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Refreshing Lessons in Empowerment

When I look at a huge cardboard box, I usually see...a cardboard box.

Not so with Melanie. When my six-year-old daughter fixed her eyes on the huge box that had just been pushed aside in our garage, she stood in awe while surveying the possibilities. Then she declared: "Let's have a lemonade stand!"

Half a second later, her three-year-old sister, Annie, shouted: "Yeah, let's have a lemonade stand!"

We were planning to hold a garage sale in a week, so they had timing on their side. "Well, we could set it up next to the sales tables," I said, trying to block out the vision of my two kids trying to pour gallon-size pitchers of sticky liquid.

Melanie latched on to my words and sealed the deal. "Great idea, Dad," she said. "Right next to the sales tables."

When the big day finally dawned, the girls had an extra spring in their step as they hopped out of bed. We rushed through breakfast and headed out to the garage and the cardboard box.

And that's when I unwittingly gave my daughters their first view of a control-minded manager. "Okay, girls," I began, "I'm going to take the box inside. We'll decorate it there."

The box was nearly six feet tall and five feet across, and I wrestled it through the side door and into the living room. The girls followed me.

I got an Exacto knife and began cutting a window in the front of the box. Annie and Melanie stood watching. Then I grabbed a marker and wrote the menu and prices down the side: Large 25¢, Medium 20¢, Small 10¢. I also wrote the words "Fresh" and "It's Delicious!" How clever, I thought to myself.

"Now I'll write 'Lemonade,' " I said, leaning down with marker at the ready.

Then I heard it -- a single syllable full of indignation. "Dad!"

I turned around and came face to face with two seriously ticked-off kids. Both were standing with brows knitted and arms crossed. "This is our lemonade stand. We want to do that," Melanie said. "Yeah," Annie added.

Their words were like a punch in the gut -- a well-deserved one. I've long preached the message of employee involvement, empowerment, and ownership. I've read a ton of books on the topic. I've written a book. Yet here I was, taking over and exerting complete control, operating on the premise that Daddy Knows Best.

The girls held their ground and waited for a response. "You're right," I said. "Here." I handed over the marker.

"All we want you to do is trace the letters," Melanie said.

I followed their instructions, writing L-E-M-O-N-A-D-E in faint pencil. Then Melanie got a second marker so her sister could be equally involved in the work. They kneeled over the cardboard, and together, they colored the letters in stunning pink and blue. In a final flourish of ownership, Melanie wrote their names on the newly created storefront.

By 10 a.m. they were pouring lemonade -- and selling, selling, selling. They kept their store open for six hours, serving up nearly 300 cups. The only time I got involved was when they asked me to run inside and mix another pitcher -- something I did 20 times.

Yes, there were some major spills. Fortunately, they were on a slight slope, so I looked away, gritted my teeth, and let the lemonade run down the driveway.

At day's end, we sat on the porch with their jam-packed toy cash register. The girls asked me to work the numbers, and I announced the final tally with admiration and amazement: $61.54. Back when I had lemonade stands, I'd be thrilled to walk away with a buck or two.

But the money didn't matter one bit to Melanie and Annie. That spring in their step, the one that had propelled them out of bed, seemed even greater. And in the evening, when talking with their grandma on the phone, they couldn't stop chattering about their store and their sale and how they did it all by themselves.

As for me, well, I'm still reeling from the in-your-face lessons I learned that day. A lemonade stand is no Fortune 500 company, but with refreshing simplicity, it reveals some of the key principles of empowerment.

• If colleagues are hovering while you do all the work, chances are you're exercising way too much control. Hand over the figurative marker and let them be co-creators.
   

• You might think you can do things better and faster yourself, and maybe you can. Big deal. In the long run, you'll increase know-how, nurture a sense of ownership, and spread the workload only by letting go. This means accepting some short-run inefficiency and occasional bouts of frustration.
   

• Stay alert to feedback. When Melanie wanted me to stop micromanaging, she was as subtle as a pitcher of lemonade over the head: "Dad!" In the workplace, people will roll their eyes, walk away, and generally disengage. If you're brave, try this: Ask employees for specific instances when you've been a raging micromanager and when you've been wonderfully empowering. You'll learn a lot.
   

• Empowerment does not mean abandonment. Employees want support if and when needed, whether it involves tracing the word "lemonade" in faint pencil, gathering important data, navigating workplace politics, getting financial support, whatever. Be there, but don't be there.
   

• Hold back on the praise. As we sat on the porch counting all that revenue, I felt the urge to hand out glowing reviews and gold stars. Our culture is always doing that -- to such a degree that we can feel guilty when not issuing praise. But I could tell that Annie and Melanie had a deeply intrinsic pride that would only be disrupted by extrinsic praise. A job well done was enough.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tom Terez is a speaker, workshop leader, and author of the book "22 Keys to Creating a Meaningful Workplace." Visit him online at BetterWorkplaceNow.com and TomTerez.com. To contact Tom, use the online form.

Copyright 2001 Crain Communications Inc.
Article first published in Workforce

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