Empowerment Vs. Responsibility

Empowerment means authority or power given to someone to do something.

Responsibility means the opportunity or ability to act independently and take decisions without authorization.

Empowerment is a relatively new word. Its usage really started ~75 years ago. It peaked in 2003, and it is increasing since 2017.

Responsibility has been there for more than two centuries. Its usage has been rising - it peaked in 1972 and has been decreasing for the last 50 years.

One of the observations could be that the need for empowerment has been increasing and the propensity for taking responsibility has been decreasing.

For groups of people, wanting more empowerment is fine. Employees associate empowerment with autonomy & control, trust & respect, having a voice and influence, opportunities for growth & development, having impact on the broader purpose, and flexibility.

However, becoming dependent on empowerment or waiting for it, can be quite limiting and dangerous for individuals.

People who want to grow into bigger and better leaders need to craft their own journey.

Studies have shown that employees can empower themselves.

✅Key insights from these studies

• Employees don’t need permission to feel empowered—self-initiated strategies like job crafting and self-mentoring foster autonomy and agency.

• Intrinsic motivation matters: Learning goal orientation and growth mindset directly correlate with increased internal empowerment.

• Psychological capital—built individually—serves as a foundation for resilience, proactive behavior, and empowerment.

• These self-driven forms of empowerment boost well-being, performance, and confidence, even in resource-constrained environments.

🧭Opportunities for Individuals

• Craft your role: adjust tasks or rewrite job boundaries to align with your strengths. Keep moving to new roles and projects to build depth and breadth.

• Build your own mentor: set clear development goals and track your progress. And, find a mentor or mentors - loads of people are ready to help.

• Grow mindset and goals: pursue continuous learning and proactive growth opportunities. Today, there isn't anything that one can't learn for free.

• Cultivate Psychological Capital: nurture hope, resilience, efficacy, and optimism daily.