ABSTRACT
There are several unfounded assumptions, such as leaders are automatically empowered, they know what employee empowerment is about and they have ready-made skills to carry out their duties as leaders in an empowered organisation. Leadership is important in an empowered organisation and there is agreement in the management literature that exemplary leadership skills that are empowering include power-sharing, networking, coaching, negotiating, facilitating and enabling. The degree to which individuals in non-management positions wish to exercise power is indeed an opportunity for them, because lower level employees are not entirely without power. The challenge for management is raising consciousness and supporting people in non-management positions to develop their skills in this area. It is instructive to note from the social work discipline that enabling is not only about equipping people with skills, but sometimes social workers also have to act as facilitators to help achieve this. It is also crucial that leaders take a lead in fostering positive relationships at work.
