“A true leader leads by empowering not by enslaving.”
― Debasish Mridha
When Azman was promoted to Engineering Manager at a petrochemical plant in Sipitang, Sabah, he stepped into a role filled with challenges. The plant’s maintenance team had the right mix of senior technicians and young engineers, but their morale was low, and productivity wasn’t at its best. Azman knew immediately: the key wasn’t in doing everything himself—it was in empowering his team and delegating wisely.
Understanding Empowerment and Delegation
Azman first reminded himself of the distinction:
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Empowerment meant trusting his team with autonomy and authority, letting them decide the how while he focused on the why. It was about building confidence and creativity, not micromanaging.
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Delegation, on the other hand, meant assigning responsibility while remaining accountable. It allowed Azman to give his team ownership of tasks, while freeing himself to think strategically.
He realized that without these two tools, he would risk burning out while his team remained stagnant.
Why It Mattered for Azman’s Team
Azman saw that empowerment was like taking the training wheels off a bike. At first, some of his younger engineers were hesitant. But once they experienced the freedom to solve problems on their own, they gained energy, pride, and passion.
Delegation, meanwhile, helped distribute the heavy load of plant operations. Instead of bottlenecking every decision at his desk, Azman gave specific responsibilities to capable team members. This not only sped up processes but also signaled to his team that he trusted them.
The result? The maintenance team began to work smarter, not harder. Their efficiency improved, downtime reduced, and the plant’s reliability grew.
Best Practices Azman Applied
Azman’s leadership was shaped by proven practices:
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Prioritize What to Delegate
He listed his responsibilities and identified tasks that his team could own, such as preventive maintenance scheduling and spare-part tracking. -
Assess Will & Skill
Using the Will-Skill Matrix, he identified who was ready for empowerment and who needed coaching. For instance, he empowered a senior technician to handle vendor coordination while mentoring a junior engineer on reliability analysis. -
Position Growth Opportunities
Every delegation came with encouragement. “This is your chance to step up,” Azman would say. By framing tasks as career growth, he unlocked his team’s motivation. -
Set Clear Expectations
He was precise about goals, timelines, and authority boundaries. Everyone knew what success looked like and what decisions they could make independently. -
Check-in and Coach
Instead of micromanaging, Azman scheduled weekly progress sessions. These check-ins were safe spaces for updates, problem-solving, and coaching.
The Transformation
Within months, the plant’s maintenance team had transformed. Efficiency soared, breakdowns reduced, and trust blossomed. More importantly, Azman himself grew into a strategic leader—not weighed down by tasks, but focused on bigger goals.
He had learned the essence of leadership: to grow your people, empower them; to grow yourself, delegate.
✨ Key Lesson from Azman’s Journey:
Empowerment and delegation are not just management techniques. They are the heartbeat of sustainable leadership—creating confident teams, resilient systems, and leaders who can rise above the day-to-day.
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