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Advantage - Small business
Small business has powerful advantages over big business when it comes to marketing. You can get these advantages working for you now. The typical approach to marketing by big business is use the resource they have most of - money. They tend to...

Organizational Culture Change: Is It Really Worth the Effort?
Much has been written about changing organizational culture. It's an exciting topic because of the enormous potential benefits derived from changing an organization's culture. While exciting because of its enormous potential, attempting to...

Parenting Troubled Teens
Fiery Furnance – Part 1 by Sandy Brunson. Parents of troubled teens are heart broken, devastated, and feel lost and all alone. Christian parents of troubled teens have hope, hope in Jesus. Christian parents do not escape the possibility of...

Staying Cool When the Job Heats Up
Staying Cool When the Job Heats Up by Dale Collie Jobs are heating up. We're all feeling the pinch of hiring freezes and information overload. Workplace stress is increasing right along with the workload. Headaches are turning into migraines; back...

The Ten Keys to Maximizing Employee Performance
1. Let people know what you expect. If people know what’s expected of them, that’s what they’ll do--if they don’t know what’s expected, they’ll do something else. Communicate clear and unambiguous performance expectations and hold people...

 
Empower Your People - Give Them Some Control

Empowerment and control, so important in the lives of our employees; our people. For with these two a whole new flowering of capability opens up for them.

Ultimately you too, for that involvement and intimacy with your business, be it small or large, will make the difference between failure and success.

Here's why...

It's been a pretty good domestic weekend around the place - not done a lot, but I have done what I've wanted to do - and that makes the difference.

I changed my role when I first left the employed world. Having been a manager for over 25 years. I became a true employee with a manager breathing down my neck. It was the most difficult thing to accept. It wasn't because I could do it better (although, then again...!), more it was that I had just no control at all. And I realised that most people who have jobs are total employees and have little say in what they do or how they do it. They are 'done to' rather than deciding for themselves and getting creative and involved.

Sadly I didn't realise this until I was a manager no longer, but what I did realise and share with you now is that to be totally disempowered in your role is demoralising and depressing.

Whilst I realise that perhaps I am more creative and need space to think and 'invent', which some people may not feel quite so


U.S. Craft Beer Brewers Thrive, Despite Small Share Of The Market
It's a good time to brew beer in America. According to beer expert Julia Herz, U.S. brewing isn't just on the upswing, it's on top. "We're now the No. 1 destination for beer, based on diversity and amount of beers," she says. And the industry's fastest growth is in craft breweries.

Woman Who Tried To Commit Suicide While Pregnant Gets Bail
A state court in Indianapolis granted a Chinese immigrant $50,000 bond in a case that has mobilized advocates for women's rights and abortion rights nationwide. The case could set a precedent for the prosecution of pregnant women whose infants die.


intensely, I don't want to assume that. I recognise that everyone needs a little involvement, at least, in what they do and how they do it. Empowerment/engagement whatever you want to call it - it makes that difference.

If I can leave you with a thought to take back into your businesses and workplaces, it is this:-

"What can I do today that will empower at least one person in my team like never before - and how can I build that into our culture from now on."


A big challenge? Maybe. But what a gift you will give to your people - and ultimately yourself and your business too.

And I got loads of stuff done in the garden, that I chose to do. And gardening is not normally what I do much at all! Interesting.

If you want more on this - there is a page on the website that tells you more. Click the link below.

About the Author

© 2005 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com. (Note to editors. Feel free to use this article, wherever you think it might be of value - with a live link if you can).