What Type of Power Does Your Supervisor Use?
Power use and misuse essay example.
TS Eliot wrote, “Half of the harm that is done in this world is caused by people who have power and want to feel important. They do not mean to do harm… they are simply absorbed in the useless struggle to think well of themselves.” (Manning & Curtis , p. 167)
Please do Exercise 8-1, p. 169. What kind of power does your supervisor commonly use, and what has been the outcome of their behavior…on the employees, on the company?
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Exercise 8–1 What Type of Power Does Your Supervisor Use?
Indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements as they describe your immediate supervisor. If you are not currently employed, evaluate a supervisor you have had in the past. For each statement, select the most appropriate response, using the following scale: 1 = strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3 = neither agree nor disagree; 4 = agree; 5 = strongly agree.
My supervisor 1.
1. ______ Recognizes efforts and rewards accomplishments.
2. ______ Uses fear to control behavior.
3. ______ Shows appreciation for work well done.
4. ______ Manipulates others to gain compliance.
5. ______ Makes timely decisions to get things done.
6. ______ Stays abreast of job-related news.
7. ______ Exercises authority and power of position.
8. ______ Provides skill and advice to solve job problems.
9. ______ Maintains access to important facts and data.
10. ______ Keeps job knowledge current.
11. ______ Has high ideals and standards of conduct.
12. ______ Thinks clearly and explains things logically.
13. ______ Causes people to respect what he or she stands for.
14. ______ Creates a vision and strong sense of purpose.
15. ______ Gets the facts before making decisions.
16. ______ Motivates others and inspires them to action. Power use and misuse essay example
Scoring:
Power of the Position
1. Add the numbers assigned to statements 1 and 3. This is the reward power ________
2. Add the numbers assigned to statements 2 and 4. This is the coercive power ________
3. Add the numbers assigned to statements 5 and 7. This is the legitimate power ________
4. Add the numbers assigned to statements 6 and 9. This is the information power ________
Power of the Person
5. Add the numbers assigned to statements 8 and 10. This is the expert power ________
6. Add the numbers assigned to statements 11 and 13. This is the referent power ________
7. Add the numbers assigned to statements 12 and 15. This is the rational power ________
8. Add the numbers assigned to statements 14 and 16. This is the charisma power ________
Discussion:
The effective leader emphasizes the power of the person to accomplish goals. This involves maintaining knowledge and skill (expertise), having high moral character (referent power), demonstrating effective problem-solving ability (rational power), and motivating and inspiring people (charisma). The effective leader also uses the power of the position to reward efforts and accomplishments (rewards), make effective decisions (legitimacy), and keep people informed on important matters (information). The effective leader rarely if ever uses fear (coercion) as a form of power. Coercion involves threats, punishment, and negative rewards. It usually leads to negative feelings of resentment and counterproductive work behavior—complaints, rebellion, and reduced productivity.
Power
Exercise 8–1 What Type of Power Does Your Supervisor Use?
Indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements as they describe your immediate supervisor Power use and misuse essay example. If you are not currently employed, evaluate a supervisor you have had in the past. For each statement, select the most appropriate response, using the following scale: 1 = strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3 = neither agree nor disagree; 4 = agree; 5 = strongly agree.
My supervisor 1.
1. 4 Recognizes efforts and rewards accomplishments.
2. 2 Uses fear to control behavior.
3. 4 Shows appreciation for work well done.
4. 2 Manipulates others to gain compliance.
5. 3 Makes timely decisions to get things done.
6. 3 Stays abreast of job-related news.
7. 5 Exercises authority and power of position.
8. 4 Provides skill and advice to solve job problems.
9. 4 Maintains access to important facts and data.
10. 4 Keeps job knowledge current.
11. 4 Has high ideals and standards of conduct.
12. 4 Thinks clearly and explains things logically.
13. 4 Causes people to respect what he or she stands for.
14. 4 Creates a vision and strong sense of purpose.
15. 4 Gets the facts before making decisions.
16. 4 Motivates others and inspires them to action.
Scoring:
Power of the Position
1. Add the numbers assigned to statements 1 and 3. This is the reward power 8
2. Add the numbers assigned to statements 2 and 4. This is the coercive power 4
3. Add the numbers assigned to statements 5 and 7. This is the legitimate power 8
4. Add the numbers assigned to statements 6 and 9. This is the information power 7
Power use and misuse essay example
Power of the Person
5. Add the numbers assigned to statements 8 and 10. This is the expert power 8
6. Add the numbers assigned to statements 11 and 13. This is the referent power 8
7. Add the numbers assigned to statements 12 and 15. This is the rational power 8
8. Add the numbers assigned to statements 14 and 16. This is the charisma power 8
What kind of power does your supervisor commonly use, and what has been the outcome of their behavior…on the employees, on the company?
My supervisor appears to use more of power of the person rather than power of the position. That is because she scores more highly in the power of person scores when compared to the power of position scores Power use and misuse essay example. In fact, she is an effective leader who has much expertise to include knowledge and skills having scored 8 out of 10. Additionally, she has a high moral character with a score of 8 out of 10. Also, she makes good use of rational power with a good problem-solving capacity having scored 8 out of 10. Besides that, she is charismatic with the capacity for motivation and inspiration with a score of 8 out of 10.
With regards to use of the power of position, my supervisor appears be an effective leader. She scores 8 out of 10 in reward power, by rewarding her subordinates efforts and accomplishments. Also, she has legitimacy as a leader by scoring 8 out of 10 in making effective decisions. Additionally, she makes very little use of coercive power, scoring 4 out of 10 to show that she rarely uses fear, negative rewards, punishment and threats against her subordinates. Furthermore, she has a score of 7 out of 10 with regards to information power, showing that she jeeps people informed about important matters. Power use and misuse essay example. In essence, she is an effective leader as evidenced when she makes extensive use of power of the person although she could improve her performance in this regard by increasing the scores from 8 to 10. She could also improve her power of position by increasing her reward, legitimate and information power scores (getting them to 10) even as she reduces her coercive power score (getting it to 1).
As a person in a position of power, my supervisor has invested in the development of her leadership skills. As her subordinate, I feel that I am valued and directed to work more effectively in ensuring that the organization goals are met. Also, I feel that I am attracted to remain her subordinate and feel the desire to stay loyal to her. That is because she recognizes my input, focuses on the well-being and growth of me as a subordinate and the work environment even as she engenders as sense of belonging. Her functional attributes are individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, charisma, empowerment, appreciation of others, modeling, service, trust, integrity, honesty, and vision. This is contrasted to traditional leadership where the leader’s primary focus is on power of the position and less on power of the person in exercising the accumulated power to be at the top (Manning & Curtis, 2003; Marquis & Huston, 2014). In this respect, my supervisor is an effective leader Power use and misuse essay example.
References
Manning, G. & Curtis, K. (2003). The Art of Leadership. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Professional.
Marquis, B. & Huston, C. (2014). Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing: Theory and application (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins Power use and misuse essay example.