You can empower employees to make decisions - this gives them responsibility and defines their role - this is managerial responsibility. Leadership is not about decision making responsibility, not if you define it as influence, something that can be done bottom-up as well as sideways and downwards. You cannot, strictly speaking, empower leaders because they take initiative without being given permission.

Leaders are people who take their own initiative, regardless of authority. Empowerment means giving people the authority to decide. Leadership is promoting new ideas, it is not about making decisions. That is a managerial action. If leadership is a form of influence and not a role, then it isn't something that can be empowered. A role is a set of responsibilities and, of course, you can designate boundaries and limits for any role, which includes empowering them to do certain things. Managers occupy roles while leadership is an act of influence.

You can encourage leaders so they have more confidence to challenge the status quo, but that is not empowerment as such. Developing leaders is more about creating a culture where senior executives are receptive to challenge from all quarters. Yes, this does entail giving them a sort of permission, but permission to challenge the status quo is not the same as being given specific authority, hence it is not empowerment.

True leaders already have power - the power of ideas and personal confidence to stand up and be counted. You cannot give such people this sort of power. Giving them power or formal authority provides them with managerial authority. Formal authority does not make someone a leader.

Where do you want to go from here?

• Read about conventional leadership style
• Do a leadership style quiz.
• See tips on how to be a leader.
• Share your leadership story, how you showed leadership to your colleagues or boss.

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