The pace of change today is nothing short of exponential. Markets shift overnight. AI is reshaping work in real time. Global uncertainty has become the norm.
Rigid, centralized structures simply can’t keep up. If organizations are to thrive in this environment, we need to push decision-making to the edges—where people have meaning, skills, trust, and impact.
As I shared in my conversation with Dr. Gretchen Spreitzer, a trailblazer in Positive Organizational Scholarship at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business:
“The center of gravity in organizations is the middle. Change the middle, and you change the system.”
But empowerment isn’t as simple as saying, “You’re empowered.” In fact, Gretchen’s research shows that empowerment only takes root when four conditions are present: meaning, competence, autonomy, and impact. In this blog, I’ll explore each of these dimensions and share actionable insights to help leaders put them into practice.
Why Empowerment Matters Now
During our conversation, Gretchen reminded me that empowerment research began decades ago, often in contexts like downsizing. Leaders would tell remaining employees: “Now you’re empowered to take on the work of your colleagues who left.”
Unsurprisingly, that didn’t work. People weren’t empowered, they were overwhelmed. They didn’t have the skills, confidence, or clarity to succeed.
This is a mistake many organizations still make today. We confuse empowerment with delegation. We confuse “giving people more work” with giving them the conditions to thrive.
Empowerment, done right, is the opposite. It’s about creating the environment where people choose to step up, because they care about the work, feel capable of doing it, have the freedom to shape it, and believe it makes a difference.
As Gretchen put it: “Meaning is the engine of empowerment. Without it, momentum stalls.”
Intervention 1: Creating Meaning
If you want empowerment to work, you must start with meaning. People initiate empowered behaviors when the work matters to them, when it connects to a purpose they care about.
What leaders can do:
- Translate the company mission into something that feels personal at the team level.
- Share stories that highlight the human impact of the work.
- Recognize contributions not just for outcomes, but for values alignment.
As I often remind leaders I work with: “The more people feel connected to the ‘why’ of their work, the more they will bring their best to the ‘how.’”
Intervention 2: Building Competence
The second dimension is competence, or confidence. Empowerment only works when people believe they have the skills and ability to succeed.
Gretchen told me about her research during downsizing, where employees were told they were “empowered” but lacked the skills to take on new responsibilities. The result wasn’t empowerment, it was anxiety.
What leaders can do:
- Invest in upskilling and reskilling continuously.
- Pair stretch assignments with mentorship, not just accountability.
- Provide regular feedback that builds confidence instead of eroding it.
This is especially critical in the age of AI. Leaders can roll out technology top-down, framed as job elimination. Or they can frame AI as a tool for empowerment: “I trust you to use this to become more human, more productive, more impactful.”
Intervention 3: Enabling Autonomy
When most people think of empowerment, they think of autonomy. The freedom to decide how to do their work.
Gretchen refers to empowerment as “self-determination” – empowering people to have the autonomy to make decisions.
What leaders can do:
- Remove unnecessary bottlenecks and approvals.
- Create clarity about the outcomes, then trust people with the process.
- Encourage experimentation and accept that small failures are part of growth.
Autonomy is about trust. It says to your people: “I believe in your judgment. I don’t need to control every detail.”
Intervention 4: Amplifying Impact
Finally, people need to believe their work makes a difference and they are valued. Without impact, empowerment feels hollow.
Gretchen emphasized that people are far more likely to act empowered when they see how their contributions ripple into the larger system whether that’s their team, their unit, or the entire organization.
What leaders can do:
- Make individual contributions visible. Show people how their work advances team and organizational goals.
- Celebrate wins publicly. Recognition creates energy and signals that their work matters.
- Tell stories of impact regularly not just at annual reviews, but in daily and weekly rhythms.
Empowerment becomes self-sustaining when people feel the difference they’re making.
Empowerment in the Age of AI and Hybrid Work
Our conversation also touched on two modern challenges: AI and hybrid work.
In the AI era, organizations have a choice. They can treat AI as a tool for replacement, or as a tool for empowerment. As Gretchen and I discussed, the only way to maximize AI’s potential is to trust people with it. Give them skills, give them purpose, and they’ll use it to amplify human strengths.
Hybrid work presents a different challenge. Without hallway conversations or chance encounters, it’s harder to mentor and recognize people in small, informal ways. Empowerment requires intentionality in these contexts: leaders must design rituals for connection and recognition that don’t happen organically anymore.
Small Moves, Big Change
At the heart of all this is Gretchen’s most powerful insight:
“Small moves, magnified over time, transform organizations.”
Empowerment isn’t about massive restructuring. It’s about daily micro-moves: telling someone their work mattered, giving them space to make a decision, showing them how their project helped the bigger picture.
I believe this deeply: Culture lives in the smallest of moments. Change those, and you change the system.
Conclusion: Empowerment as the Operating System
Meaning. Competence. Autonomy. Impact. These four interventions aren’t “nice to have.” They’re the operating system of thriving organizations.
When leaders design workplaces around these conditions, empowerment stops being a buzzword. It becomes a lived experience. And in today’s world of exponential change, that’s the only way organizations can keep up.
So I’ll leave you with this question: Which of these four interventions could you bring to life in your team today?
And if you want to go deeper, listen to my full conversation with Dr. Gretchen Spreitzer on the Happiness Squad podcast.
Learn more about Gretchen on Linkedin.
Listen to the podcast with Ashish and Gretchen below.
Access and subscribe to all of the episodes of the Happiness Squad Podcast here.
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