Role of Power & Influence within Leadership Health, Medicine, Essay

Provide a 250-500 word summary that further explains the role of power and influence within leadership. Which traits do you believe will inspire others? What qualities do you believe will foster effective leadership? Provide at two to five references, which may include the textbook- Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory & practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.



Here's a sample essay-Leadership is an important concept and is valuable within an organization. “Leaders lead an organization with a purpose, values, and integrity” (Zuned, 2017, p. 10). Some individuals are believed to be born, natural leaders and others are taught. Regardless, there are five main traits believed to separate leaders from followers. Leaders possess “intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability” (Northouse, 2016, p. 23). There are many other traits leaders may possess. Leaders can either be assigned due to their position they hold or emergent by their actions and traits. Leadership can be complex to understand and doesn’t have just one definition. Many are interested in studying leadership to better understand the topic and how leaders influence others. “Leaders have a unique opportunity to shape an ethical climate because they have access to power” (Randall, 2012, p. 29). They are looked upon because of various traits they possess and thus can influence others. There are two types of power; position and personal power. Position power is obtained from an individual holding a certain title or position within an organization such as a director. This relates to assigned leadership. Individuals need something from this person, are offered rewards, threatened with repercussions, or have no choice but to follow due to policies. Personal power is like the concept of leadership in the aspect that individuals perceive this person to be well educated, thus influenced by them. This leader may just simply be well liked by colleagues. This unknowingly allows individuals to give power to someone which is how leadership and power work together (Northouse, 2016). This relates to emergent leadership. Personal power is thought to be the power with greater influence among peers (Randall, 2012). This is due to followers gravitating towards the leader because of their own perception about the leader.

As mentioned, leadership is a complex topic with many factors defining what a leader is. Some of those factors are characteristics and others are influential factors such as power. Power has many similar traits as leadership. Having leadership means one has power. Understanding their similarities is important. Leadership is vital to organizations, especially in health care and with the affect leaders have on colleagues it is important to understand.