How Does Connection Power Influence Subordinate Behavior
Leadership influence on subordinate behavior is very important. In module 7 we identified that connection power is one of the positional powers. I feel like connection power is the most important from this lesson overall. By having connections in the military, you can help not only yourself and your subordinate, but also your leadership and squadron as well. While this concept should not be the primary way to operate, it does have its benefits. Using connection power alongside reward power you can give your subordinate something to look forward too. If they accomplish a task that is highly important to the squadron, you can bring their name up to the command team. This type of example will highlight their name for leaders to remember
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Your subordinate, leaders, and peers will not look to you for assistance with outside agencies or large taskers. If they know you won’t use your connections when necessary, this could ultimately cause the mission to fail. Connection power may also help your leaders and peers, by knowing someone in another organization. Perhaps your subordinate, peers or other members in the unit are having pay issues, you can reach out to someone you know that works for finance to resolve the issue quickly. By inappropriately using this type of power you can erode relationships and cause someone else to get in trouble. You will not want to over use your connection power and you may be looked upon later to “return the favor.” Connection power can also be used negatively. If your subordinate is not meeting the standards, they don’t improve, and you are asked by your leaders for feedback on that person, you can tell them they are not performing up to standards. This could affect how they “rack and stack” amongst their peers for awards or performance report ratings. This will let your leaders know that you are setting the standards and holding them accountable. If you are in a meeting with peers, they will see that you are serious and that you will not allow substandard behavior from your subordinates. Your peers will respect you for not just “submitting a name” for awards when it comes
Your subordinate, leaders, and peers will not look to you for assistance with outside agencies or large taskers. If they know you won’t use your connections when necessary, this could ultimately cause the mission to fail. Connection power may also help your leaders and peers, by knowing someone in another organization. Perhaps your subordinate, peers or other members in the unit are having pay issues, you can reach out to someone you know that works for finance to resolve the issue quickly. By inappropriately using this type of power you can erode relationships and cause someone else to get in trouble. You will not want to over use your connection power and you may be looked upon later to “return the favor.” Connection power can also be used negatively. If your subordinate is not meeting the standards, they don’t improve, and you are asked by your leaders for feedback on that person, you can tell them they are not performing up to standards. This could affect how they “rack and stack” amongst their peers for awards or performance report ratings. This will let your leaders know that you are setting the standards and holding them accountable. If you are in a meeting with peers, they will see that you are serious and that you will not allow substandard behavior from your subordinates. Your peers will respect you for not just “submitting a name” for awards when it comes