Demonstrate your knowledge of the theory of power and influence, reflect on the power that you personally bring to your work place.
- What are the sources and nature of the power?
- How is it used or not used?
- How is that power related to your ability to lead or follow?
Yukil point out that,to be effective as a leader it is necessary to influence people to carry out request, support proposals, and implement decisions. Influence is a tool that spread like laughter when you look at someone laughing directly in the eye, there is 99% tendency that you will put on a smiling face, so it work for a sad face. Influence in one direction tends to enhance influence in other direction. In large organizations, the effectiveness of managers depends on influence over superiors and peers as well as influence over subordinates.
Power on the other hand is used to describe the total capacity of an individual leader to influence the behavior of designated target person at a given time. Leader's influence can be over a single person or over multiple target person. As a middle manager, when you invent a new idea that influence your subordinate to be committed and more productive, the output will attract your superior to build more trust in your capacity. Indirectly, you have influence your superior and He(supervisor) will make reference to you before your peers to emulate your ideas and so, you influence your peers as well.
To reflect on the power that I personally bring to my work place.
Everyday, I challenge myself of solving a technical problem base on my area specialization. Most especially, a problem where many have struggle upon but still have no solution. I task myself extra research to resolve it. My referent power shows the desire of others even beyond my devision to please me in any request I placed before them, always willing to render personal assist.
Many time, when my superior advises my peer of their attitude to their duties usually make reference to me. Some of my peers and superior that were employed ahead of me are now taking some challenges and making them more productive than ever. Even in other division, they make reference to my zealousness that spread my name across the command, to the extent that I won an award in my first development that I was not even aware that exist. Though I am an enlisted, but my reference power has shown my superior my ability to lead, now they assign some leadership responsibility to me and have confidence in me, which has being proofing productive so far.
My experiences of high quality LMX situation within my workplace.
Due to my previous explanation of my Zealousness at work, I enjoy higher quality leader-member exchange when my peers enjoy lower quality leader-member exchange. When I make suggestions, it is honor even within my limited time of service. At times, I advise my boss on a better way to supervise effectively and it has been working for us. I also advise my boss to reduce the way he praises me before my peer so that, the differential treatment will not be obvious and leads to dysfunctional consequences. Some of my peers have started grumbling of differential treatment.
This support the idea that high quality leader-member exchange is characterized by mutual trust, liking, respect and reciprocal influence between the leader and team members (Liden and Maslyn, 1998). Subordinates who enjoy high quality leader-member exchange with their leader enjoy more freedom in performing their work, are usually given better job assignments and more support, have more opportunities to work with the leader and more experience more trust in the relationship (Ashkanasy and O'connor, 1997; Bruk-lee and spector,2006).
I 'll like to submit in support of Rozhan Othman's view that; leader-member exchange is an important element in developing effective work relationships in work teams ( Green et al, 2006 ). The single reason why the situation has not turn to dysfunctional leader-member exchange in our team is that people involve sees the exchange as reasonably fair. When I won award, my peer came to me and said, "O! Boy , you really deserve it." That shows they can answer why high quality LMX exist and lower quality also exist. Scandura (1999) points out that the differentiated treatment of team members into in-group and out-group can be accepted by team members if leaders are seen to behave in a just manner, which is the case in my division.
References;
Gary Yukl 2013.
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