Most Influential Leader

The question that I selected is “Who is the most influential leader you have come in contact with personally? What forms of power did they have, and which types of influence did they use to accomplish objectives?” Throughout my life there are many people that have influenced me and made me become the person I am today. The main person that has been the most influential leader that I have come in contact with is my General Manager at my job in high school, Bob Ihasz. In high school, I worked at a family owned grocery store names Heinen’s. Heinen’s has approximately twenty-two locations in the Cleveland and Chicago area. The types of power that my General Manager, Bob, possessed were Coercive, Reward, Legitimate, Expert and Referent power. The

Having him helped grow myself as a leader and made me come out of my comfort zone. He has influenced me in pursuing my degree in Operations Management. Leading up to college I never knew what I wanted my life to look like after college career wise. But there was one thing that Bob said to me my senior year that impacted me and made me realize what I wanted to do. He said, “If you were my boss when I retire I would be happy to retire. I would know that I would leave this place in great hands.” This impacted me because it made me realize I would be a good manager and this is when I realized I wanted to pursue a degree in Operations Management. A type of power that I believe my manager exemplified was Referent Power. Referent power comes from being trusted and respected. Bob was a very well trusted and respected figure of authority at Heinen’s. Him being trusted and respected him saying, “If you were my boss when I retire I would be happy to retire. I would know that I would leave this place in great hands” meant the world to me and really inspired me to be the person who I am

Looking forward I want to be manager that is well respected and doesn’t micro manage my employees. As looking at all the mangers that I have had I like working for a manger that gives you more freedom and lets you get you work done without looking over your shoulder. This is who I want to be. As it related to power, I don’t want my employees to think I am better than them. I want them to believe they have just as much say as me. I still want them to know that I have ;legitimate power but I also want them to know they still have a say. I want to focus heavily on reward power because it shows that I recognize the work that they are doing. I’ve had bosses who didn’t recognize when I was doing a great job and it becomes frustrating and you end up wanting to leave the company. I don’t want to be this type of manager I was to know how my employees are feeling. Another area of personal power I want to have as a manger is referent power because I want to be trusted and respected. A trusted and respected manager gets more out of their employees. Relating to influencing employees I have noticed throughout my experiences that collaboration is the most effective when trying to influence an employee. Employees like to include in decisions and may have ideas to better the company.