In March 2009 I referenced Stan Lee’s quote from Spider-Man – With great power comes great responsibility – in warning small business owners not to take advantage of employees’ willingness to do more in a tough jobs environment.  (Although, as I wrote about last week, in the year since then the hiring picture has improved somewhat, leading some workers – especially top performers – to be more willing to leave if they see this dynamic at play.)

Yet, this new article Cheap Accutane on Management-Issues by Mitch McCrimmon makes me think Lee’s quote should be reversed when the discussion shifts from the perspective of employees, to leaders and managers and how they keep employees engaged and empowered to put forth their best effort.  In prefacing three techniques to help managers engage their people more effectively, McCrimmon says, "Delegate more – not just more work, but greater responsibility."

Giving workers down to the lowest levels more authority and autonomy to better serve customers, and thus the company, is something Winning Workplaces’ small business award honorees over the past eight years not only do, but are highly intentional about.  For proof, check out these Success Stories we’ve written on some of them:

• Alaska Wildland Adventures
• Pro Motion, Inc
• Red Peg Marketing
• Stellar Solutions, Inc.

So, with respect to Mr. Lee, I submit that when it comes to the ROI of your human capital strategies, "With great responsibility comes great power."

Related: One of our most popular, related webinars is this one on growing leaders from within, featuring CEOs from thriving small firms in two diverse industries.

Photo credit: Blog@Newsarama

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