Employees are the most valuable asset of a company. They are the depot of skills and knowledge which can set the company apart from competitors. Technology and equipment can be easily reproduced, but a motivated, well-performing employee can never be imitated. Related: 5 Ways To Attract (And Keep!) The Best Employees Empowered employees, though, are not easy to develop. Oftentimes, employees get trapped in the leader-follower relationship at the workplace. They stay in the shadows of their bosses and depend mostly on them for instructions. Only few leaders and executives are able to develop self-guided employees. These are what researchers from Pennsylvania State University, Tsinghua University, and Claremont McKenna College call as “transformational leaders." These are leaders who see empowering not as something required of them to do, but rather as a strategy to develop competent, capable, and knowledgeable employees who can help them bring their company to the top.