The duty of a leader is to empower people as it is important for achieving some progress that employees start believing and following their leader in executing the underlying tasks. However, sometimes, this task is difficult, or even impossible, to achieve if the leader fails to empower his or her followers.
There are various reasons as to why a leader may fail to empower the others. Some of these reasons may be either intentional or unintentional. According to Maxwell (2007), leaders may fail to empower their followers if they act insecure. From this perspective, the leader is never ready to relinquish his/her powers to his/her subordinates. For example, a leader does not want his/her juniors to execute their duties with freedom and authority.
Empowerment of other workers by leaders may be determined by the leader’s empowerment ability. However, the lack of such ability can be seen when a leader does not provide resources and responsibilities to the others. If leaders do not portray goodwill to their subordinates, then it will be impossible to motivate other workers. For example, a leader should show commitment and always be ready to give credit, where it is due.
Appreciation of other people’s achievement is significant in motivating them to always work hard. However, showing other people that they do not deserve credit and rewards for their hard work can be an example of a case that leaders lack empowerment ability. Moreover, a leader’s lack of empowerment ability may be a result of inability to have a proper influence on his/her followers. Some leaders fail to empower their followers since they are yet to build trust among their followers.
The character of a leader can be an obstacle in ensuring that his/her subordinates achieve satisfaction from their work. In this case, the followers will be negatively impacted by a negative character of a leader and, as a result, show their dissatisfaction and resistance in supporting and adopting his/her ideas
It is true that teaching what is right is easier and simpler than acting right in practice. It takes a lot of effort and self-improvement in order to do what is right. Of course, many leaders are burdened with the responsibility of making sure that their followers act right and perform their duties well.
However, unless such actions are taken by the leaders, their followers will be the least to show any diligence in their work. An example of such leaders can be seen in Henry Ford, who was not interested in improving the company he founded. Consequently, the same was evidenced in the company executives, who never worked hard to salvage the company that nearly collapsed.
On the other hard, saying what is right and then showing it on one’s own example is considered very convincing. An example of a leader who portrayed such pattern of behavior and workers’ management is Ray Kroc, the owner of McDonald’s chain of restaurants. Kroc was an effective leader, and his followers emulated him.
The McDonald brothers had a vision, which they could not translate into reality and showed little to improve their effectiveness in the business. However, Kroc was able to share his business idea with his workers and transformed the business as a result.
Power is a factor that can affect and compromise ethics. While analyzing Ford’s leadership in the Ford Company, one realizes that the leader had too much power and reserved all the authority, giving too much freedom to his workers.
From this context, the leader undermined the others as his decisions were not reviewed by the company’s executives. It is, therefore, easier to make unethical decisions considering that the company leadership authority is reserved to one individual, whose decision may either improve or destroy a company.
Reference
Maxwell, J. (2007). The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership workbook: Revised & updated. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.