Using Power Responsibly

 “Being powerful is like being a lady, if you have to tell people that are, than you are not” (Russ Forester).This is one of my favorite quotes, when I think about the powerful people that I have met in my life, this quote pretty much sums up their behavior. Many of the powerful people which I have met in the past have never forced thier power on me, you just knew to respect them by the way that they carried themselves. When I think of how I can become powerful, I try to emulate this type of behavior by creating power through my social skills.

I always felt like my father was a powerful man, he did not have a lot of money, but if he ever needed something done, people would line up just to accomplish this task for him. My father was always kind and people responded to this behavior, he was never mean to anyone and he created his power through friendship. He always used to tell me, “People will always help you in your time of need if they know that you would do the same for them”; he always knew how to develop sources of personal influence to gain power.

Sources of personal power are defined by “expertise, attraction, effort, and legitimacy” (Cameron & Whetton, 2012, pg. 288). These are characteristics which I learned from observing someone like my father; and as an adult today, I put them into practice. I use my expertise to establish that I am a knowledgeable person on the subject matter, showing others that you do know what you are talking about instills confidence in your abilities. Attraction is an important tool to use also, appearances give a great first impression; it is important that our appearance is a good representation of who we are. Effort, I learned at an early age that showing effort will win over others instantly. “A high level of personal effort is one of the most highly prized characteristics of employees because it means that they are dependable, reliable human resources” (Cameron & Whetton, 2012, pg. 289). As a kid, when I was on a team I knew I could gain power and influence if I could display how much effort I put into my performance; being a reliable person gains the trust of others. Overall my main focus is to gain legitimacy, “being a legitimate person increases acceptance, and acceptance is a key to personal influence” (Cameron & Whetton, 2012, pg. 290). When I am working on gaining power I have to be a legitimate force if I am to lead others.

            In my eyes, a powerful person not having to say that they are in charge, speaks volumes about their personality. Someone who does not have to say that they are powerful is a sign of being a confident person. People who are confident in themselves and do not have the need to throw their weight around easily become likeable leaders. Growing up my goal has always been to be a likeable leader, I have always felt that “you can catch more bees with honey than vinegar”. I have always felt that I am a likeable person and as a leader this makes others more comfortable with having an open and honest relationship with me. When people can have confidence and trust you, “this makes you much more emotionally accessible as a leader” (Cameron & Whetton, 2012, pg. 288).

            Overall having these characteristics which I have learned from people like my father, and other role models in my life, I have been able to create power with those around me and create good relationships with my superiors. With my bosses, I am able to find a style that fits both of our needs, be sympathetic to the pressures they face, and at the same time use their time and resources to my advantage. The way I see things, power can come from how many people you have in your corner, the bigger my team is the more powerful I can become. The way to keep the most amount of people on my side is by using my power in an effective way and not abusing it, also by using my power to help those around me. It is important to see that power can be passed on to an individual, but for them hold on to that power, it will take the help of those surrounding that individual.

Reference:

Whetten, D., and Cameron, K (2011). Developing Management Skills (8th Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson/ Prentice Hall

   

The Importance of Coaching and Mentoring

            When I was at the golf range golf driving range my coach observed me, told me to move my foot about three inches to the left, and then I instantly hit the ball a lot straighter. What had just happen? I asked myself this question as I was watching my ball sail to the exact location I wanted it to. I then proceeded to take my next swing and had the exact same result; then it hit me, I had just realized the effects of having a great coach by my side. This coach did not break me down and completely change my swing, he simply told me I am doing fine; I just needed one or two adjustments. I had finally seen the importance of having a coach first hand, but maybe I should have realized this sooner since many people have been doing this for me all my life.

            Rather it be playing baseball at the park with my dad, or learning to lead a whole division of sailor’s in the middle of the sea; people have been coaching me all my life. Many times having a coach was someone that I could bounce ideas off of, it has been said that “an important role for a coach to play might just be an open ear, or a shoulder to lean on” (Stewart, 2008). The reason for this is that a coach is meant to be there for someone who is already skilled, and has a good idea of what they are doing. A coach is there to enhance your skills, they need to be able to spot your flaws, and find a way to improve your skill set.

            The relationship between an individual and their coach needs to be a strong one, you need to be able to take criticism from your coach, if it is to be a successful pairing. Many organizations have implemented the need for coaching and mentoring programs which specialize in giving constructive criticism to an individual. Some organizations have even adopted a program where it is mandatory to give criticism, so that an individual can learn from their mistakes (Shannon, 2008). Organizations like these feel that American’s are not good not good at giving criticism due to our culture, this is why they say that they have learned to not fear feedback, and instead embrace the feedback.

            Enough cannot be said about the importance of having a coach, but we also need to talk about the importance of having a mentor. A mentor is different from having a coach because a mentor is someone who will teach you and share their lessons with you. “A mentor can also help with more traditional support, such as educational benefits which might be provided through work” (Labbad, 2013). A mentor is also someone who might take you under their wing and help you rise in an organization. Recently it has been known at my organization that I will be completing my MSLD, since this information is now known, I have had several offers from individuals who wish to take me under their wing and help me reach my potential. Many people in upper management want to find talent which they can mentor, “this helps both individuals rise and establish power and loyalty where they did not have it before” (Azerello, 2013).

            Coaching and mentoring are both essential to an organization, finding the importance in creating and molding new talent is a popular practice among many organizations. There are many executives which find this practice fun and very productive, some executives would even say that “it keeps them energized, and they learn from the experience” (Stewart, 2008). It is evident that programs that contain mentoring and coaching end up helping everyone; the individual, executives, and the organization all benefit from these activities. This is a great way of doing business, investing time and energy in employees will pay off in the long run. Companies with mentorship programs are breeding their future leaders, and molding them to fit the personality of the organization; only great things can come from this type work in the office.

References:

Stewart, s. (2008). Importance of Coaching and Mentoring, retrieved from:

http://library.books24x7.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/searchresults.aspx

Labbad, D. (2013). Coaching and Mentoring Are the Key to Leadership Development, retrieved from: http://library.books24x7.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/searchresults.aspx

Shannon, P. B. (2008). Learn Not to Fear Feedback, retrieved from:

http://library.books24x7.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/searchresults.aspx

Azzerello, P. (2013). The Cheapest and Most Effective Way to Develop Your Workforce, retrieved from:

https://azzarellogroup.com/articles/The%20cheapest%20most%20effective%20way%20to%20develop%20your%20workforce-Azzarello%20Group.pdf

  

              

The Different Roles of a Leader

For this assignment, I want to talk about a team which I am a part of on a daily basis, my family is a big team and rather we like to or not, we have to work with each other every day. It is easy to equate my family to a business or a team, many times I will have to use the techniques which I have learned in the MSLD program, so that my family can work much more efficient. Many times I will read about different behaviors which I can reflect on, there are also different roles which I play in my household. As I read about some of these roles and the effects they can have on a team, I often find myself trying to work on my leadership skills. The two roles which we are focusing on this week in class are, task-facilitating roles, and relationship-building roles.

I find that playing these two roles, I can improve my team, it can be a challenge to constantly maintain these two roles since there are so many different personalities involved on my team. Generally as a team member, I find that I tend to play more of a task facilitating role, I know that I am often referred to as the “task master at home”; and that is generally because I tend to push my team members to reach their potential. Because I do see myself as the leader of my team, I know that I have to be urging by imploring team members to stay on task. In our text it talks about how being “enforcing may create resistance when the team is already experiencing high levels of pressure” (Cameron and Whetton, 2012, pg. 513), I have realized this resistance on many occasions, constantly playing the task-facilitating role can have a negative side to it.

Many times, I will find that my children do need to be pushed, so I am often engaging my team to accomplish the mission. My team might see this as me being pushy, but I see it as a way of me “enforcing team rules, standards, and maintaining agreed upon procedures” (Cameron and Whetton, 2012, pg. 513). As I actively engage my team to complete the mission and reach their goals, this requires me to also monitor their progress. “Monitoring consist of checking on progress, developing measures of success, and helping to maintain accountability for results” (Cameron and Whetton, 2012, pg. 513); unfortunately this can also be viewed as being pushy.

 Finding the correct balance, while playing a task-facilitating role can be challenging, my biggest fear is that my role will go from a task-facilitator to a blocking role. Sometimes a team can have someone who plays a blocking role, at times while trying to make sure that task get completed, I can see that I have instead taken on a role which creates negative feelings. When I am conducting myself as someone that plays the blocking role, I begin to become “dominating, overanalyzing, overgeneralizing, and fault finding” (Cameron and Whetton, 2012, pg. 513). I understand that this is a problem, exercises such as this one, help me reflect on my behavior and leadership skills. I have to realize that this type of behavior can “potentially inhibit a team from efficiency and effectively accomplishing its task by crushing morale” (Cameron and Whetton, 2012, pg. 516).

As I go through the MSLD course, I become much more in tune with my actions and the way that I can behave in a team. Being able to know which mistakes I am making when in the leadership role, have helped me understand myself, knowing that I still do have room for improvement keeps me interested in the different techniques which I am learning throughout the MSLD program. In the past I have caught myself making these mistakes, but I did not know the effects that my behavior can have on a team until now. I am constantly trying to improve team cohesion and collaboration, but until now I have not known which key mistakes I am making. Understanding which role I play in a team will help me improve my leadership skills, by improving my leadership skills, I know that in the future my team will be much more effective.

Reference:

Whetten, D., and Cameron, K (2011). Developing Management Skills (8th Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson/ Prentice Hall