The other side of empowerment

Skcript aspires aims at a different level of empowerment - enabling everyone to be autonomous in their job role aligned to the company's mission. But empowerment is not some fancy word that one can use to showcase their company culture. It goes beyond what one can see in a company or how the company is structured.

But for many high-caliber people, empowerment can be hard. That might put a ton of pressure on them to do things on their own. They are pushed to make big, bold and courageous decisions for the company.

We have seen people go through this phase, and a major part of my job role is to make sure that the company runs as smooth as possible, without major hiccups. Down the line, I realized that running a company, with such unusual levels of empowered people boils down to one single feeling - 'Trust'.

I believe that trust is the single biggest thing that gives life to the concept of empowerment. The moment you start to second guess someone's decision in the company, rather than to trust that they'd have done the right thing, the power of empowerment starts to fade.

Trust empowers people to run an organization within their organization. Everyone in the organization becomes a leader. And everyone in the organization becomes self-managing, bringing the organization to life.

Every company goes through the growth phase. Though that is the good part for a CEO, it is also the most frightening part for her/him. Questions like 'how can we maintain trust among people', 'how will new people whom I cannot personally on-board to the company feel empowered' and 'how can I improve the process to make sure everyone understands their responsibilities'.

Here are some of the things which I believe will enable a CEO to create a culture that's strongly based on trust:

• Trust: Yes. Trust your peers. They've been hired to work with you because they were respected for their differences and their thoughts.
• Show your trust: Feelings can be displayed or transferred to others (maybe) in astral dimension. In real-life, showcasing your trust for other people and providing them with the appropriate feedback about their decisions go a long way.
• Constructive Feedback: Giving brutal and loving feedback to your peers is how people get better at their decisions. Ultimately, everyone deserves more trust from their peers.

I truly believe that the beginning of a company's culture starts from hiring. Hiring people based on your gut is one way to create a great company culture. Today, we run a company of 10 people, who can manage their own tasks, handle our customers and build great things on their own.