Short Snapshot #6: Being "real empowering" doesn't sound as easy as it seems.

So I stumbled on the executive paradox book within Chapter 15 where it discusses the symptoms when organizations do not have trust. The problem: It didn't discuss the causes behind it. Instead, it gave resolutions to remedy the effect by giving "special" prescriptions and looking underneath the tip of the iceberg. Actually, those two solutions are effective, because being empowering may be the most tricky and hardest thing to do. One for it is a high level theory. Secondly, for it is a sensitive topic, as it discusses and analyzes about our own identity.

But one of the problems these days is that being "empowering" has its own "different levels". And for most of us, we can to some extent be empowering on some "levels", but few of us are really empowering to very high levels, in the terms of being "heroic". Today we use the word "empowering" for low level duties and make it seem like an ending story where "everybody lived happily ever after". But "stories" like that do not get projected to a happy ending in the end. Instead, circumstances create later to more bad occurring events because we were not "empowering enough". Studies have shown that being "empowering" will make organizations more successful. It is a trait that all executives try to follow and conform because of its positive results. However, little do they know that being empowering may be the most underrated and complicated thing. It is the source and the influence of all outcome.

In this article I tried to translate in my own words taken from the book "The modern man" by I.M. Panagiotopulos (the original article can be accessed in here which represents the High School Graduation Tests for the Greek Language in Year 2014),  he discussed on the times at the end of the 1980s how the word "empowering" has lost its true meaning these days, Without further ado, here is the translated excerpt:

Summary: The author defines empowering as an empathetic individual that engages to do the right thing, a trait that brings balance which our collective consciousness of our society cares of. Although being empowered is still considered an important asset, many practice it and demonstrate it in faulty ways. Instead of individuals struggling for a lifetime to balance the world beyond norms and policies, they become hypocrites by calling themselves "heroes" in order to meet external goals and gain fame. Without an actual model of empowerment that now has become discarded, our current society has become an infrastructure where communication expresses no trust, tolerance, or forgiveness.

In our times, the word empowering is a term that is commonly widely used, it is a norm that is practically used everywhere, because there is a lot of added value using such trait. An empowering person means  to have empathy and engagement, as in many ways as we can with our colleagues and acquaintances. Another term used to describe such trait is being a hero. They could brag: "this guy is a big hero". "Hero" in this context means a person that spends his whole lifetime do the most right thing. Henry Dunant , for instance, the founder of the "Red Cross", was one such heroic person. Besides that he cared his colleagues and acquaintances, he got empathetic for the people who were in suffering, regardless of race, religion, circumstances.

The empowering person has great capabilities, that dedicates his time on honesty, while never being cherishing for the sake of hiding the undisclosed, while still being honest under circumstances that break laws or cultural traditions. Lastly, being heroic, was for the opinions of many, for many centuries, one ideal trait, that the old generation would show with actions to the new generations to learn. Even on those times, when being empowering was a prerequisite all should have, it was not a term that was widely used. In contrary, it was the rare or brave presence, where only few mortals could be able to reach. And even for those who couldn't reach being empowering, for daily they practiced to be heroic because their identity strive to be heroic, taking this task as a duty or responsibility, without ever thinking to use that term for their own advantage.

The circumstances that made "empowering" a required trait for our current generation is due to more important reasons than what we actually ought to think. It shows that the collective consciousness of our society feels deeply about the suffering of the average individual and demands resolution.

Nonetheless, the term "empowering" these days, and many other similar terms, their definitions have been twisted in shocking ways. Just like when ideas that are shallow and camouflage themselves in the shape of a solid*, terms follow also the same treatment. Their meanings get changed, their true colors are fading out, with the way people are using those words and for the goals people try to attain using those words. In that sense, everybody can talk about being "empowering", but the definition of such term for each individual will be absolutely different (each will have their own version what "empowering" means).

Furthermore, one term, one word, one expression, that commonly comes out often in our mouth, along time the word will become cheap**, empty, without meaning.  I am afraid this has already happened. As long as we just take a better glimpse around us about it, we will be able to notice it more boldly. Our daily life has already lost its own warm sweet atmosphere***. It is a winter without a sign of an early spring. The "good morning", that charming invitation that opens doors people to the "skies" has transformed slowly as a a common ritual greeting. The mortal's hunger, their thirst for a good and relaxing external life doesn't leave place for real empathetic feelings. Futhermore: Empathetic feelings are now treated outdated (or a weak/useless trait to have).

I always forget though that being empowered always comes out of our own desire, not out of "knowledge" (it is not only about knowledge). And it is not about reason, it is about action****. It is a whole internal world, that in its completeness, its omnipresent. The empowering person does not become intolerant or shows contempt.  He is forgiving and gentle. He is accepting and tries to understand others. The empowering trait is a thing that always needs to come back around. It is never a thing that is used only when it is required (i.e. patching it up). That who is a real "human", cannot be one without on every situation "be human". Being empowering is not a career, it is not an instrument to be used to show off or be successfull. It is instead of rejection of ideas (=bad ideas, ideas that only think through successful critical thinking instead of ideal critical thinking). You have to reject a lot in order to win the most important. On the other hand, it is not either a passive behavior. In contrary, you become a character with energy that have no limits. It is much easier to become the "great man" than the "great human".  History has shown us examples of "great men", but little does he show of  "great human".

* I had to write this interpretation in a different way from the original text because the original metaphorical example is hard to understand. In the original text, the author tries to represent a shallow idea as the liquid being in a shape of a bottled jar of water. Now, the water can "hold" itself in a shape of a bottled jar of water if it was in the first place "inside of a bottled jar of water". But what if it was not in the first place? Its a thing that can break "easily". Its like blind faith without facts. Its like using words in this case because it "told us it will make us successful" without trying to find the facts "why it is successful and why should we always be empowering".
** The definition of "cheap" comes again. Just like sex being cheap these days, and our identity being integrated out of a product that is cheap, so in this sense, using words cheaply, we become products that are cheap. Notice that there are two versions that our identity can become cheap: one from associating our satisfaction out of "cheap experiences" and another associating our definitions of words to a "cheap theory". What we become is the product of input, and just like computers, we should be careful on our choices what our input is.
***Only one way this can happen. When people internally are not happy but externally look happy. They become cheap inside out of cheap words while rich externally while taking advantage of using those cheap words to their situation. This can be furthermore elaborated when he illustrates as an example that people "say" what they really "don't mean" anymore. Notice, that the word "good morning" has change its meaning from a real invitation of a "good morning" to now just being an etiquette formal way of "greeting" someone.
****Empowered as seen in the executive paradox book resides in the Perceiver mode reading the "Mercy" mode (communicates with people), so it is, after all, by "Default",  in the "Peoples" line. It is driven by desire (mercy mode) and commanding action (server mode)

The resolution: I suggest that mental symmetry , that facilitates this process very much specifically than any other theory so far I have seen, in finding the origin and causes of why empowering doesn't work well these days, can be a good step on solving those problems. I also suggest that you compliment with other manuals and mentors that can guide you through to apply those solutions in our "current situations". Books like the executive paradox and many others show how to make a real actionable difference of whatever is stuck in your head. After all, the final stage of being empowering is to place actions and make your actions an identity to reflect back on yourself and be more empowering than you were before, like in my hypothetical cycle.