People are empowered when they are given the authority and responsibility to make decisions affecting their work with a minimum of interference and second guessing by others.

Empowerment is an overused and under practiced term. When people are empowered they bring their minds to work. They are engaged in making decisions that affect their part of the business. They take responsibility for their actions. They work free from the petty bureaucratic hassles that diminish value and waste time. They add value to the organization by embracing the principles of quality and service. They search for ways to make a difference.

WHY EMPOWERMENT IS CRITICAL

Most organizations need knowledge workers men and women whose chief resource is their ability to think and act on what they know. Computer programmers, systems analysts, accountants, lawyers, managers, sales teams, and even factory workers must use their best judgment to solve problems and respond to opportunities.

Nordstrom is legendary in its customer service because it encourages and expects staff to make decisions that will make customers happy. A local Nordstrom store gives new staff a one page employee handbook to illustrate this point. It reads: Use your best judgment at all times.

WHY EMPOWERMENT WORKS

In Caught in the Middle (Productivity, 1992), I suggest that most people want a few basic things from work: meaning, results, challenge and an opportunity to learn, respect and recognition, control over their own part of the work, affiliation or knowing they are part of a bigger team.

These six items form the foundation of all good empowerment efforts. Remove any of them and you weaken the individual's commitment to his or her work. Fortunately, with regard to motivation, what's good for the individual is also good for the company.

MAKING EMPOWERMENT WORK

Build on the six basic things people want (these are listed above.) Consider these items as a bedrock for all initiatives to increase empowerment. In addition, consider the following:

Clear Vision and Direction. Corporate leadership must know why it wants empowerment.

What do you want to achieve from it?
What would empowerment look like here?
How committed are you to making empowerment a reality?
Is empowerment essential or simply something that would be nice to have?
Examine Corporate Actions.

Policies. What gets rewarded gets done. What gets punished gets avoided. Corporate policies and procedures such as performance review and merit increases show people what is really important to senior management. For example, if people are told to work collaboratively but their performance reviews pit them against each other in forced appraisal ranking, people will protect their own self interests. If you encourage cross functional teamwork, but performance reviews only acknowledge work accomplished within a department, interdepartmental cooperation will suffer.

Unwritten Rules. These norms tell people how the game is played. People learn that these unwritten rules are as important as any written policy. For example, a manager may tell staff to always tell him or her the truth, but proceed to punish the messenger who brings the bad news.

Structure. To borrow a phrase from David Hannas book, "Organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they get." NUMMI is a highly successful auto manufacturing plant that relies on high worker commitment and skill. It replaced a terrible GM plant in which absenteeism was running at 25% the year it closed and where quality was a joke. Ironically, when NUMMI opened it hired back many of the same seemingly unmotivated workers from the old plant. The only major difference between NUMMI and its predecessor was how it was managed. People were free to stop the assembly line to solve quality problems. They were encouraged to learn many different tasks so they could add greater value to the assembly process. In short, they were empowered.

WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE?

Tom Peters once said, "we are only at the advanced lip service stage." I agree. We often are afraid to trust that others will actually do the work without close scrutiny. I never met anyone who said that a rigorous performance appraisal system helped him or her do better work. Yet most managers believe that it is an essential tool to use to motivate others. (If only those other people were as trustworthy as we.)

Watchful eyes breed dependency. When people try to please mom and dad they fail to take the risks and initiative needed to help a dynamic organization thrive. People wait to be told what to do. As the sign in a French civil servant's office read, "Never do anything for the first time."

If your work is going to be reviewed, folded, spindled, and mutilated by five others up the line before it is approved, why bother giving your best effort?

Our view of organizations is based on hierarchy and chain of command. People above you make the decisions, people below carry them out. This model is firmly entrenched. Sometimes I think it is encoded in our DNA. It can only change when we see that it works against initiative and empowerment, and when we are willing to step back and take a cold sober look at they ways in which our own actions may be creating the dependency and lackluster performance we abhor.

THERE IS HOPE

There is a revolution going on in corporations. Since Peters and Waterman's watershed book, In Search of Excellence and our discovery of W. Edwards Deming in the early 1980's, organizations have been experimenting with ways to increase employee involvement. Even the federal government is trying to reinvent itself using principles of empowerment. Some organizations succeed, others fail but we can learn from them all. These brave companies and agencies are providing the living textbooks that can point the way to new models of organization that treat people with dignity and respect and serve the interests of the business.

Here are some examples of how others are using the principles of empowerment.

Large System Change. Organizations such as Corning get everyone (or at least a representative sample of all levels of the organization) in a room to reengineer their portion of company. Since this planning process involves those who must implement the changes, resistance decreases and commitment increases, planning and implementation time are compressed, and the quality of the plan often far exceeds what outside consultants or a small team could have created.

Cross functional Teams. Companies such as Conrail pull together talented people from the middle of the organization and empower them to tackle pressing business challenges. These teams are more than task forces they have the power to recommend and implement change.

Access to Information. Many organizations are examining how work is done in an effort to streamline service to customers. They develop new procedures that ensure the people closest to the work have immediate access to the tools and information they need. (In traditional organizations information is power and often kept away from those who need it most.)

Promote the Best. Back in 1991, Jack Welch introduced his theory of leadership in General Electric's Annual Report. (At the time, I called these few pages the best leadership book of the year.) In it, he said that GE needs people who keep commitments (meet deadlines and financial targets) as well as people who promote the values of the company (empowerment, etc.). In the past, they only gave lip service to the values goal. It was nice, but it didn't drive promotions. To get ahead you had to meet the numbers. Welch went on record as saying those days were over. He wanted men and women who could accomplish both goals. To prove his resolve, he timed the firing of some visible old line managers with the publication of the report.

TO BEGIN THE CONVERSATION

Here are a few random questions to begin a conversation on empowerment.

Do we agree that empowerment is a key ingredient in our continued success? If so, why? If not, why not?

Does our performance review process support or hinder participation and commitment of all staff?

Do we compensate and promote those who embody the values we espouse?

Do our communication channels promote or inhibit free exchange of information and ideas between individuals and departments?

What informal messages do people receive about our culture? What impact does this have on productivity and morale?

What do we suppose employees say about Fannie Mae when we aren't in the room?

Once people are trained and have proven their competency, do we have the courage to trust them?

What happens when someone takes an educated risk and fails?

Of course the list could go on, but these should be sufficient to begin a provocative dialogue on the subject.

 

 

When seeking a personal trainer, it is necessary for the public to educate themselves on how to interview the right person for the job. While there are many certified personal trainers out there, only a select few of them are truly competent. You should always ask and verify where their certification is from and what their credentials are. There are different types and levels of training certifications, only a handful of them are good. Most tests are multiple choice questions that are moderately difficult and some others require some essay or program design but are usually easy. What you need to look for is the continuing education courses the trainers have taken. It is the seminars and practical workshops that make a trainer better.

It is difficult for the public to decipher a good trainer from a bad one. In many cases, even the worst trainer knows more about physical fitness than the average person. Below are some fundamental questions that should be asked before making your choice. They are designed to save you from choosing a bad apple.

Questions you should ask:

* What certifications do they hold?
* Do they attend workshops and seminars? Which ones?
* How long have they been a trainer?
* How thorough was your evaluation? Did they do a medical history and test flexibility, balance, core strength, proprioception, muscle strength and endurance?
* Are they familiar with functional training (training according to daily activities or a specific goal)?
* Have they explained the importance of flexibility?
* Do they stress how important it is to properly brace the core and preserve the lumbar spine?
* Do they know what P.N.F(Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) stretching is?
* Have they explained that function is more important than vanity?
* Can they explain what they are going to do in the routine and how it benefits you?
* Did they explain that cardio alone is an inefficient workout?
* Do they have a basic understanding of nutrition?

If you already have a trainer you can evaluate them:

* Does your trainer understand that a core routine is not a series of floor exercises?
* Do they understand current research that proves traditional sit ups, leg raises and many of the common exercises that flex the spine can actually be harmful even for healthy people?
* Are you doing more free weights and medicine balls than machines?
* Do they ever take notes?
* Are you being properly warmed up at the beginning and being stretched at the end?
* Does your trainer change the routine periodically?
* Does you trainer incorporate balance boards, swiss balls, single leg exercises and other challenged environments?
* When training the core (midsection) does your trainer explain how important it is to do dynamic multiplantar movements as well as isometric exercises and the importance of low back exercises?
* Does your trainer target weak areas?
* If you feel pain in places that you should not like your knees, low back and neck does your trainer change or modify the exercise to a pain free range?
* Do you truly understand what you are doing while you train?
* Are you really getting results?
* Do you do more back exercises than chest and abs?
* Are you setting goals?
* Are you talking about you and your needs?
* Are you getting undivided attention?

If you answered no to any of these questions, then your trainer may be lacking key knowledge that is necessary for you to reach your fitness goals. More importantly, your trainer may be doing you more harm than good. It is simple for a trainer to deceive an unsuspecting client into believing they are knowledgeable. This is due to the general public not being educated about the fitness industry and trusting a gym will provide them with a competent trainer. In most cases, gyms are not always concerned with the quality of the people they are hiring. If a gym thinks a trainer possesses strong sales skills, they will hire them as long as they have some type of certification. A qualified fitness professional will understand at the very least everything listed above. Remember when hiring a trainer to make sure they are a full time professional. Part time does not cut it when it comes to your health. Would you go to a part time Medical Doctor?

Be aware of trainers that are charging low rates. The going rate for a high level trainer in a gym like Equinox or New York Sports Club is around $85-$90/hr even their entry level trainers are $65-$70/hr in addition to membership. There are other gyms that charge way more than the rates just mentioned. In-homes for a high level professional trainer are around $125 and can be more. You may be able to get a really good trainer for $90-$100 depending on travel time, trainers charging much less are either just starting out, not that good or a close friend. You get what you pay for. It is important you research the trainers’ certification and check to make sure they are currently certified by multiple accredited agencies. Presently there is an agency named Ethics Safety Compliance Standards www.escs.info It insures all registered trainers are acting appropriately. Find out if your trainer is registered.

It is important to understand that certifications and degrees certainly help but do not mean everything. You want to know about their clinical experience and the workshops they attend. Ask who they work with and get at least three references to call from current clients. See if they work with any local doctors, all the good trainers work with at least one doctor.

A bad trainer can hurt you - do your research and make sure they are good.
 

One of the more classic “sucker punch” scenarios that you are likely to encounter is the one which starts out with you being tapped on the shoulder. This is almost always initiated from behind and begins with your unknown opponent tapping you generally, but not always, on your right shoulder with his left hand while you are facing away from him. If you are not paying attention, you will almost always turn around and step towards your opponent in the general direction that you were tapped. So if you were tapped on your right shoulder, you would turn around to your right towards your opponent and right into his overhand punch. For your opponent, this has the dual effect of surprise and you moving towards the punch, which as we all know increases the amount of force that you are struck with, and usually results in a knockout and/or broken bones.

Now I am going to relate to you an incident that occurred to me in which this very same technique was actually used on me, and what I did in order to counter it. Although I must admit that this entire incident could have been avoided had I truly wanted to, but at this particular time I didn’t. Although I didn’t openly provoke the confrontation, I did absolutely nothing to avoid it. I will even go so far as to say that I probably encouraged my opponents’ aggressive behavior to a certain degree on a subconscious level. You know the “Alpha Male” mentality that is so prevalent with males especially during our younger years. Most of us seem to grow out of it to a certain extent, while others maintain the same level and in some cases even become worse as they get older.

My friend Jerry and I used to work as bouncers on the weekends and at special events at a country western bar called the Saddle Club. Although we never drank when we were working, we would sometimes go there to drink during the week when it was slower and usually not that many people there. We also got 2 for 1 beer when we went so I am sure that also had some small bearing on our decision to drink there on our nights off.

Anyhow, on this particular night, there were quite a few more people in the bar than normal for a weekday night. Jerry and I walked up and took our usual places at the bar and started to have a couple of beers. Now if you have ever worked as a bouncer, you know that it is a pretty good way to pick up girls. Now I am not talking about the ones that you would take home to meet your mother, but more like the ones you wouldn’t want your mother to find out you even talked to, let alone took home. As it so happened, two such girls were sitting at a table a short distance from us and they were sitting there all alone. Well sort of.

Although these two girls were sitting at a table by themselves, there were these two guys sitting at the table right next to them and they were trying their damndest to get these two girls to pay attention to them. As we sat there for oh about 30 minutes or so, we watched these two guys buy the girls several drinks all the while the girls were looking at Jerry and I and trying to ignore the two guys sitting next to them. Finally, after about another 15 minutes or so had passed by, the two guys finally got tired of trying to pick up the girls and came over and sat at the bar next to Jerry and I. Now I am not generally one to rub salt in an open wound, but on occasion I have been known to do some rather retarded things, especially when I have been drinking.

I waited until the two guys in question went to the bathroom and I leaned over to Jerry and told him that we should go over and see if we would have any better luck picking up those two girls than these other guys did. Jerry didn’t even say a word. He merely got up off the bar stool and walked over and sat down with the two girls. Jerry started talking up a storm and before I knew it he and the two girls were waiving me over to the table. Now this all took place within a couple of minutes as the two guys that had struck out were still in the bathroom. No sooner had I left the bar and sat down at the table, than out comes the two guys from the bathroom. Needless to say, they were pissed off.

So while Jerry continued to “sweet talk” the girls into leaving the bar with us, I kept my eye on the two guys now sitting at the bar. Jerry and the girls continued to drink for about another hour or so while I continued to sip on my one beer. I could tell by the reaction that these two guys had at seeing us with the girls and the constant eye-balling that they were giving us that there was going to be trouble sooner or later. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the girls asked us if we wanted to leave and go back to one of their houses. Jerry and I pondered this for all of about I would say a thousand of a second before we agreed that it sounded like a great idea and started getting up in order to leave.

While Jerry and I helped the girls on with their jackets, I noticed that one of the two guys at the bar was paying their tab, while the other one was wiping his hands off on his jeans. One of those little things that are a dead give away that someone is getting ready to cause you some grief. Now Jerry, who normally was right on top of things, was a little bit distracted with the female festivities that we were sure to be involved in later that night and was not really paying any attention to what was going on. I let Jerry and the two girls walk ahead of me while I kind of nonchalantly lingered behind just a bit.

Sure enough, as soon as Jerry and the girls start walking towards the door the two guys get off their barstools and start walking towards us. Now I could see the reflection of these two guys in the glass of the front doors as they approached me from behind. Suddenly, I felt my right shoulder being tapped. However, instead of turning around into the punch, I step forward with my right foot and to my left across my body before turning. This had the effect of putting me about two feet farther away from these two guys, and about the same distance to their left. So rather than being right in front of them, I am now at a 45-degree angle to the left of the guy who tapped my shoulder.

As I executed this move and turned around, this is what I saw. The first guy who had tapped me on the shoulder was now between me and the second guy due to my “off-setting” move that I had made prior to turning around. Therefore, he was not an immediate threat. However, the guy who had tapped me on the shoulder was the primary threat. He had this surprised look on his face as he realized that my head and body weren’t where they were supposed to be. At the same time, his right arm was cocked back and had started to swing toward me but had stopped about midway through the punch when he realized my head wasn’t where it should have been. His left hand was hanging down around his waist and was not up to protect his head.

As I was taking all of this in, I had already initiated my counterattack, which in this case was a roundhouse kick to the side of his head. Now I have to reiterate a very important point, “You should never initiate an attack or counterattack with a high section kick. Unless you have an extraordinary ability to kick, and if all of the other extenuating circumstances present are in your favor.”

The kick landed perfectly on his jaw and literally dropped him like a 50 lbs. sack of potatoes. His friend immediately threw up his hands and started backing up while yelling that it was his friend’s idea and that he didn’t want to fight. I am sure seeing his friend lying on the floor unconscious had something to do with that decision. At about this point Jerry, who had been outside with the girls and oblivious to what was going on, walked back inside to find me and saw me standing over the one guy and his friend backing up. Jerry being the great and loyal friend that he was ran up between me and the other guy ready to take him on if he decided to get even more stupid than he had already. I told the guy to wait until after we left, and then to get his friend and to get out of the bar and to never come back. Meanwhile, Jerry got into his car with one of the girls and I got into the other girls car with her. We then left the bar.

Now there are several things that can be learned from this situation.

1. Most all fights happen when you are drinking and/or in a bar or nightclub.

2. Alcohol and men are fine, alcohol and women are fine, but mix all three together and sooner or later there is going to be a problem.

3. Male egos bruise easily, and rubbing salt on them only makes them worse.

4. Fighting over a bar whore is downright stupid.

5. If you see that a potential altercation is going to take place, stop drinking.

6. Whenever possible, create distance between you and your opponent.

7. Never get distracted by a pretty face, especially when you know there good be trouble, or you’re in a place where trouble is lying in wait.

I later found out that I had broke the guys jaw with my roundhouse kick and that he didn’t even know what had hit him. As for the rest of mine and Jerry’s evening, you will have to read a Penthouse Forums letter to get the details on that.