Leading

From your own experience, identify a time that you assumed a ” leading” role but you were not in a formal leadership position. In my previous Job as Business Developer, we were recruiting a huge amount of expats entering the country on newly issued business visa with different validities and timeframes. Our office manager was officially in charge in obtaining necessary visa documents for everyone and keeping track on the necessary extensions as well as on the work permit rocedure after the visa was granted and the expat arrived in our local office.

During my time the person in the position of the office manager changed twice which led to some delay for several expats and the necessity of training and instructing the new office manager. Being an expat who did not relocate for the sole purpose of this company but already having relocated years before, I was aware of the process itself and often gave help to the office manager In case he/she needed additional help or instructions.

During the transition period of the two office managers it came to a roblem that one of the expats overstayed his visa and would have legally lost his permission to stay and work In the country. The new Office Manager had overseen a list with expiration dates. Usually not only the expat himself, but also the employer (as organization) and the Director in charge is fined with large sums. To avoid any of these. there Is a period of one week after the expiration of a visa to ” solve the Issue” or ” exit the country.

On the very last day it was noticed by the office manager at a time nothing could have been done. My suggestion to her was to use a visa agency I knew (Source of Power ” Expertise”, as mentioned by Brooks, 2009, p. 39) but known for their unorthodox methods with additional payments to officials. The office manager refused but I convinced her that this would be the most time and cost efficient solution. 2) What power bases, if any. did you rely on to Influence others?

From a sense-making perspective, what power bases could you have used to enhance your influence? How might you approach a situation like this one in the future? There were two power bases (Brookes, 2009. p. 239) I relied on to help the office manager solve the problem. The first one was persuasion, by explaining the office manager that the given budget would not allow to make the expat leave the country, apply for a new visa, and re-enter again – all related travel, visa and accommodation costs would have to be covered by the company.

Also, the lost time for the expat (2 days travelling, 3 days application process), would bring the company further delays in the assigned tasks of the expat. The second power base was probably charisma. Compared to the other expats I often engaged with the locals to my previous experience in the country, explained myself of being here, and used necessary charm and politeness to get along with the staff. It turned out that I often was called the ” farang” (Westerner in Thai, negative connotation) who at least understood the locals.

Both helped In convincing the Office Manager to choose my suggested visa agency. It helped to keep within her assigned budget, made It possible to solve the Issue during he weekend, and also assured her to have no negative remarks in her performance and probation evaluation. From a sense-making perspective I could have probably used further physical presence or threat. Still, on the sense-making aspect, it would have probably scared the Office Manager and not made any better outcome for the problem itself.

Involving further stakeholders (the Expat himself, or the Director), would most likely Just have scared as well the expat and influenced his performance, as he was already ” illegally working” for half a day. Bringing in the Director, would probably have been the only other suitable possibility. Being an Expat himself and less familiar with these kinds of procedures, it made me chose otherwise. For future similar situations I would like to try to avoid them in general with regular reminders to new members of the organization.

This on one hand would include the Expats themselves (set a reminder to check their expiry date), as well as the Office Manager about her outstanding tasks. Lastly, the handover process in case someone would eave should be more efficient or clear so no information would get lost again. The base of power with ” Rules and Procedures” (Brooks, 2009), by regularly reminding about it, would probably also be helpful. Still, the first and last point should not be excessively, but rather wisely used, otherwise I might lose the charisma and get a pedants image. This would most certainly not influence the general environment in a positive way.