UNIV 392 Paper 1

Eliza Marley
6/10/16
I dont usually reflect on power, one of my goals for this class is to learn how
to reflect more effectively without being overly critical of myself. I used to chalk
power up to something people used to appear superior to others. I like to say that I
lead from the middle; this means that I am never the face of leadership but I work
with people on their own level and try to be a follower as much as I am a leader.
This has its ups, its downs, and its roots in the five bases of power we learned
about. Not taking responsibility for power is just as dangerous as knowing you have
a vast amount of power. Growing up I was always weary that those with power
would treat me badly; I want to give the students here this summer a different
experience. Rewards and punishments for work done reminds me of high school.
Good work gets you an A and bad work gets you an F, calls home, etc. This is a
good method for achieving an agenda but I feel like it lacks awareness of the
process that goes on when people do things. Reward/punishment makes a binary,
where its assumed you wont do the work unless theres some incentive hanging
over you. Humans are deeper than that I feel and not all our internal motivations for
doing work can be accurately captured by that binary system.
I think this is where referent power comes in, people will complete tasks if
they feel connected. If people like you, respect you or feel like they can trust you,
then completing tasks is done with ease. My mom hates her job sometimes but she
loves the people she works with and her boss so she stays and does a god job. She
becomes disappointed in herself if she feels like she couldve done something better
because she doesnt want to let don her team. Charisma itself is a powerful tool.

Expert power and legitimate power go hand in hand the way I see it, but can draw
on the other three bases as well Ill get to that. I feel like if you have a legit position
of power, its usually assumed you have expert power. Take a teacher for example,
any math teacher Ive ever had could teach me nonsense and Id never know
because I assume since theyre the teacher, a recognized position, they must have
the knowledge necessary for that position. Most times in my life Ive been on the
follower side of power but now I have a legitimate position. Im hoping to use
referent power and have the students feel comfortable around me, banking on
mutual respect. Im going to have a hard time I think, learning how to actually be a
face of authority. But Im confident I can learn how to balance legitimate power and
referent power with time and practice. I want to be a responsible leader and inspire
the students to want to be leaders as well.

My Goals
1. Learn more about Ignation practices and traditions. Im interested in
learning more about the history of my school and the Jesuit traditions.
2. Build meaningful relationships with the students I work with. I want to
measure this based on reflection of my interactions and see how
comfortable the students feel opening up to me.
3. Gain confidence and skill in resolving conflict. I want to measure this one
off of how comfortable I feel talking to students about policies and how
much practice I get actually dealing with conflict.