This too can be damaging if a person is not ready to be left on his or her own. The challenge of leadership is to know the needs and readiness of the follower. It is a balancing act of challenge and support. I, as a person, am empowered when power that I do not have is released to me, not in a constricted, manipulative type of control that results in dependence or conformity, but in a way that allows me to express my God-given gifts and personhood. Jesus engaged in empowerment when he set people free to follow, to serve, and to give themselves away.
Empowerment is a giving of power that also provides for underpinning and support.
In the process of divine empowerment we become partners with God, empowered to accomplish his work, to follow and lead at the same time, to be servant leaders. The discipline of obeying, following, and serving God ironically leads to the development of leadership that serves and energizes others. The more we obey and serve God, the more we are given responsibility to become stewards who nurture, enhance, and allow for growth and development in others. This begins with an under standing of the diversity of people's gifts and talents and skills. Understanding and accepting diversity enables us to see that each of us is needed.