Adrienne DeGonia

UNIV 392
Scott Harris
15 June 2016
Power and Leadership: A Reflection on my First Freshman Orientation
After taking on my first group of freshman orientation students, I can say that I
have learned many valuable bits of knowledge ranging from the ins and outs of LOCUS
enrollment to how to wrangle eleven specific students out of a group of three hundred.
One of the most important lessons, though, pertains to the relationship between power
and leadership. Through a few key experiences with my student group during freshman
orientation, I discovered that in order to well maintain a successful leadership
relationship, one must maintain the personal bases of power as the underlying foundation
for the formal bases of power.
In my thus far short experience as an orientation leader, the some of formal bases
of power apply more than others to the duties corresponding to the title. For example,
although I do have coercive power over my students since I have the power to punish
them from any wrongdoings, I did not need to employ this power to any mentionable
degree. In addition, I did possess the reward basis of power since I could offer small
incentives to students for participating in activities and listening to presentations; a piece
of candy can hardly be considered a noteworthy means of control. However, legitimate
power seemed to be a stronger basis, as my students saw me as their formal superior and
therefore respected my position. With official Loyola golden nameplates and deep
knowledge of the campus, an orientation leader seems like some kind of official Loyola

guru to an inexperienced incoming student. This kind of power is recognized even before
the leader gives the followers any personal reasons to respect him or herfor example,
my students followed me and did as I requested even in the first fifteen minutes of my
group meeting me and getting lunch. Simply because I was in a position of authority, I
was respected.
While the legitimate basis of power was in effect from the start, I do not believe it
could have been upheld without the personal bases of power. Through answering
questions and spewing out ample Loyola knowledge, I showed my students that I
possessed a level of expertise in a subject that they did not. In addition, I gained their
trust as they got to know me. I treated them more like adults than they were used to in
their high schools by allowing them a little more freedom and ensuring they were aware
of their newfound responsibilities involved with coming to campus, and thus gained the
referent basis of power. As my students got to know me throughout the day, and as I
displayed my expert and referent bases of power, they began to understand why I was
given the legitimate basis of power to begin with. In a way, the two personal bases of
power provided proof that I deserved the legitimate position I held.
Thus, based on my experiences throughout my first freshman orientation, I
believe that personal bases of power can sometimes serve to back up the formal ones by
providing validity to the formal position held. I look forward to seeing if this belief holds
true throughout the rest of the orientations I lead throughout the summer.