capabilities. When your team feels trusted, they are more likely to step up and prove that your trust was well-placed.
It’s Not Always Easy: Facing the Challenges of Letting Go
While the idea of empowering your team sounds great, actually doing it can be challenging sometimes. It requires patience, a willingness to step back, and a bit of courage to let go of control.
One of the biggest challenges is that it can sometimes feel faster to just do it yourself. Especially if you’re an expert in a particular area, you know exactly how to do it, and you can probably do it quickly. In the short term, this might be true. But think about the long term. By taking the time to teach, guide, and empower your team, you are building their skills and capacity. This means that in the future, they will be able to handle those tasks independently, freeing up your time for other important things. It’s an investment that pays off over time.
Another challenge is the fear of mistakes. It can be scary to give important tasks to others because you worry they might make mistakes that could impact the project or the company. This is a natural fear. But mistakes are a fundamental part of learning and growth. If you’ve provided clear goals, the necessary resources, and offered support, small mistakes can be incredibly valuable learning opportunities for your team members. The key is to create an environment where mistakes are seen as chances to learn and improve, not reasons for punishment or blame.
Giving up control can also be difficult for some leaders. If you’re used to being involved in every detail, stepping back and trusting your team to handle things on their own can feel uncomfortable. You have to shift your focus from controlling the exact process to guiding towards the desired outcome. It requires a change in mindset and a willingness to trust in the capabilities of others.
Finally, making sure everyone is ready for empowerment is a challenge. Not everyone on your team might be at the same level of skill or readiness for taking on significant responsibility. You need to understand each person’s individual abilities, their experience, and their willingness to take on new challenges. You might need to provide different levels of support and challenge to different team members, tailoring your approach to their individual needs and potential.
Facing these challenges is a normal part of the art and science of empowerment. It takes practice, patience, and a willingness to learn alongside your team. It’s a journey, not a destination.
Empowerment in Action: Building a Team Ready for Anything
When you successfully navigate these challenges and truly empower your team, you create a group of people who are much more than just employees following instructions. You create a group of active contributors, creative problem-solvers, and engaged team members. They don’t just wait to be told what to do next; they are actively looking for ways to make things better, to solve problems, and to contribute to the team’s success.
Imagine a team where everyone feels comfortable speaking up with their ideas, even if they are different from what’s been done before. Imagine a workplace where people naturally help each other out, sharing knowledge and supporting colleagues without being asked. Imagine a team where everyone feels a sense of pride and ownership in the team’s accomplishments, because they know their individual contributions were valued and essential.
That’s the kind of team that can handle anything that comes their way. Whether it’s a new, unexpected challenge, a sudden change in the market, or an exciting new opportunity, they are ready to step up, figure things out, and work together to succeed. They are adaptable because they are used to learning and adjusting. They are creative because they feel safe to explore new ideas. They are resilient because they have learned to overcome challenges and learn from mistakes.
This is the real power of the science and the art of unleashing potential. It’s about building a team that is stronger, smarter, and more capable together than they could ever be if one person was trying to do everything. It’s about creating a workplace where everyone has the chance to shine, to contribute their unique talents, and to reach their full potential.
As a leader, your greatest achievement might not be found in the tasks you complete yourself, but in the potential you unlock in others. By trusting your team, giving them the tools, information, and support they need, and letting them take the lead, you are not just building a successful project or a high-performing department. You are building a future-ready organization filled with capable, confident, and engaged individuals who are ready to take on whatever comes next. You are creating a legacy of empowerment that will continue to benefit the organization long after you’ve moved on.
What are your thoughts on empowering teams? What are some specific ways you’ve seen empowerment work really well in practice? What challenges have you faced when trying to empower others, and how have you worked through them? Share your ideas, experiences, and lessons learned in the comments below. Let’s continue this important conversation and help each other become better at unleashing the incredible potential within our teams!
