Empowerment Is Not Enough, Go With Agency Instead - Primos Populi

I have long been a big believer in empowerment, until I hit my first wall. I had spent weeks "empowering" my colleagues, encouraging them to make the decisions and initiatives that were needed.

But one day, I resigned. When I reconnected with my old team, the news came out. "They put an end to all the beautiful initiatives that you empowered us to take".

Verdict: Empowerment comes from above and can be withdrawn at any time. My partner and I looked for a similar concept that originated from the people taking action instead, and that it is impossible to withdraw. The concept we were looking for was agency.

See the comparison between agency and empowerment in my article "Empowerment is not enough, go with agency instead."