Contrary to what most people think, power does not come from a title or a position. While holding a higher position may offer some advantages, mere titles alone do not foster respect. Instead, power comes from influence, impact and confidence. Rick Miller, a writer at Forbes, delves further into these concepts in his article, “What Is Power, Really?”.
As I read the article, I thought of how power affects dynamics within the various clubs I am involved in. My robotics team, FRC Skywalkers, is a big one that comes to mind. Since there are so many different tasks we must complete in such a short amount of time, we separate responsibilities into different branches like marketing, business, outreach, software, mechanical, manufacturing and robot design. Each one of these branches has 4-6 members including a captain. And of course, the whole team has a team captain and two vice captains. It may seem like overkill to have so many different titles, but it helps us organize ourselves and complete our build season successfully.
Throughout our team’s history, we have had two team captains. Each captain dealt with the role in a specific manner, however, both captains were well-respected
and trusted not because of their title but because of their influence, impact, and confidence.
First, their influence is clear because members can trust the decisions they make. For example, when making intense decisions about our robot design, the captains’ words are held at a great value because other members trust that they have enough experience and knowledge to make such decisions.
Next, both captains have done something to greatly impact the team that has earned the trust of all the team members. Our first captain worked hard to create the team and our second captain led the build of an entirely new subsystem last year when we thought all hope was lost.
Lastly, confidence is extremely important. It is important, however, to understand the difference between confidence and ego. Both captains are confident in their decisions and are ready to take responsibility for the choices they make but at the same time, they have enough humility to admit when they are not sure of something so that others can help.
This year as the vice captain, I hope to learn these leadership traits from the other captains on the team and support the team the best I can. With the guidance of past captains, I was able to learn the dynamics of power and influence in our team and I am confident that together we will be able to navigate any challenges this season holds!
I liked how you not only made your blog post relevant to you, as you will have to become a leader yourself next year on your robotics team, but also extremely informative. I appreciated learning about the various traits of a good leader and the information you discussed in your blog was directly taken from a credible source. Although the traits you mentioned, consisting of having influence, an impact, and confidence, are universally relevant to all leaders, there is no one type of successful leader. Steve Jobs, for example, was, in some ways, a micromanager. He would make sure that his engineers and designers performed exactly what he wanted in the way he wanted. Jobs would ensure that the circuit boards of the computers sold looked perfect, even though customers would not be able to see them. This would cause unnecessary expenses and make people hate him, but at the end of the day, he was able to create Apple, the most successful technology company in the world more than a decade after his death. Therefore, I think it is not necessary to follow a template for being an effective leader or research anything for that matter; we all have a natural ability to lead others inside of us, and we should just let that unravel. As long as we follow that, we will be successful. I wish you and your robotics team all the best next year!
ReplyDeleteI am happy to see that you have been positively influenced by the “past captains” whom you had mentioned in your blog! I completely agree that power does not come from a title but is the impact that the leader creates in society. The more effort a person puts into a certain thing the more power they gain over time. I found that the article linked written by Rick Miller adds to the credibility and efficiency to the blog so I appreciate the inclusion of it. The level of detail incorporated is helpful for the audience to understand your point of view in a more direct manner. The repetition of the phrase “influence, impact, and confidence” is also effective in ensuring that the readers understand the true values required to be a good leader. I like your choice in writing three separate paragraphs expressing why you believe that the two team captains depict “influence, impact, and confidence” because it shows the audience how much they inspire you and why they are influential leaders! It also adds depth to your blog. Thank you for the intriguing and connective blog and I hope you continue to prosper as a great leader in your robotics team!
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