Martin Goodyer

iABCt © 2012, 2013, 2014 All rights reserved

iABCt

Tel: 0044 8452 330443

The International Academy for Business Coaching and Training

International member of the Association for Coaching

Empowerment

A balancing-act that’s not easy to maintain

All human behaviour is driven by emotion - and that emotion is stimulated by the way a person interprets a situation in relation to their expectations.

If an appropriate expectation is established with regard to a persons job responsibilities, the way in which they will be measured and the manner in which  they will be managed, then the chances of success are increased

Responsibility

That which a person accepts as being their reason for employment; the individual specific issues that must be attended to for this person to have successfully carried out their role within the organisation.

NOTE: This is not a job description. A Job description is a description of a function, however it many situations a person may find themselves responsible for activities outside of their immediate function, or may have taken over additional functions as part of their role on a temporary or permanent basis.

Responsibility MUST be agreed and specified.

Accountability

The way in which each area of responsibility is measured. This must be specific and clear both in terms of the units of measurement, time and frequency of measurement.

Authority

The level of support a person needs in order to successfully fulfil their responsibilities. This may be direct support, budgetary guidelines or access to tools necessary to undertake the tasks required.

‘It’s not my job anyway’ indicates that the responsibility ball has been dropped. Hold someone to account for something they don’t believe they should be doing and they will respond badly.

‘No one’s really interested’ suggests the accountability ball has been dropped. Even when a person knows their responsibility and is supported in achieving it, it if’s not measured it’s unlikely to get done.

‘I would do it but I can’t because…’ is a clear sign that the authority ball has been dropped. There are few things more frustrating for someone than to agree something as their responsibility, be held to account for it’s achievement but then be denied the tools to get the job done.

Coaching clients almost always have some form of leadership role and as such will need to work with people who report to them. It is therefore highly likely that the issue of empowering those people to perform well will be an issue raised at some point in a coaching session.

This iABCt model demonstrates just how fragile and dynamic the achievement of empowerment is, and provides the foundation on which to build better questions with the client:

There is no escaping the need to ensure that each individual has complete clarity over their personal responsibilities, accountability and authority. This is particularly true when establishing a new team. The more robust the empowerment preparation, the more likely the team is to be successful.