The document contains two student responses to a class discussion prompt about leadership styles. The first response analyzes the leader of a preschool using concepts of personal power, transformational leadership, and influential power tactics from course readings. The student argues the preschool director exhibits expert and referent power as a transformational leader. The second response compares leadership and management, discusses transformational and charismatic leadership styles, and emphasizes the importance of communicating vision and leading by example while pursuing others' interests above your own. Both responses cite course materials and scripture to support their analysis.

1. CAN YOU DO THIS FOR ME
Replies:
Provide 2 thoughtful replies to the threads of classmates. Each
reply must include an analysis of your classmates’ threads,
based on any experience from your own professional career (if
applicable) that might be relevant. All replies must be 200–250
words. Also, be sure to integrate the required reading in a
logical and relevant manner.
You must cite:
The textbook or at least 1 peer-reviewed journal article;
1 passage of Scripture; and
The audio lesson presentation.
Submit your replies by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday.
1ST REPLY
Sarah Carter

2. Power, as defined by Kinicki & Fugate is the “discretion and
the means to enforce your will over others” (p. 465). When
looking at power there are a few different bases of power
including: legitimate power, reward power, coercive power,
expert power, and referent power (Kinicki & Fugate, 2018, p.
465). When looking at my personal workplace and my current
leadership structure, I believe that my current supervisor
exhibits expert power and referent power. Expert power is
knowledge, skill, or information that comes from past
experience or employment. (Kinicki & Fugate, 2018, p. 466). I
currently work in a preschool, and my supervisor has worked in
a preschool setting for over twelve years, and has served as the
director of our preschool for the past five years. My supervisor
has also gotten her Bachelor’s in Elementary Education, as well
as her Master’s in Early Childhood Education. The combination
of her work experience and her educational background give
her expert power in her positon. Referent power is power that
is based off of personal characteristics and social relationships,
which elicit compliance (Kinicki & Fugate, 2018, p.466). My
current supervisor is very charismatic and possesses a high
reputation in the community. She clearly cares about the
relationships with parents, teachers, and the students, which
draws people to her. Both expert power and referent power are
forms of personal power. Personal power has been found to be
positively correlated with persuasiveness and relationship-
based strategies (Melody, Fu, & Yu, 2013).
Some of the different influential power tactics that my
supervisor uses are inspirational appeals and rational
persuasion. My supervisor is a very inspiring and enthusiastic
person, her passion for children and early education manifests
itself often when trying to get us onboard for her visions and
goals for our preschool. My supervisor also has lots of logical
and factual information that she does research on when
proposing ideas to us. (Kinicki & Fugate, 2018, p. 477). One
tactic that I am thankful that she does not use is the tactic of

3. pressure. Dr. Fischer in his presentation says that “leaders can
certainly use pressure to motivate employees, but that can lead
to a culture of fear rather than one of mutual respect” (Fischer,
2009). Our preschool is one where there is trust, open
communication, and a desire to help one another succeed.
Kinicki & Fugate say that transformational leaders are those
who, “transform their followers to pursue organizational goals
over self-interests” (p. 527). I truly believe that my preschool
director is a transformational leader. Transformational
leadership plays a significant role in enhancing employee
performance, creating a culture of trust, and building
commitment (Sand, Goh, Muhammad Badrull, & Owee, 2016). I
believe that because my supervisor has personal power and
knows how to appeal to the employee’s values, motives, and
personal identity; she possesses the traits of a transformational
leader.
Ephesians 3:20-21 says, “Now to him who is able to do far
more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the
power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and
in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
Amen” (English Standard Version). When thinking about the
concept of power, it is important for us to recognize that it is
Christ’s power that works within us. We can exhibit the most
God-glorifying power when we rely on the Holy Spirit in our
leadership and in our everyday work environments. We must be
careful not to idolize the type of power that the world craves,
instead we must seek the power that comes from God and cling
to Him.
References
Fischer, K. (2009).
Power, conflict, and negotiation
[PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from

4. https://learn.liberty.edu/bbcswebdav/courses/BMAL500_C01_2
01840/Presentations/Module%206/Reading%20%26%20Study/L
esson%207/7-Power_Conflict_Negotiation/index.html
Kinicki, A. & Fugate, M. (2018).
Organizational behavior: A practical, problem-solving
approach.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education
Melody C. P. M., Fu, P. P., & Yu, S. F. (2013). Relational
power and influence strategies: A step further in understanding
power dynamics.
Chinese Management Studies, 7
(1), 53-73.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1108/175061413113
07596
Sang, C. L., Goh, C. F., Muhammad, A. B. H., & Owee, T. K.
(2016). Transformational leadership, empowerment, and job
satisfaction: The mediating role of employee empowerment.
Human Resources for Health, 14
(73), 1-14.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1186/s12960-016-
0171-2
2ND REPLY
Gerelys Almonte
Leadership is the ability to influence employees to voluntarily
pursue organizational goals (Kinicki & Fugate, 2018). Strong
leadership is required to have a successful organization. There
are various types of leadership styles and knowing which the

5. best fit for your team is crucial. Adapting to a leadership style
and aligning it with an organization's visions and values leads
to the success of a team and an organization.
Leadership vs Management
Leadership and management are two concepts that are often
confused and compared. A manager has the responsibility of
carrying out the four management functions which include
planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Even though
managers have a big responsibility in an organization, not all
managers are leaders. For a manager to be a leader, they need to
carry out the leadership responsibilities of management, which
include communication, motivation, providing inspiration and
guidance, and encouraging employees to rise to a higher level
of productivity. Some managers have poor leadership qualities,
and employees end up following orders because they feel
obliged to instead of feeling inspired or motivated to do so.
The primary difference between management and leadership is
that leaders don’t necessarily hold or occupy a management
position. A leader doesn’t have to be an authority figure in an
organization. Leaders are followed because of their personality,
behavior, and beliefs because they demonstrate a high level of
passion for work.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership is a leadership style that can
inspire positive changes in those who follow. Transformational
leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate.
Not only are these leaders concerned and involved in the
process; they are also focused on helping every member of the
group succeed as well. Their vision and personality inspire
others to work towards a common goal. The way that
organizational leaders behave, and in particular the way that
leaders interact and deal with their direct reports, has been

6. consistently shown to be a robust predictor of employees’
psychological and physical well-being (Donohoe & Kelloway,
2016).
The concept of transformational leadership was initially
introduced by James MacGregor Burns. According to Burns,
transformational leadership can be seen when in leaders and
followers that help each other to advance to a higher level of
moral and motivation. Transformational leaders focus on
inspiring others and empowering employees. According to
Kinicki & Fugate, (2018) “A transformational leader inspires
motivation by offering an agenda, a grand design, an ultimate
goal.” Transformational leaders sacrifice for the good of the
group, display high ethical standards, and act as role models.
Leaders must communicate the organization’s strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with their employees
(Kinicki & Fugate, 2018)
Charismatic Leadership
Charismatic leadership involves motivating others with an
inspirational vision and personal charisma. Charismatic leaders
are known to be humble yet ambitious. In prisons, correctional
sergeants are entrusted as leaders to not only increase job
performance, but motivate other in doing so. Most of them are
unable to lead anyone and are afraid of inmates, but being that
they passed a test they were entrusted with the position of
being a correctional sergeant. The goal of leadership is to
increase job performance. Leaders cannot increase job
performance by coercing individuals into doing what they want
them to do. (Kinicki & Fugate, 2018).
Conclusion
The charismatic leader and the transformational leader have
many similarities and the debate between both leadership styles

7. continues. Nonetheless, each leadership style serves different
purposes. A person with charisma is able to capture people’s
attention effortlessly, which goes a long way towards creating
unity in a group. On the other hand, without transformational
leadership skills, that person could lead the group in the wrong
direction. Style and substance are always better together, so
it’s important to strive to become a well-rounded leader.
Leadership is described well in Philippians 2:4, “Let each of
you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests
of others.” Leaders lead by example. According to 1 Timothy
4:12, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the
believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in
purity.”
References
Donohoe, M., & Kelloway, E. K. (2016). Transformational
leadership training for managers: effects on employee well-
being. In Creating Healthy Workplaces (pp. 231-248).
Routledge.
Kinicki, A., & Fugate, M. (2018). Organizational behavior: A
practical, problem-solving approach plus Connect. McGraw-
Hill. ISBN: 9781260180909. Note: Students who have
purchased a used version of this text may need to purchase the
standalone access code for McGraw-Hill Connect. This code, if
necessary, is listed on MBS.