Sources of Power

After reading section 2.8 I learned about where power can be derived from. I currently have an internship at Volvo CE. This, like many other jobs, has a strong use of structural power. In my internship I have a large deal of duties in which I am responsible for. However, at the end of the day I am still only an intern. When it comes to the structure within the organization I am towards the bottom of the list. I am not considered an employee so I do not get to receive employee benefits or have a say in work place decisions. This does not mean that what I do is not important, it simply means that I do not have the conventional form of power within the structure. I could not simply walk up to a blue collar full time worker and tell him or her what to do. Even though in some instances I may have a higher education than most of these workers, and do more internal business work I do not have the power to tell them what to do. At the same time, I can not tell a fellow intern what to do either. In regards to the environment of my department we are all on the same playing field. Regardless the amount of time that an intern has been in the position they do not have a higher rank or title above a less experienced intern. The book mentioned that is that in order to possess power one must simply be in the right place, by being in a position of authority, in a place to broker amount various subunits all regardless of an individuals characteristics. While sometimes I like to think that I have power at my internship, according to these facts I do not appear to have much power.
I have had power in previous jobs however. Before I worked at Volvo I worked at Texas Roadhouse where I had a great deal of power. This fit more into situational and and personal traits. I thrived in this environment because the more skills that someone had, the more power they were granted. I never became a manager at this position due to my school schedules but I was able to dictate decisions about when and what position i worked. I was able to this by my personality and built a strong relationship with the owner of the business. This allowed me to position myself within a position of power. It has been very interesting to experience both of these types of power.