A.511.3.3.RB_TAYLORHEATHER

In my current position at The Echo Group as a Project Management Team Lead, I find myself wanting to develop skills to be a better leader.  While the theories of power and influence discuss the acquisition and loss of power, the impact of leadership , the methods of establishing effective power/influence tactics and an ability to understand impact on others in the organization, I still find myself wondering how to develop a better leader within.
I ask myself what my current sources of power are in my current position.  Expert power is utilized as I have the highest educational and occupational background in the behavioral health field as compared to my followers.  However, my followers have seniority in years within the company.  They are seasoned in experience as a software vendor.  They are willing to learn from me as they notice behaviors that I employ that are producing successful results.  This is building my legitimate power.  I ask myself what about the nature of the power utilized.  I look at my motives for gaining expert knowledge in the field.  Am I trying to outshine my peers?  Am I intrinsically wanting to understand more about the industry?  How will I motivate those on my team to want an equal or higher level of knowledge?  How can I promote that within each employee?
I contemplate whether the power source and nature of the power is utilized in daily interactions. How am I offering knowledge and skill acquisition opportunities to my followers?  How am I creating opportunities for them to develop professionally?  How am I investing in their future?
I reflect on the impact such power has on follower relationships.  The feedback I receive is positive, but I have to be mindful that a behavior between leader-members could be inauthentic praise of a leader for the purpose of advancement of the follower.
I then analyze the leader-member exchanges (LMX) that are occurring in the workplace.  While others state there are clear indicators of favoritism and decisions based on political standing, I feel the greatest amount of dysfunction is due to lack of objective data for analysis by executive leaders.  The current climate is in such flux that leaders have a difficulty removing the smoke and mirrors to assess clear indicators for success.  Therefore, all they are able to base their decisions on at the current time is limited and skewed data as well as personal evaluations of minimal observational data.  To combat this with my team, I set clear objective goals and assess the team's ability to meet the goal through clear objective measures.  Each individual receives personal authentic praise that is not broadcast across teams, but is recognized within the team to limit a perception of favoritism.  I am sure there are power and influence tactics that I need to further develop, but I hope the members that are present within the current leader-member exchanges know how important they are to me. Not as employees, not as followers, but as valued people.  I have a desire to help them reach their career goals and I know it is possible with the right leader.  It is my duty to become that leader and it is an honor to be in a position to do so.