Empower Management - Dr. Seuss Style

Empower management – who even knows what that is?  And how can this possibly be tied to Dr. Seuss?  First, we must define management.  According to Modern Management, management is “the process of reaching organizational goals by working with and through people and other organizational resources” (Certo & Certo, 2014).  Sure, management is reaching goals and managing people – but great managers, empowering managers, see the opportunity to strengthen those around them.  A good manager works to encourage and nurture greatness from their employees.  Yes, this can be complex and sometimes overwhelming, yet empowering managers work to bring out the best in everyone around them.  

Using quotes by Dr. Seuss, I offer three suggestions to show the importance of strengthening management skills to empower employees, hence becoming an empowering manager.

As a manager, empowering employees to care about their job is critical to running a successful department or organization.  It’s taking ownership and finding a connection to the overall organization's goal.  Empowering managers help employees find that connection and then leads them through the process, encouraging and nurturing their skills and abilities along the way. 

Encouraging employees to know and understand that each of them can make a difference.  Every employee brings different skills and abilities to the table and it is important that empowering managers utilize and never diminish those skills.  It is also important that managers help develop an employee’s unique skills and talents, as well as focusing on the positive traits that an employee brings.  Accepting, understanding and focusing on the positive can make the difference between reaching the end goal or falling short.

Empowering managers lead by example and show their employees that learning new skills or information is an important aspect of success.  This success comes to the individual and bleeds over into the department and organization.  Learning helps everyone achieve their best.  Sure, the more you know the more places you'll go, yet it offers one critical benefit.  It helps employees and managers succeed in many aspects of their individual jobs that connects to the bigger picture, succeeding as a whole.  No one is too old or too young to gain new knowledge.    

Empower management is not simply a fun catch-phrase – it is a way to encourage greatness from employees.  This greatness then fosters success for a department or organization.  Empower management is about leading, encouraging and nurturing an employee to greatness.  It is seeing the good in their employees and believing that everyone is working towards greatness. 

Kevin Daum, a Inc. 500 entrepreneur and best-selling author said, “Having empowered employees is the dream of every leader.  All managers want people who show initiative by taking on and completing tasks with little guidance.”   He continues by saying that many times, leadership has not completed the task of actually empowering their employees or hasn’t had enough training to find ways to create an environment of empowerment.  Dr. Seuss has given us some great ways to define empower management, but also ways to empower employees.  Whether it is helping them care and take ownership of their job duties, utilizing their unique skills and accepting them as who they are, or continuing to gain knowledge and learn new skills, empower management ensures each employee and manager reaches for greatness.  From Krexy.com, “There is no need to reach high for the stars.  They are already within you.  Just reach deep inside yourself!”  Empower management is finding the greatness within.