September 10, 2025 • 9 mins
Empowerment sounds good on paper, but in the workplace it often falls short.
Especially in leadership stretch moments, like promotions and novel, high-stakes projects, what leaders call empowerment can feel like abandonment to the person on the receiving end.
In this episode, we look at the history of empowerment in organizations, explore how the brain reacts in stretch moments, and share practical ways leaders can provide just the right level of support to turn stretch into strength.
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teri-m-schmidt/
Get 1-on-1 leadership support from Teri here: https://www.strongleadersserve.com/coaching
Set up an intro call with Teri: https://calendly.com/terischmidt/discoverycall
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Teri Schmidt (00:00):
Have you used or said the word empowerment today?
I bet you have.
It's one of those words that wethrow around in leadership
conversations.
Leaders want to empower theirteams.
Organizations promise to empoweremployees.
It shows up in value statements,strategy, decks, even recruiting
(00:20):
ads.
To be honest, I used to thinkthat I was really good at it.
I actually thought it was one ofmy leadership strengths.
After all.
One of my core beliefs is in theunique value that each person
has to bring to the situation orproject.
But after getting some feedback,I realized that what I was
(00:41):
calling empowerment was at timesbordering on abandonment in my
attempt to avoid micromanagingand show people that I believed
in them.
I was failing to provideclarity, stability, and support.
Today, we'll explore the historyof empowerment in our
workplaces, what happens in thebrain during high stakes
(01:02):
transitions that I like to callleadership, stretch moments, and
how empowerment can eitheraccelerate growth or feel like
being left alone on a rock facewithout a harness.
I am Terry Schmidt, executiveand leadership Coach at Strong
Leaders Serve, where we partnerwith organizations to prepare
(01:23):
leaders for the everyday stretchmoments of leadership, the
promotion that makes old habitsobsolete, the reorg that shakes
trust, or the high stakesproject where influence matters
more than authority.
And this is the Strong LeadersServe Podcast.
(02:32):
The word empowerment wasn't bornin the workplace in the 1960s
and seventies.
It was tied to social movements,civil rights, feminism,
community organizing.
It meant giving voice agency andpower to groups that had been
silenced.
By the 1980s and 1990s,management thinkers brought the
(02:54):
word into business.
Empowerment became aboutflattening hierarchies, giving
employees more ownership andmoving decision making closer to
the front line.
But here's the rub.
Many organizations stopped atslogans.
They told people they wereempowered, but didn't change the
systems, resources, orleadership support to make that
(03:17):
empowerment real.
And that's the tension we stilllive with today.
So let's start with where manyof you are in the leader's
shoes.
Why do leaders like me sometimesthink they're empowering their
teams when they're reallyabandoning them?
Well, there are a few reasonsthat I can think about.
(03:38):
Sometimes it's optimism.
They think I grew when someonethrew me into the deep end, so
they will too.
Sometimes it's overload.
They're thinking, I don't havethe capacity to stay involved,
so I'll call it empowerment andlet them be on their way.
And sometimes it's fear.
The thought creeps into ourhead.
(04:00):
If I stay close, I'll look likea micromanager.
In all of these cases, theleader's intent may be positive.
Your optimism about how theymight grow when you throw them
into the deep end is probablypaired with trust in their
abilities.
But the problem is the impact isoften the opposite.
It's often negative because instretch moments like promotions,
(04:24):
reorgs, or novel high stakesprojects.
The brain is already on highalert.
If leaders disappear, the braininterprets the silence as
danger, not trust.
So let's flip perspectives witha story.
Elena had just promoted Carlosinto a director role.
(04:46):
She'd been working to develophim for years, and when the
chance came and he was given thepromotion, she told him.
This division is now yours.
You have full authority.
I'm here if you need me.
Does that sound familiar?
I know.
It kind of does to me.
You see in Elena's mind, she hadjust empowered Carlos.
(05:08):
She walked away proud of thetrust that she had shown.
After all, she was happy thatshe was finally comfortable
delegating.
Carlos, on the other hand,walked away with his heart
racing.
At first, it felt exhilarating,but as the weeks went on, the
pressure mounted, his brain wentinto stress mode, pumping out
(05:29):
cortisol.
That's when we slip into fight,flight, or freeze in fight mode.
Carlos snapped at his team inmeetings.
Micromanaging every detail totry to claw back a sense of
control in flight mode, heavoided decisions, hoping
someone else would step in andin freeze mode.
(05:51):
He procrastinated on prepping,for a crucial board
presentation.
Paralyzed by the fear of gettingit wrong to Elena.
These behaviors looked likeCarlos wasn't ready.
She thought maybe she was wrong,but inside Carlos's brain, they
were simply survival responsesto what felt like abandonment.
(06:12):
He was on a rock face with noharness.
Now, thankfully a turning pointcame.
Eventually a peer asked Carloshow he was doing, hesitant.
At first he admitted, honestly,I feel like I'm failing.
I don't even know if Elena careshow this project goes.
That conversation gave him thecourage to approach her, and
(06:32):
when he did, Elena wassurprised.
She thought she was empoweringhim by staying out of the way.
They agreed on weekly check-insnot to take control, but to
provide clarity and a soundingboard.
That small shift lowered thethreat level in Carlos's brain.
His stress response eased andhis prefrontal cortex and part
(06:55):
responsible for problem solvingand strategic thinking came back
online with scaffolding inplace.
What had started as abandonment?
Turned into real empowerment.
So now to you, how do we reclaimempowerment from the buzzword
bin?
How do we make it actually meansomething?
(07:15):
How do we make it actuallybeneficial for our teams?
And for us, it's not aboutdisappearing.
It's not about micromanaging.
Real empowerment is aboutpresence without control.
It is saying, this is yours tolead and I'll walk alongside
you.
It's helping push our teammembers just outside of their
(07:37):
comfort zone, but providing themjust enough support for them to
grow in educational language.
This is called scaffoldingnotice.
It's not providing a fullyconstructed set of stairs.
But instead just enoughtemporary support to help the
employee ascend.
(07:59):
When leaders combine autonomywith clarity, trust with
coaching and challenge withconnection, empowerment really
means something, and that's whenstretch moments turn into growth
instead of collapse.
So as you go into your week.
Think about these two questions.
If you're a leader, think, am Iempowering or am I abandoning
(08:23):
under the banner of trust?
What can I do to provide justthe right level of temporary
support that my employee needsto grow in this situation?
If you're one in the stretch,ask yourself, do I have the
support I need?
And if not.
Who can I invite to stepalongside me?
(08:46):
Because beneath the buzzwordempowerment isn't just about
stepping back, it's aboutproviding just enough support to
enable your employees to learnand grow into the novel
situation.
(10:01):
Join us next week as we continueto go beneath the buzzwords and
talk about what effectivecommunication as a leader
actually means.
We have a real treat as JenMueller, who is in her 16th
season as the Seattle SeahawksSideline Radio reporter is on to
talk about how she takes whatshe has learned in her career as
(10:25):
a sports broadcaster into theworld of business communication.
You don't wanna miss it.
Have a great week, and I will beback with you then.
Have you used or said the word empowerment today?
I bet you have.
It's one of those words that wethrow around in leadership
conversations.
Leaders want to empower theirteams.
Organizations promise to empoweremployees.
It shows up in value statements,strategy, decks, even recruiting
(00:20):
ads.
To be honest, I used to thinkthat I was really good at it.
I actually thought it was one ofmy leadership strengths.
After all.
One of my core beliefs is in theunique value that each person
has to bring to the situation orproject.
But after getting some feedback,I realized that what I was
(00:41):
calling empowerment was at timesbordering on abandonment in my
attempt to avoid micromanagingand show people that I believed
in them.
I was failing to provideclarity, stability, and support.
Today, we'll explore the historyof empowerment in our
workplaces, what happens in thebrain during high stakes
(01:02):
transitions that I like to callleadership, stretch moments, and
how empowerment can eitheraccelerate growth or feel like
being left alone on a rock facewithout a harness.
I am Terry Schmidt, executiveand leadership Coach at Strong
Leaders Serve, where we partnerwith organizations to prepare
(01:23):
leaders for the everyday stretchmoments of leadership, the
promotion that makes old habitsobsolete, the reorg that shakes
trust, or the high stakesproject where influence matters
more than authority.
And this is the Strong LeadersServe Podcast.
(02:32):
The word empowerment wasn't bornin the workplace in the 1960s
and seventies.
It was tied to social movements,civil rights, feminism,
community organizing.
It meant giving voice agency andpower to groups that had been
silenced.
By the 1980s and 1990s,management thinkers brought the
(02:54):
word into business.
Empowerment became aboutflattening hierarchies, giving
employees more ownership andmoving decision making closer to
the front line.
But here's the rub.
Many organizations stopped atslogans.
They told people they wereempowered, but didn't change the
systems, resources, orleadership support to make that
(03:17):
empowerment real.
And that's the tension we stilllive with today.
So let's start with where manyof you are in the leader's
shoes.
Why do leaders like me sometimesthink they're empowering their
teams when they're reallyabandoning them?
Well, there are a few reasonsthat I can think about.
(03:38):
Sometimes it's optimism.
They think I grew when someonethrew me into the deep end, so
they will too.
Sometimes it's overload.
They're thinking, I don't havethe capacity to stay involved,
so I'll call it empowerment andlet them be on their way.
And sometimes it's fear.
The thought creeps into ourhead.
(04:00):
If I stay close, I'll look likea micromanager.
In all of these cases, theleader's intent may be positive.
Your optimism about how theymight grow when you throw them
into the deep end is probablypaired with trust in their
abilities.
But the problem is the impact isoften the opposite.
It's often negative because instretch moments like promotions,
(04:24):
reorgs, or novel high stakesprojects.
The brain is already on highalert.
If leaders disappear, the braininterprets the silence as
danger, not trust.
So let's flip perspectives witha story.
Elena had just promoted Carlosinto a director role.
(04:46):
She'd been working to develophim for years, and when the
chance came and he was given thepromotion, she told him.
This division is now yours.
You have full authority.
I'm here if you need me.
Does that sound familiar?
I know.
It kind of does to me.
You see in Elena's mind, she hadjust empowered Carlos.
(05:08):
She walked away proud of thetrust that she had shown.
After all, she was happy thatshe was finally comfortable
delegating.
Carlos, on the other hand,walked away with his heart
racing.
At first, it felt exhilarating,but as the weeks went on, the
pressure mounted, his brain wentinto stress mode, pumping out
(05:29):
cortisol.
That's when we slip into fight,flight, or freeze in fight mode.
Carlos snapped at his team inmeetings.
Micromanaging every detail totry to claw back a sense of
control in flight mode, heavoided decisions, hoping
someone else would step in andin freeze mode.
(05:51):
He procrastinated on prepping,for a crucial board
presentation.
Paralyzed by the fear of gettingit wrong to Elena.
These behaviors looked likeCarlos wasn't ready.
She thought maybe she was wrong,but inside Carlos's brain, they
were simply survival responsesto what felt like abandonment.
(06:12):
He was on a rock face with noharness.
Now, thankfully a turning pointcame.
Eventually a peer asked Carloshow he was doing, hesitant.
At first he admitted, honestly,I feel like I'm failing.
I don't even know if Elena careshow this project goes.
That conversation gave him thecourage to approach her, and
(06:32):
when he did, Elena wassurprised.
She thought she was empoweringhim by staying out of the way.
They agreed on weekly check-insnot to take control, but to
provide clarity and a soundingboard.
That small shift lowered thethreat level in Carlos's brain.
His stress response eased andhis prefrontal cortex and part
(06:55):
responsible for problem solvingand strategic thinking came back
online with scaffolding inplace.
What had started as abandonment?
Turned into real empowerment.
So now to you, how do we reclaimempowerment from the buzzword
bin?
How do we make it actually meansomething?
(07:15):
How do we make it actuallybeneficial for our teams?
And for us, it's not aboutdisappearing.
It's not about micromanaging.
Real empowerment is aboutpresence without control.
It is saying, this is yours tolead and I'll walk alongside
you.
It's helping push our teammembers just outside of their
(07:37):
comfort zone, but providing themjust enough support for them to
grow in educational language.
This is called scaffoldingnotice.
It's not providing a fullyconstructed set of stairs.
But instead just enoughtemporary support to help the
employee ascend.
(07:59):
When leaders combine autonomywith clarity, trust with
coaching and challenge withconnection, empowerment really
means something, and that's whenstretch moments turn into growth
instead of collapse.
So as you go into your week.
Think about these two questions.
If you're a leader, think, am Iempowering or am I abandoning
(08:23):
under the banner of trust?
What can I do to provide justthe right level of temporary
support that my employee needsto grow in this situation?
If you're one in the stretch,ask yourself, do I have the
support I need?
And if not.
Who can I invite to stepalongside me?
(08:46):
Because beneath the buzzwordempowerment isn't just about
stepping back, it's aboutproviding just enough support to
enable your employees to learnand grow into the novel
situation.
(10:01):
Join us next week as we continueto go beneath the buzzwords and
talk about what effectivecommunication as a leader
actually means.
We have a real treat as JenMueller, who is in her 16th
season as the Seattle SeahawksSideline Radio reporter is on to
talk about how she takes whatshe has learned in her career as
(10:25):
a sports broadcaster into theworld of business communication.
You don't wanna miss it.
Have a great week, and I will beback with you then.
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