Let it go.

I have been reading about empowering the different members of your team. One idea that has jumped out to me is that, “empowerment means letting go.”[1] Gill describes control based leadership and its inherent lack of empowerment for the involved team members. Rules and regulations help to create boundaries for an organization but unless people are able to operate out of their own freedom they cannot be empowered. This sort of freedom is a risky proposition for a perfectionist like me. If I am truly willing to empower a member of my team than I must be willing to let that team member do things differently than I. They are using their own skills and talents and not my own. Gill believes that this sense of risk is an emotional response to the loss of control. Am I secure in my leadership? Do I believe in the clarity of vision and mission that I have set before my own team? If I can answer yes to these questions than I must be willing to let people go.

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[1] Gill, Theory and Practice of Leadership, p. 219.