I believe that we should be empowering people in various ways and for various reasons and purposes.
2 Timothy 2:2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
Empowerment could be practical, spiritual, or both. Sometimes it could be for the person’s own benefit completely; at other times it’s a matter of empowering them for a task or empowering a successor to replace us.
Leadership has the dual purpose of leading as well as empowering. In the church this is part of discipleship. Pastors should be empowering church leaders, Sunday school teachers should be empowering others to be Sunday School teachers, and likewise with women’s and men’s ministry leaders, youth leaders, etc.
This role can be used in the workplace and the community as well. If we empower people to do things for themselves, we don’t only help them develop and become successful in their own lives, we take the weight of doing things ourselves or doing things for them off our own shoulders. I made a website for an animal shelter and was also maintaining it. A young lady who has just finished matric is a volunteer at the shelter and was sending me content to keep the website updated. I recently gave her full access to the website for her to update it. Not only has she learned a new skill, but I don’t have to do it anymore. The baton has been passed on.
Some pointers when empowering people:
1) Be there for them, but allow them to make mistakes
2) Different isn’t necessarily wrong. We have different methods and styles of doing things. Your mentee might do things differently from the way you do them. Don’t insist on them doing things your way.
3) You might feel like you’re redundant when they start doing what you’ve empowered them to do and don’t need you anymore. That’s normal. Don’t take responsibility back from them just to make yourself feel relevant again.
4) We’re not going to be around forever, even though we may feel like it at the moment. Empowering others is the only way to leave a legacy