From Most Effective to Least Effective My Ranking Is: Expert, Legitimate, Referent, and Reward

From most effective to least effective my ranking is: expert, legitimate, referent, and reward.

I would say expert power is the most effective form of power amongst peers the same age as me. I believe this because it is not easy to develop skills and knowledge to become an expert. Once someone my age realizes that I am capable of doing a particular skill very well and they are not, I will have a certain advantage over them. The amount of time you have to invest in something to gain expert power is what makes it the most effect and stable form of power.

The least effective form of power in my opinion would be reward power. Reward power is established through rewarding someone for achieving something. I believe it is the least effective because everyone views rewards differently. What one person believes is a reward, another may not. Additionally, a promise of a reward does not always motivate everyone. On the other hand, individuals may not give their full effort if they do not believe they will receive a reward for it.

My ranking reveals that the use of power needs to be more towards expert power. Expert power is the most respected power in my opinion because people will accept that you are an expert at something. In the other forms of power, I believe acceptance does not come as easily. Legitimate power comes from someone  having a higher position than another. While they do have the higher position, compliance may not come as easily based on the subordinate’s attitude towards their superior. Referent power comes from someone having respect or charisma. I believe this is also least effective in today’s society because someone can easily lose respect for another person. Additionally, I believe that charisma is subjective, therefore reverent power will not be effective across different types of people all the time.