Jim Haudan literally wrote the book on the subject when he penned “The Art of Engagement.”

I recently tweeted an excerpt from the book: “By creating relevance and telling the stories of the business in a way that makes sense to their people, leaders will begin to successfully engage their people to execute strategy.”

That particular quote got me thinking about this whole engaged versus empowered process people talk about. Are they the same? Are they contradictory? Are they complimentary? Employee engagement is a good thing for any business. Right?

I began thinking how empowerment and engagement are linked. 

Empower means to give someone the authority or power to do something, to make them stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their lives and claiming their rights. Both definitions of empowerment are good, I suppose. I always like the authority or power to do something I want to do. And I sure like feeling stronger and more confident.

Bobby G., one of my all-time favorite people leaders used to ask: “Can ya? Will ya?” In other words, do I feel emboldened to act when I need to? Or not?

At home, the answer is a lot easier. Of course I would. 

But in the workplace? Do I feel empowered? If so, what will I do with that empowerment? Will I engage in the workplace?

As I asked in my last column: Are your employees willing and wanting to step up to make things better? Not perfect, mind you, just better? Can they, will they, on their own accord, do what’s immediately right in serving customers?

Do I feel empowered as your employee and really want to engage? If I feel empowered to engage, how deep will I dive in?

Employee engagement is a workplace approach producing the right conditions for all members of an organization to give their best each day. It enables and encourages employees to commit to organizational goals and values and motivates them to contribute to organizational success with an enhanced sense of their own well-being. Wow, now that’s a lot.

This whole empowerment and engagement in the workplace thing is all about giving your employees the authority to control their own lives and allow them to claim their rights. This in turn produces the conditions for all employees to give their best each day because they’re committed to organizational goals. This also creates an environment in which employees are continually motivated to contribute to the success of the organization and enjoy a sense of well-being.

To empower and engage requires a paradigm shift within most organizations. They must  move from a dated command-and-control leadership methodology to servant leadership.

There are a lot of great practitioners out there to help with the metamorphosis, John Maxwell among my favorites.

Maxwell put it this way: “The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually develops them.”