What if the secret to successful leadership lies in empowering others instead of controlling them? “Empowerment is giving ownership to the people who are under your leadership,” said former John Deere Engineer, Kevin Lund. 

Lund, who is now a senior pastor of a large church in Nebraska, claims that when we have our team take ownership we see the following benefits:

• they take better care of the business
• they feel a sense of ownership
• creates strong and independent people
• helps the team feel even more confident when they succeed
• builds trust
• can increase performance and hard work
• builds humility and respect
• creates joy, fun and satisfaction

In a recent article referring to the importance of empowering employees, Forbes shares that over a third of organizations that empower their staff tend to experience revenue growth between 10 to 30%, and 16% of these organizations experienced growth above 30%.

Lund unveils how empowering teams, much like industry giants Chick-fil-A does, can be the key to unlocking your organization's full potential. “Instilling ownership and responsibility in team members can yield significant growth both in church and business settings,” Lund said.

Lund shared that before empowering his team, his foundation for even building teams begins with hiring individuals based on character, strengths and passions, rather than forcing them into predefined roles. By aligning roles with people's unique gifts, leaders can create a supportive environment that enhances team members' sense of value. Inspired by Jim Collins' concept of getting the right people on the bus, Lund said through this process, trust and collaboration can foster a culture of growth. He emphasized once your team is hired, there must then be a focus of building trust-based relationships through prioritizing the team’s well-being and involving members in decision-making processes. 

“You need to set them up to win and then give them honest feedback on a regular basis,” Lund said. 

When leaders trust their teams, foster a culture of openness, and overcome fears that often hold back empowerment, they can unlock team potential for organizations and everyone within them to succeed and flourish.

As former General Electric CEO Jack Welch said, “Before you are a leader, success is about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” 

Some resources Lund suggests when growing others include:

• taking personality tests such as DISC and StrengthsFinder
• providing constructive feedback and collaboration
• fostering a healthy organizational culture
• budgeting time and dollars into team building
• providing topical training opportunities and consistent team development
• investing your time and availability to your team
• caring more about your team than their work

Lund likes to use the term “fail fast,” encouraging leaders to build a culture to have the freedom to try things, fail at things and then learn from them as they get back up. Lund also challenges leaders to see such perceived failures as an opportunity to positively impact others. 

“All of us are pretty fearful and insecure at times. It’s a normal part of life and being human. Our weaknesses often connect us more than our strengths.” Lund said. “As a leader, as the point person of an organization, be honest with your team about that so it gives them the freedom to experience and be honest about their own fears and insecurities.” 

Successful leadership is not about controlling others, nor expecting perfection, but rather providing them a safety net that enables them to thrive.

Lund takes a long-term view of team building and recognizes there are times when changes in team composition are necessary. 

“There are times that team members are just in the wrong place on the team, or they are lazy, or maybe you didn’t resource them well,” Lund said. 

He acknowledges that sometimes people need more attention, care, supervision and guidance. “Team building takes a great deal of time and perseverance, and a lot of consistency in team building and empowering,” Lund said. “Don’t be impatient. Take your time in doing it. Sometimes people don’t fit. You have to be honest about that. Be loving about it by changing the team when it needs to be changed.” 

Overall when it comes to building, developing and empowering teams Lund shares “just relax and have fun. You have one life to live. Enjoy it. Don’t take yourself too seriously.”

Listen to this interview in full and embark on a journey of stepping up your leadership through building, developing and empowering teams on Holly’s Highlights podcast season 2 episode 6.