Self-Empowered
Two
years ago, I returned from a deployment that required me to have a set of
skills that I had not been trained in. Thankfully, while deployed, my
Intelligence Officer took me under his wing and took the time to provide a lot
of on-the-job training. It took approximately two months to learn and apply
what I needed to know to become proficient.
Upon
redeployment, it did not take me long to assess that the command did not have
the resources to conduct the required training outside of the command.
Understanding the 18 hour days, seven days a week for two months of a ‘fire-hose’
of information being taught to me was not the way to learn, I took it upon
myself to try everything I can to make sure my fellow service members did not
have to go through what I went through. I was highly motivated to create
something that would be of value and enduring. You can say I felt empowered.
After
socializing the issue at hand with the command leadership, and confirming what
I already knew, that an oversight in the training workup kept deployers from
learning a required critical skill, that of sensitive intelligence reporting.
Once I was provided the go-ahead, I reached out to the agency that owned the
actual program. Shortly after, I created student accounts within a simulation
program that mimicked the actual one. In this way, the students can write and
submit reports as if they were doing it for real, and receive actual feedback
from the command coordinator, me.
In this
sense, I felt empowered by circumstances that were out of my control, and otherwise
would not have chosen in the first place. Yet, without the experience and gained
requisite knowledge, I would not have felt so strongly against service members deploying
unprepared as I was. I felt emotional, obligated, passionate, and empowered to
create what was needed. Thankfully, I had the entire command support me in this
endeavor, proving valuable by all those who attended these classes that I also
decided to teach myself.
To
provide my employees the opportunity to become self-empowered, I would have
them create a value-added project that would benefit the whole organization, once
approval was given by the organizational leadership. Goldsmith (2010) feels
that people need to empower themselves, that our role is to encourage and
support the decision-making environment, and to give employees the tools and
knowledge they need to make and act upon their own decisions. By doing this, we
help our employees reach an empowered state.
References:
No comments:
Post a Comment