"Empowerment" is one of those business-management buzzwords that generate either excitement or disinterest. Blanchard, Carlos, and Randolph fall into the former category, but they do seem to sympathize with those whose eyes glaze over. Following up their 1996 management book, Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute, The 3 Keys to Empowerment, explains the concrete steps managers can take to empower their employees fully. It starts with information, which managers should share in massive quantities with employees at the start of the empowerment process. The second step is setting up parameters that everyone understands: what employees can and should do, and what actions and decisions will continue to be made by senior management. The third is to develop teams for eventually replacing the old hierarchical structure.

All of this takes time, and the authors point out that team members go up steep learning curves, starting out highly motivated but lacking competence, and quickly lose motivation when they realize how difficult the transition is going to be. Competence and motivation eventually rise, but managers still need to manage differently at each stage of the employees' development. None of this is particularly intuitive, and none of it happens fast. But the rewards, the authors say, include more tuned-in employees, less turnover, and, ultimately, a wealth of brainpower at the company's disposal. --Lou Schuler“Empowerment” can be a mind-numbing topic, but in The 3 Keys to Empowerment, Ken Blanchard and his coauthors use concrete examples, a Q&A format, case histories, and entertaining sidebars to keep the discussion lively. The first “key” is information, which the authors say managers must share liberally with employees to help create a sense of ownership. Next is setting up understandable boundaries that will make employees feel both comfortable and challenged. Finally, managers must develop teams to replace the old hierarchical structure. Armed with this new model of empowerment, companies can navigate the demanding world of global competition.