Doc,
> Dale--would you be good enough to describe this process you've mentioned
> below?
>
> Dale Emery wrote:
> > I believe it is possible to empower another person. I can sometimes
> > create an environment in which you are able to exercise your wonderful,
> > inherent power more effectively. In this case, you have more power, while
> > I have not diminished mine.
I don't have a process, exactly. It's not as if I think, "Here is an
opportunity to empower someone. I'll do my empowerment process now."
When I am able to empower someone, it is usually because the person has
asked for my help. My favorite way of helping is to help the person
find his or her own power and apply it.
I'll give an example. Several years ago I was at a workshop, and the
facilitator asked each participant (about 200 of us) to say something
about what support we would like from others during the week, and what
support we might have to offer. I've forgotten what kind of support I
asked for, but I offered support for anyone who was having trouble with
resistance to change. Susan, the Director of Human Resources at a large
paper company, came running up to me at the next break. We set aside some
time to talk the next day.
Susan was leading a project to implement self-directed work teams in her
organization. "Most people are really excited about what we're doing,"
she said. "But then there are the resisters. They don't want anything to
do with teams. Mostly, the resisters are the people who have been here
more than twenty years. Every time they come to a meeting, I already know
what they are going to say."
I said, "Suppose instead of calling these folks 'resisters,' you think of
them as people who are resisting this change at this time."
"Ohhh," she said, her eyes widening. She sat in silence for minute, then
looked at me and said, "Wow. That makes a big difference. When I think
of them as resisters, it's as if I have them all figured out, that they're
just resistant to change. When I think of them as resisting this change
at this time, I see them more as people. Maybe they have reasons for
resisting."
I said, "Now, instead of thinking of them as resisting the change, what if
you think of them as responding to it?"
"Ooohhh!" Again she went silent. After a moment, she said, "Thank you!
Now I know what I need to do."
That was it. The whole conversation took less than 20 minutes.
I talked with Susan several months later. She had met several times with
the "resisters," and focused on listening carefully to what they had to
say. After a few long discussions, together they came up with an idea
that worked for everyone. These company veterans would become mentors.
When new people joined the organization, the mentors would help them to
learn "how we work in teams around here."
When Susan and I started talking she was stuck, and when we were done she
was hopeful, confident, and energized. She had reconnected with her own
power.
By giving Susan information about the support I had to offer, I created an
environment that included the possibility that she might get support from
me. By listening, I created an environment that included my attention and
caring, an opportunity for her to be heard and appreciated. By asking my
two questions, I offered her an additional perspective. I don't know
which of these was most important to her.
Perhaps Susan could have gotten support, attention, and additional
perspectives from someone else. Perhaps she even *would* have gotten them
from someone else eventually. I made myself available in that place at
that time, which gave her possibilities she did not have right then and
there. By offering those choices, I created an environment in which she
could find her own considerable power.
Regards,
Dale
--Dale H. Emery -- Collaborative Consultant High Performance for Software Development Projects E-mail: dale@dhemery.com Web: http://www.dhemery.com
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