Skip to main content

Esther Derby

Esther Derby Associates, Inc.

Esther Derby started her career as a programmer and over the years has worn many hats, including business owner, internal consultant, and manager. From all these perspectives, one thing became clear—our level of individual, team, and company success is deeply impacted by our work environment and organizational dynamics. As a result, Esther has spent the last twenty-five years helping companies design their environment, culture, and human dynamics for optimum success. She has served three terms on the board of directors of the Agile Alliance. Browse her blog at estherderby.com.

Speaker Presentations
Thursday, November 14, 2013 - 10:15am
Personal Excellence
Power and Empowerment: Understanding the Principles

Managers want teams to be empowered but often don’t want to give up their decision-making authority. Teams want to be empowered but may not know how to act on the power they already have. Executives want to drive engagement and action but see only half-hearted compliance. These are examples of power dynamics at play. Esther Derby explains that words won’t matter until people acknowledge power. Once people acknowledge the fact of power, it’s possible to look at how it is affecting people and actions.