According to Wenger authority is often negotiated by a community of practice and that community can also withdraw your authority by members of the community. You can keep your authority by using appropriate expressions of authority.
Alan who is a computer support specialist decided he had more authority at his job than was actually given to him. Alan viewed himself so highly that he considered himself lower then the department chair. He thought so highly because of the experience he had before compared to his coworkers. But he was originally just hired to help the staff with support when there was technology issues. Many of the workers thought Alan was full of himself. This turned out to be bad for Alan because he didn’t perform his tasks how his community wanted and when they wanted them done by. This showed us that authority in a workplace is not just given but is earned and involves the community you are in.
There are many people like Alan in this world who start off as ordinary workers and then move up a position with more authority. These workers tend to take advantage of this authority and try to act like Alan where they feel they are better then the other workers.For example when I was working at my previous job a worker who moved up position thought she had way too much authority and would act like the big boss. She would constantly take us to the office to speak to us about our work ethics and about talking to team members. This created a space where the workers would say “she id acting like the big boss now” By doing this it creates a space where the community feels separated and fails to create relationships.
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