Referent Power

Which type of power do you find most effective? Which type of power do you think you have? Do you use it? If so, in what situations? How could you improve your leadership and management skills now that you have a better understanding of the types of power and how they are applied? Remember, always add the 'whys' with the 'whats'.

Referent power seems to be the most influential and the least affected by change. Referent power is used when the employee sees the supervisor as having confidence, easily approachable and is unbiased in all contacts with others. Referent power comes from the employee's perception that the supervisor possesses positive personality characteristics which results in an effective supervisor-subordinate relationship. Two very important traits that falls under referent power are honesty and ethical behavior. Insolent supervisors, that practice referent power, can produce an environment to motivate workers to improve productivity.

In my experience with leadership and management I have worked with and attempted different methods of leadership. The leadership style that best suits my personality and has been proven to be the most effective is the referent style of leadership. With the referent leadership style I can use my dedication to my job and my employees to obtain the respect and admiration of my employees setting the standards of professionalism and job performance. When experimenting with the other leadership styles I found them to be a culmination of too cold and demanding by leading with an iron fist, too giving in terms of employees expecting rewards for their normal duties, ineffective in terms of a majority of the employees not willing to follow based on my job knowledge or the legitimacy of the position as a large number of the employees didn’t follow just because of the position the leader held.

I’ve found myself transforming from a leader that uses his or her leadership style when needed to incorporating my...