We’ve discussed how easy it is for the supervisor/supervisee relationship to be consciously or sub-consciously ambushed by power play. Even if the supervisor isn’t intentionally wielding that power, there can still be a little voice in the supervisee’s head saying that “he/she is more senior than me, therefore has the power to make or break my career, so I cannot rock the boat.” That little voice puts us in victim mode, treating our boss like our persecutor or our rescuer.
Both parties can work differently, in order to create more of a partnership. We’ll focus on what the supervisor can do today, and then we’ll come back to the supervisee.
| The power play | What the research says | The antidote |
| They won’t let me | Yes, you are caught in the middle here. Barry Oshry even has a name for you – The Middles. In his research, he found that the middles are torn between the needs of the Tops and the Bottoms (no offence). It’s a fact. We’re all in that boat together. It’s time to claim that Middle-dom, realising that you are now management and you do have that “power”, but using it for the good of your people. |
|
| I’m one of you | ||
| Remember who’s boss | Burnham Rosen’s research shows that being directive gets you a long way in the short-term, but nowhere near as far in the long-run as taking a more collaborative approach. |
|
| I know you cannot do without me | And you cannot achieve High Performance Delivered without them!! |
|
Ultimately, this is ALL about Courageous Conversations, and that means you need to be attentive, supportive, authentic. Got that?
Here’s the whole series to date:
