IntroductionOrganizations are groups of people with a purpose. These people may have different beliefs, perceptions of reality and values. Resources within organizations are usually scarce, which can lead to conflict. Those who hold power play a critical role in allocating these resources and influencing other members of the organization. The influence an individual can have will be greatly determined by their structural and interpersonal power. In this essay, I will discuss the expert power of three people I know personally: Chris Tierney, small business owner, David Levy, neurologist and author, and Dr. Richard L. Lieber, research scientist. The discussion will focus on whether, in these examples, the power of the expert alone is enough to lead to success. Reflective Essay In French and Raven's early articles (French and Raven, 1959; Raven, 1965), they defined social influence as a change in belief. , attitude or behavior of a person (the target of influence), which results from the action of another person (an agent of influence). Their six bases of power are widely cited in the organizational literature and include: informational, reward, coercive, legitimate, expert and referent (Raven, B. 2008). Expert power is a personal characteristic, while legitimate, reward, and coercive powers are largely prescribed by the organization (Ivancevich, et.al, p.342). In the original 1959 article, the authors disagreed on whether "informational" should be influence or power, resulting in only five bases of power included in the article. Raven explains that expert power results from the target's belief that the agent has superior insight or knowledge about what behavior is best in the circumstances (Raven, B. 200...... middle of the article ...... provided here demonstrate that expert power alone is not enough Works Cited French, JRP, Jr., & Raven, BH (1959) In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in. social power (pp. 150-167). Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research. Ivancevich, J., Konopaske, R., & Matteson, M. (2011). Organizational Behavior and Management: McGraw Hill. Levy, D., Kilpatrick, J., (2011). Gray matter. Tyndal House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Il. Mayer, J.D., Salovey, P., Caruso, DR (2000). Emotional intelligence as a Zeitgeist, as a personality and as a mental ability. The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence, ed/. JDA Parker 9San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp92-117.Raven, B., (2008). The bases of power and the power/interaction model of interpersonal influence. Public Policy, Vol. 8, no. 1, pp.. 1-22.