Managers Part V - Expert Power

We have looked at several sources of influence that a manager has over subordinates: Legitimate Power - the power that comes from a title or job description; Reward Power - that which comes from bestowing promotions, raises, coveted schedules etc; and Coercive Power - the ability to influence by inflicting or withholding punishment. Next we will be looking at Expert Power - the ability to influence others through special knowledge or skills.

Management is a skill in and off itself that does not necessarily derive from the ability to do the job that your subordinates are doing. For example, a manager in a manufacturing plant may have assembly line workers, janitorial staff, accountants, and salesmen on the payroll. It isn't reasonable to expect that the plant manager knows how to do all  of those jobs. However, most people tend to listen to managers who have demonstrated a proficiency in a particular area and trust their judgment in that area. For example, in my current job my immediate supervisor has 30 years of experience and has expertise in multiple areas of the department. She knows the rules, regulations and laws that apply to all aspects of the job, and as such, commands a lot of respect due to her extensive knowledge. The influence that can be wielded by being an "expert" manager is going to vary from industry to industry and from position to position within an industry, but being an expert will only be an effective source of management power if coupled with other skills (to be discussed later).

Ones status as a nonmanagerial expert can sometimes lead to problems. As I stated earlier, management is a skill in and of itself, somewhat separate from any industry in which it functions. Oftentimes, an expert's skills in their area of expertise leads to a promotion to the ranks of management where they find that they are completely unprepared, never having earned the craft of managing, having concentrated on the skills that were being managed.