Tim: We’ve started to explore how to empower others—from creating a culture of
trust to having a common mission among
team members. What else can leaders do?
Dave: Leaders need to be really transparent
about creating environments centered upon
learning, growing, making mistakes, vulnerability and trust. A leader who creates that
kind of transparency sets the stage for an
innovative environment.
Tim: There are many stories both current
and historical in which our greatest advancements came from failure. Failure is
one of the best learning tools that we have
and if we make it so that no one ever fails,
they never learn. In fact, Thomas Edison
was once asked, “How does it feel to fail
almost 1,000 times before perfecting the
light bulb?” He responded with “I didn’t fail
almost 1,000 times; I successfully discovered 9,999 ways not to make a light bulb.”
Now that we have highlighted great
examples of empowerment, do you think
it’s possible to distill the concept down
to a single definition?
Mike: Set direction for your people and
then let your people fill in the det