Empower Your Team: Why Letting Go Leads to Stronger Teams

There is no secret to leadership. It is the ability to unlock growth and elevate performance in others to achieve remarkable things. What is surprising is that we think we can improve performance by doing some—or even most—of the work for our teams. We want to remove friction so there will be as little resistance to engagement as possible.

With the best of intentions, travel business owners remove roadblocks, create opportunities, and put out fires all day long.

Despite doing all these things, advisors are still not engaging. The other day I was working with a group of travel business owners on their recruitment and engagement strategy.

As one owner said, “I am stretched beyond my limit. I cannot find good people and the advisors I have, other than few, will not engage.”

There is no question, since the pandemic, much has changed. Yet one thing remains constant. The best leaders find a better way to mobilize, inspire and empower their teams.

Empowerment is an agreement to support another person’s success on their own terms. The root of empowerment is power. The power an individual has cannot be given or taken away; it is self-propelling.

Empowerment is a transfer of the opportunity to lead from within. It allows every member of the team to decide, make good choices, and act.

Empowerment fosters a sense of ownership. Advisors with an owner’s mindset light their own flame to get started. They remove their own roadblocks and turn adversity into opportunity. Fire starters pass along contagious energy—peer to peer. It says, “If I can do this, so can you.”

Empowerment is the missing ingredient among many independent travel teams. It can feel counterintuitive, as we try to do all we can to make an advisor’s role easier.

We often fear empowerment as a signal of losing control. The tighter the grip, the longer you are left doing the heavy lifting. You cannot hold onto what you don’t own in the first place.

Empowerment distributes the responsibility to achieve great things. The leader points inthe direction you are heading, and the empowered team ensures you reach your final destination, as a team.

“Empowerment isn’t about giving people power.
It is about helping them use the power they already have.”

— Unknown

Empower your team to make the best choices for their business.

Empower yourself to let go, and let them lead.

Geraldine Ree helps Travel Agency Owners grow their business and engage high-performing teams. Learn more here, discover more here, and Find out more here.