Emily Blair

UNIV 392

June 14, 2017

 When initially pondering the word power in terms of leadership, images of dominance

and suppression surface (at least for myself, that is). Synonymous to power are words such as

dominion, supremacy, and control, which are words that suggest the individual who yields power

is motivated by self-interest. Yet the idea of power in leadership extends beyond this

authoritative definition, with words such as potential, capability, and competence also falling

within the scope of the word as well. A useful way of understanding power is by analyzing the

varying ways in which individuals can obtain and hold power. The manners in which an

individual can demonstrate power within leadership include legitimate, reward, coercive,

referent, and expert (Northouse, 8).

The areas listed immediately above are all ways in which an individual can take on a

position of power. Although each type of power is slightly obvious based on the name,

categorizing the types is useful in understanding each, with the categories being position and

personal (Northouse, 8). Positional power includes legitimate, reward, and coercive. Positional

power is the manner in which I think most of us view power, in that it consists of a title or

hierarchy of sorts that gives an individual authority. Personal power includes the categories of

referent and expert. Personal power is the idea that an individual is respected based off his/her

treatment of others and understanding of a particular topic.

I would like to take a moment to discuss the areas in which I have seen the most effective

leaders in my life. Based on my experience, great leaders, at their core, hold the qualities of

personal power. That is, they are respected and appreciated by those around them (referent

power), and they are knowledgeable in the area that they lead in (expert power). I want to start

explaining why I believe this by introducing a teacher I had my senior year of high school. He

obviously held areas of positional power, in that he was our instructor (legitimate power), he was
in charge of our grades (reward power), and he could send us to the principles office (coercive

power). And yet, he failed to hold any aspects of personal power. He was not very

knowledgeable in the realm of Calculus (the class in which he taught), as he constantly messed

up problems he demonstrated, and he was rude and condescending. To say the least, I did not

meet anyone during my time in high school who appreciated him as an instructor or as a leader.

In the fall semester of 2016, I had the opportunity to be a Peer Advisor and work

alongside an Academic Advisor in UNIV 101. The academic advisor I worked with undoubtedly

held both referent and expert power within her position, in that she approached her students with

patience and kindness and was certainly aware of how to help first-year students in their

transition. Of course, she also held areas of positional power as well, in that she had a position

of authority on campus and had the ability to pass or fail her students. The difference between

the academic advisor and my high school teacher was that the academic advisor was an excellent

instructor and leader for her students and for myself as well. During my personal time with

students, they would only ever say kind things about her and how much they appreciated having

her as an instructor (and trust me, they let me know the instructors they did not appreciate). I

believe this was due to the fact that the academic advisor exercised her areas of expert and

referent power most prominently within her position. And although both my high school calculus

teacher and the academic advisor held positional power, I believe it was the areas of personal

power that made my academic advisor a successful leader and my high school teacher fall short.

In sum, I think being a successful leader is analogous to having both expert and referent

power. Without knowledge and without respect, leadership is not an option. Based off of the

experiences I have had in my life, I have learned that people most value those they can trust and

appreciate.