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CHAPTER 8: MOTIVATION AND EMPOWERMENT 243
knowledge and expertise because they feel powerless otherwise. They have no
motivation to help others, because they don’t feel a sense of responsibility and
commitment toward shared goals.
Empowerment refers to power sharing, the delegation of power or authority to Empowerment
Empowerment
power sharing; the delegation
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subordinates in the organization. Many leaders are shifting from efforts to con- power sharing; the delegation
of power or authority to
trol behavior through carrot-and-stick approaches to providing people with the of power or authority to
subordinates in the organization
subordinates in the organization

power, information, and authority that enables them to find greater intrinsic sat-
isfaction with their work. Leaders provide their followers with an understanding
of how their jobs are important to the organization’s mission and performance,
thereby giving them a direction within which to act freely. Consider how an em-
49
powered workforce at Mississippi Power restored electricity in only 12 days after
Hurricane Katrina knocked the lights out in Mississippi.
IN THE LEAD Melvin Wilson, Mississippi Power
One day, Melvin Wilson was reviewing next year’s advertising campaign. A day later,
he was responsible for coordinating the feeding, housing, and health care of 11,000
repairmen from around the country. “My day job did not prepare me for this,” said
the marketing manager of the chaos and confusion that ensued when Hurricane
Katrina hit the state in August of 2005, wiping out 1,000 miles of power lines, de-
stroying 65 percent of the company’s transmission and distribution facilities, dam-
aging 300 transmission towers, and knocking out power for all 195,000 customers.
Mississippi Power’s corporate headquarters was totally destroyed, its disaster re-
sponse center flooded and useless.

Amazingly, employees got the job done smoothly and effi ciently, restoring elec-
tricity in just 12 days, thus meeting the bold target of getting power back on by the
symbolic date of September 11. The tale of how they did it is a lesson for leaders
in how much can be accomplished quickly when people are empowered to think
and act on their own initiative and understanding. Rather than running hurricane
response from the top down, decision making at Mississippi Power is pushed far
down to the level of the substation, and employees are empowered to act within
certain guidelines to accomplish a basic mission: “Get the power on.”
The corporate culture, based on values of unquestionable trust, superior per-
formance, and total commitment, supports individual initiative and management

confidence that people will respond with quick action and on-the-spot innovation.
During the disaster recovery, even out-of-state crews working unsupervised were

empowered to engineer their own solutions to problems in the field. Everyone at
Mississippi Power, from linemen to accountants, is encouraged to experiment, in-
novate, share knowledge, and solve problems. 50
As at Mississippi Power, the autonomy of empowered employees can create
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flexibility and motivation that is an enormous advantage for a company.
Empowering workers enables leaders to create a unique or-
ganization with superior performance capabilities. 52
As a leader, you can give employees
For one thing, empowerment provides strong motivation Action Memo
because it meets the higher needs of individuals. Research in- greater power and authority to help
dicates that individuals have a need for self-effi cacy, which is meet higher motivational needs. You can
the capacity to produce results or outcomes, to feel they are ef- implement empowerment by providing the
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fective. Most people come into an organization with the desire fi ve elements of information, knowledge,
to do a good job, and empowerment enables leaders to release discretion, signifi cance, and rewards.
the motivation already there. Increased responsibility motivates
most people to strive to do their best.