Development and Empowerment of Others

Introduction

Effective leaders often are linked to words that have positive connotations. Two such words that you explore this week are development and empowerment. When you consider something that is not developed, you may think of it as incomplete, unprepared, and generally underperforming. On the other hand, when you reflect on something that is "developed," you may think of something that is ready, complete, and performing well. What about the word empower? What does it mean? What does it mean to develop others versus empower people? This week, you explore the meanings of development and empowerment. You also consider one specific context in which effective leaders empower others: facilitating change and helping those involved in the change cope with, adapt to, and even embrace it.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this week, you should be able to:

• Explain the role of leadership in fostering and supporting change
• Apply strategies for helping people cope with change
• Analyze similarities and differences between development and empowerment
• Evaluate views of leadership authority in terms of empowerment
• Identify and apply concepts related to development and empowerment of others

Please proceed to the Learning Resources.

Learning Resources

Please read and view (where applicable) the following Learning Resources before you complete this week's assignments.

Readings

Course Text:Manning, G., & Curtis, K. (2015).The art of leadership (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

• Chapter 4, "The Importance of Vision and the Motive to Lead"
• Chapter 8, "Leadership Authority"
• Chapter 9, "Empowerment in the Workplace and the Quality Imperative"
• Chapter 10, "Effective Leadership and Human Relations"
• Chapter 16, "The Leader as Coach"
• Chapter 17, "Helping People Through Change and Burnout Prevention"