Enabling someone means providing them with the resources, tools, or access they need to achieve a specific goal. It often involves doing something FOR them to make their task easier. Enabling focuses on short-term solutions and can create dependency.
Empowering someone, on the other hand, means giving them the confidence, skills, and authority to take charge of their own success. It focuses on long-term development and building self-reliance. Empowering someone is about supporting them AS they complete a challenging task.
Here's a simple analogy:
- Enabling is like giving someone a fish.
- Empowering is like teaching someone to fish.
Examples:
- Enabling: A parent doing a child's homework for them.
- Empowering: A parent teaching a child how to study effectively.
- Enabling: Providing a team with pre-written scripts for their sales calls.
- Empowering: Training a team on effective sales techniques and providing them with the autonomy to personalize their approach.
In summary, enabling focuses on external support, while empowering focuses on internal development.
