A511.3.3.RB - Power and Influence

As a supervisor I do not hold much in the way of position power, however I do hold some personal power.  I hold both referent and expert power in my position.  The referent power I hold stems from the lack of power held by upper management.  The assistant manager above me has very little respect coming from the agents below me.  She has also done very little to earn any respect.  As I am the one left in charge on the busiest nights of the week and I am sympathetic to their needs and challenges they tend to go above and beyond more often with me than with the assistant manager.  

As most of my staff is new to the job within the last season they ask a lot of questions, with this I gain expert power.  I have the knowledge they need and they know they can trust the answers I give them.  I would like to think I use their need for information as a teaching tool for them to learn from.  The training for my team’s jobs is minimal at best.  They are not given enough computer training to the job they are asked to do, this leads to on the fly demonstrations in front of guests.  Not the most ideal situation for anyone involved.  

The amount of personal power I have in my position is a direct result of my ability to lead.  As I hold nothing in the form of position of power the only power I can hold is personal.  I feel I have earned that with my staff as I recently applied for the job of assistant manager and most of the staff has given me their support.  I would like to believe the support is a result of my ability to lead and not the current assistant manager’s lack of ability.  

When I look around our department I see a lot of dysfunctional LMX systems.  We have a small group of leaders who are close friends and spend a great deal of time together outside of work.  While this is natural and somewhat expected to happen within a work environment it can be taken to an extreme.  Certain privileges and rewards are given to those who are a part of the group, which can set up a dynamic with the rest of the staff that is not so positive.  Othamn (2009) defines dysfunctional LMX as a condition where others perceive the high quality exchange between a leader and certain member in the work group as an inequality.  Another large problem within the department is the gossip, which I know happens in most work situations, but it seems to be out of control in my office. 

Othman, R., Ee, F., & Shi, N. (n.d.) (2009). Understanding dysfunctional leader-

member exchange: Antecedents and outcomes. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 337-350.    

Yukl, G. (2012). Leadership in Organizations (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New

Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc