Empowerment’s Pivotal Role in Enhancing Effective Self-and Shared Leadership

Empowerment is an essential building block of today's expressions of leadership. Its role has become particularly salient as our old notion of leadership as the responsibility of an individual at the top of an organization is being challenged. Empowerment and the latter forms of leadership are intertwined. For example, at the individual level of analysis, empowerment is experienced when followers engage in effective self-leadership. As individuals display effective self-leadership, the creation of shared leadership is the logical next step. Only when we have achieved a greater appreciation for the positive outcomes associated with the role of empowerment in promoting leadership and a real understanding of the many ways in which it contributes to enhancing the quality of leadership, will we be able to harness its full potential to contribute to organizational performance.