"Power" of Hard Work

Awhile back at the store where I am now a manager, I picked up a day shift for a coworker who needed the day off.  I was already scheduled to work that night so I worked a split shift that day.  We had an order coming in that day.  The main task was to get this order taken care of, and in my mind the only way to do that was to go as hard as I could it get it done as quickly as possible.  That day we got the order taken care of in an hour less time than normal, and because of that I was sent home an hour before my shift was scheduled to end.  Working hard cost me an hours’ pay that day but it paid me back in dividends many times over shortly thereafter.  It was not long after this that I was promoted to a manager position.   This goes to show that hard work eventually is noticed and if not by the organization you currently work for then the next organization you work for. 

Hard work does not end at this point though, and this is a mistake that many managers make, especially young ones.  By going from being a hard working contributor to a little contributing manager, the new boss loses almost all of his or her power.  A new manager must leverage their personal power more than their legitimate or positional power to truly be effective.  This requires hard work on the part of the manager to both use and increase their personal power.  This is especially true for a young manager, as some employees will have more seniority than you and some will have more expert power than you, but there is no reason for anyone to work harder than you as a manager. 

Stay tuned, I will have more about the power in the workplace and how a coach or leader can use these and which powers are best to use.