Power Imbalance Assignment
Power and authority issues can affect workplace relationships and task groups. Reflect on past experiences with power imbalances, and how you might want to change future interactions and responses.
Think of a situation or circumstance in which you felt a strong power imbalance between yourself and another person, in which the other person had authority over some aspect of your life. Describe the power imbalance; for example, this person may have had authority over some aspect of your life, which gave him or her some control over your happiness and life satisfaction, as well as over the achievement of your personal goals and desires.
Explain how the person used the authority and power to assist you or provide you with something, or how they used it to prevent you from achieving something you wanted. Write about the "objective event" but also about the feelings you had at that time about the person, circumstances, and yourself.
How will you use this past experience to guide your interactions in the workplace if you are in a position of less power?
What things would you do if you are in a supervisory role, leader of a task group, etc. to ensure group cohesion, positive relationships, and productivity?
Your paper should be 1-2 pages double-spaced.