The word “empowerment” has been through a lot in the last two decades. In the dotcom era, it became a catch phrase for recruiters. Talented workers were promised “empowerment” as one of the many benefits offered by new, young startups. It was something you could never get in big old corporate conglomerates, they said.
Times have changed and empowerment has grown up. Today, empowerment means more than a job that offers foosball tables and Take Your Dog to Work Day. When I empower my staff, I am not giving them a gift. I am creating a possibility for all of us.
Empowerment at Rakuten travels across boundaries – we empower our merchants to manage their sites, we empower our staff to take risks, we empower our end-users to explore and discover. I devote time in my book to discussing this evolved notion of empowerment and what it means to the future of the global business community. For all of us to be successful, we need to recognize this new kind of empowerment – one that is active and not passive in nature.
Don’t wait to receive empowerment, like a handout. Instead, reach out and grasp it.
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