Exercise 1
Where does your power come from? About 275 words
Read the article 'Power in Organizations' by Hill. Think about your personal, school, athletic or professional life: What are you sources of position power? And what are your sources of personal power? Describe at least three sources and explain with the help of an example.
Your preferred influencing tactics. About 275 words
Think of a leader (teacher, manager, sports coach, or any other leader) you've known who relied on his or her ability to discipline or reward people to get things done. Then, think about a leader who was a renowned expert or thought leader in his field, or who you really admired for his achievements, style or integrity. 1. How did it feel to work for these leaders? Which one got the best of you and why? 2. What kind of influencing tactics did they use? Push or pull? Describe and explain with the help of an example.
Exercise 2 write a comment for each paragraph
Paragraph 1
· For my professional life i dont have too much power in regards to my position. I am an intern at a tech starup, in the eyes of the "chain of command" I am at the bottom. However I do and can still have influence on the company as a whole as I have an very diverse backround. The company is in the maritime industry, and I was in the U.S. Coast Guard for several years. This "expertise" and an accomplished "track record" does allow my to have a seat at the table and have an impact on some decisions that are made within the company. Also I work hard and put alot of time energy and "effort" into making sure I do a good job with any task I am assigned which does inhereanly allows me to obtain more power as an intern. In my personal life I try and apply some on the smae concepts that I do in my professional power to obtain power. For example im very good at helping people build things or move, so I have an "expertise" in this and when my amily needs help with one of these two thing they usually look to me for guidence. This goes hand in hand with my "track record" with heling people. I have a long history of going out of my way to help my family out with anythin from odd jobs, to car rides to the airport, or mowing thier lawn that this track record has allows me to obtain more power. to tie it all together the "effort" that i put into all these things does not go unnotices, an my family sees this and i believe it infuelnces them in a postive way.
Paragraph 2
· My sources of position power are above regular associates but under the general manager. For example, I work at a poke restaurant called Ohana Kitchen, and my position is called the shift manager. Every time I would come in, the general manager that would make the schedule and order the gloves and beverages would leave to go home for the day, or if she has the day off, it leaves me managing the restaurant by myself. If I needed help, I would have to figure it out, or worse, call her on her day off or time away from work that is not ideal. I like but also do not like this job because I am left with much responsibility, from making sure the pace is clean to dealing with customers and employers in a span of 8 hours of the whole day. I have come to terms with it because I have been doing it since the summer that it becomes second nature to me. However, at first, I was overwhelmed because I have always had someone I could turn to if I had questions, but now I am alone and by myself, so any problems that may arise, I have to figure out a way to fix it.
My source of personal power is having the key to the restaurant. When I started at the beginning of June, I have not expected anything much than just to work. But now I have made connections with the owners, and because I had started out working there just making poke, I had built that relationship with my co-workers, so when I had been told I was the shift manager, I had already had that trust within my co-workers and manager
My last example is working at my internship for the tout event this summer. We all had to come to work in professional business clothes, so of course, as an intern, we try to look our best everyday wearing heels, collard shirts, and a blazer. Towards the end of my internship a couple of the interns were so done wearing uncomfortable clothes for 9 hours a day. They would later on wear sneakers and a t-shirt on some of the days. As much as I wanted to come in with sneakers and a t-shirt, I know it would make me look unprofessional and make me seem as if I didn’t care about this internship.
Paragraph 3
· I have had many leaders in my time in the military, somme good some bad, and some who as describes above as experts or who relied on their discipline to get things done. It felt good to work for both of these leaders becuase I learned different things from both of them. The person who was an expert in the field I learned alot of technical knowledge, very task orientated and tactics to accomplish the job at hand. To include thing that I kept with me and was able to pass down. The disciplined leader I worked for I leabred really how to lead a team of pleople and get people to work together as one to accomplish a larger goal or mission. This leader would reward us if we got the job finished in a faster and more efficient way which was motivationg. The disciplined leader used a pull thoery and i think it wores better than the push theory. He would motivate us to wokr toward the end goal. We would just look forward, if we get this done then we can get of work early, for example. We would be looking forward to accomlishing the task and being pulled toward that end goal.
Paragraph 4
· I had a coach that I will never forget. My coach was a significant influence on me; she was my field hockey coach. She had shown me how essential teamwork is at a very young age and discipline when it came to tournaments that we would have. My other leader is one of the professors here at Suffolk. Being a part of their team feels very good and unreal because I know that they are always here for me when I need advice or have questions. Both of those people gave me motivation and useful advice. The influencing tactics that I had gotten from my coach were never to doubt myself in any position that I am in, whether on or off the field. During one of our sophomore year tournaments, she had put me into the u19 gold team, which was meant for juniors and seniors. She had told me not to worry; even though the girls in those teams are good and fast, they have the same tactics and stick skills. He made 15 years old, I believe in myself and put myself out there, and made me realize that even though some people may not take you seriously or have doubts about you. Nevertheless, you have to realize that you are good enough, and if you are willing to work hard and push yourself, those doubts and insecurities will go away. My other leader is a professor who made me realize that sometimes it is ok to fail. However, make sure that you learn from your mistake within that failure and grow into becoming a better student and person.