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Empowerment produces the conditions for high performance. Especially for middle managers and below. Empowered cultures attract and retain talent. They produce high achievement, high accountability and high commitment.

The Empowered Manager uncovers a roadmap to creating a more accountable culture in today's fragmented and virtual world. Bestselling author Peter Block is a true visionary: author of the classic Flawless Consulting, his work is about empowerment, stewardship, chosen accountability, and reconciliation of community. In this book, he returns his eye toward management to renew our efforts to create a shift in the traditional hierarchy. Twenty years after the original book, Block talks of why it is so difficult to both open the door to empowerment and more importantly, have people walk through it. It is more important than ever to create a culture in which all members of an organization are treated as entrepreneurs, giving them ownership over their role and responsibilities. This is in the face of the reality that most employees want safety, not the adventure of empowerment.

Peter enhances the first edition of the book by acknowledging employees wish for dependency. Their longing for the days when a job carried a promise of a future, and companies cared more about the product and the people, than about the money.

This is written primarily for people in the middle. Good managers and employees who care more about doing good work and treating people right, than ambition and making it into the ruling class. The upper middle and below is where there is the greatest need for great management. Which builds on valuing strengths, and allowing talent the space to stretch and achieve. Almost independent of the power points of people at the top. This book shows you how a new approach to management empowers all employees at all levels, and culminates in better business outcomes for the entire organization.

• Help shape a culture of commitment
• Develop the political skills to negotiate successfully
• Take responsibility for your actions
• Learn to fail up, and face setbacks with courage

If you feel controlled by bureaucracy, unrewarded for creativity, and from a distance, powerless to control your own destiny, this book is the breath of fresh air your career has been craving. Timeless tips from a master of business strategy alongside a framework for more effective management makes The Empowered Manager a must-read guide for anyone doing business today.

New feature

When the first edition of this book was published, the United States was in a time of recession, financial crises, and growing unemployment. Sound familiar? Many companies rose to acclaimed success from these conditions by improving the quality of their products and services by shifting control from top management to employees closer to the work. This revised and updated edition of The Empowered Manager casts fresh eyes on the theory and practice of optimizing the human system in your organization in the context of how today’s businesses are changing at the speed of technological innovation.

Business has changed a lot in thirty years, but the philosophies and practices managers use to lead teams are still stuck in a patriarchal mindset. This brilliantly reimagined Second Edition is for everyone who wants to be a force for change and improvement in a stagnant workplace culture where safety, advancement, control, and the desire to hold someone else responsible is forefront on people’s minds. The potent blend of theory and actionable practices provides a clear path for embracing the technology eliminating the tedious tasks from employees’ job descriptions and empowering them with the abilities to better serve customers. Whether you’re a manager or an employee, the inspiring guidance inside lets you step out of the negative office politics fueling the status quo and gives you the skills to act with autonomy and compassion in service of a vision in order to “own” the performance of your team.

Bring out the entrepreneurial spirit in your entire team and get them invested and excited about the work by:

• Creating a unit that exemplifies your deepest personal beliefs about your employees and the organization and puts in place the systems to make it a reality
• Developing high-integrity strategies for neutralizing adversaries, motivating fence sitters and focusing mostly on allies
• Mastering practical tips for aligning your vision with everyday practice, including how to handle meetings, restructure teams, and manage communications

The Empowered Manager, Second Edition gives you a clear path to becoming the leader your organization needs to positively impact performance, build accountability, and enhance job satisfaction for everyone—including top management.

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Prologue: To Read or Not to Read ix
 
Introduction: Why Empowerment Now and Again xv
 
1 Managers in the Middle 1
 
PART ONE Politics in the Workplace—Rekindling the Entrepreneurial Spirit 7
 
2 Personal Choices That Shape the Work Environment 9
 
The Road Most Traveled 9
 
Now You See It, Now You Don’t 11
 
Choosing an Entrepreneurial Path 12
 
When to Play It Safe 19
 
3 A Culture of Empowerment 21
 
The Bureaucratic Cycle 22
 
The Entrepreneurial Cycle 24
 
The Patriarchal Contract 26
 
Myopic Self-Interest: The Myth That Advancement and Self-Esteem Are Related 35
 
Manipulative Tactics 50
 
4 The Empowerment Choice 59
 
The Entrepreneurial Contract 66
 
Enlightened Self-Interest 78
 
Authentic Tactics 87
 
PART TWO Positive Political Skills at Work 97
 
5 Creating a Vision of Greatness 99
 
Claiming Our Autonomy by Creating a Vision 99
 
What Is a Vision and Why Is It Important? 100
 
Creating the Vision 106
 
Communicating Our Vision 117
 
Coaching Others in Creating Their Vision 119
 
6 Negotiating with Allies and Adversaries 127
 
The Critical Skills: Negotiating Agreement and Negotiating Trust 128
 
7 Balancing Autonomy and Interdependence 151
 
Political Scripts 153
 
The Right Use of Scripts 167
 
Interdependence 169
 
Autonomy and Interdependence 171
 
Finding Peace with the Boss 172
 
8 Facing Organizational Realities 177
 
Nonsuicidal Courageous Acts 179
 
9 Enacting the Vision 187
 
Moving Toward Tension 188
 
Final Thoughts 189
 
Annotated Bibliography 195
 
About the Author 197
 
Acknowledgments 199
 
Index 201

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