Manager Power

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Manager Power

Introduction

Every person has been blessed with some sort of natural talent or capabilities that he or she uses in order to get work done. It is a power that resides within the consciousness of a person, whether he or she is born with it, or develops it throughout his or her life. This power may be physical strength or mental calibre. It is a power that resides inside an individual; despite their social status or position in any place or organization. People usually exercise this power through the use of rational persuasion. Such a person with great inside powers gains a lot of credit and dedication from his or her followers, instead of a person who just has a position.

When people exercise this power at some organization or company, it is called managerial power. Different managers exercise their powers in different ways; some managers just remain managers while others become exceptional leaders. There lies a huge difference between informal leaders and formal leaders ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"um6XpatA","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}Fair Pay or Power Play? Pay Equity, Managerial Power, and Compensation Adjustments for CEOs - Taekjin Shin, 2016})","plainCitation":"(Fair Pay or Power Play? Pay Equity, Managerial Power, and Compensation Adjustments for CEOs - Taekjin Shin, 2016)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":49,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/Lwfag79W/items/J69TNVSX"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/Lwfag79W/items/J69TNVSX"],"itemData":{"id":49,"type":"webpage","title":"Fair Pay or Power Play? Pay Equity, Managerial Power, and Compensation Adjustments for CEOs - Taekjin Shin, 2016","URL":"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0149206313478186","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2020",2,1]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Fair Pay or Power Play? Pay Equity, Managerial Power, and Compensation Adjustments for CEOs - Taekjin Shin, 2016). Majorly, this difference is due to the position, personal power and the way that power is exercised. Personally, I also like such people who know where and how to use their power so that it can prove to be beneficial for themselves as well as others.

I have working with a number of people in my career. All these people had different personality types and thus, they used the powers and authorities delegated upon them in a different manner. However, the nicest of managers or bosses, that inspired me the most was Mr. Tim. Mr. Tim was my senior-most boss at my second job. He was an elderly man in his 50s with salt and pepper hair and with an experience of more than 30 years.

Discussion

Main Sources of The Manager’s Individual Power

Power can be used in a number of ways in an organization, however, there is always a risk that the person holding the managerial power, may misuse it. Hence, it is extremely important for the managers to understand their responsibilities and the limitations to exercise their power. But I never saw Mr. Tim misusing any of his powers or the authorities given to him. Mr. Tim used to say that power is the thing that makes the world go round and in the case of organizations, it runs it. It enhances the careers of a person and lets them create new opportunities for further growth.

There are a number of types of managerial powers; same is the case with their sources (Smil). One of the major types of managerial power is coercive power, which is gained or conveyed by fear; the fear of losing one’s job. Another type of managerial is Legitimate Power, which automatically comes with a person when a powerful position is offered to them. Another type of managerial power is Expert Power. The source of expert power is a person’s, more appropriately a manager’s experience, skills, capabilities and knowledge of a particular field. Another type of managerial power is referent power, which comes from trust, respect and dignity.

The type of managerial power that Mr. Tim used to exercise was the expert power and referent power. He gained his power and confidence from his knowledge and experience, that he accumulated from working in different industries, for a very long time. Moreover, he got his power and mental relaxation from the respect that his followers showered him with and the immense trust, they and his subordinates had on him.

My Own Reaction to The Way My Manager Exercises Power

As explained earlier, Mr. Tim was a very graceful man. He had a lot of experience and knowledge about his field. He never ever tried to use his legitimate or coercive power, although he could easily use it. He never tried to instigate fear in people, nor did he ever threaten to fire them. I have never seen a man more humble than Mr. Tim, although he was holding a very high position in the company. He used to inspire people through his ocean of knowledge and experience. Everyone who met him, instantly became his fan. He was such a soft-spoken person that anyone would start liking him the moment they would meet him. Along with the managerial personality, he had a fatherly and affectionate persona. He dealt with every person with great affection and provided the best possible help or advice he could give. Owing to all such characteristics, the only feeling that you could get have for such a person is respect and dignity. This is what I also felt towards him; I trusted him in many of my matters and respected him a lot just like my Godfather.

Conclusion

Hence, I could say that it is not the position that makes a person popular among the general public, especially their followers but their overall characteristics, especially their personal power. Personal power may include intelligence, diligence, physical strength and the power to inspire. I have personally worked for many managers and have a vast experience of working with different types of personalities. However, the best experience of work that I got was from Mr. Tim. He was always used to exercise his expert referent power and was hugely respected by all. He was an ideal leader. I aspire to become a manager like Mr. Tim one day as I find it the ideal method of doing so.

Works Cited:

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Fair Pay or Power Play? Pay Equity, Managerial Power, and Compensation Adjustments for CEOs - Taekjin Shin, 2016. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0149206313478186. Accessed 1 Feb. 2020.

Smil, Vaclav. Power density: a key to understanding energy sources and uses. MIT Press, 2015.