Question

Team Building:

power means many different things to different people. for some, power is seen as corrupt. For others, the more power they have, the more successful they feel. For even others, power is of no interest at all. Explain 5 types of leader power identified by John French and Bertram Raven.

Answer 1

Five types of power identified by john French & Bertram raven:

The five basis of power are divided into two categories:

Formal power & personal power:

Under formal power comes the following:

• Coercive: this is a power that is conveyed with the fear of losing one’s job, being demoted, receiving a bad performance review or the fear of good projects being taken away etc. A person would get this power by threatening others. For example, a sales lead may threaten his subordinates to meet their targets or get replaced.
• Reward: this is a power that is expressed by rewarding individuals for complying with one’s wishes. This is done through giving bonuses or a promotion or a additional time off with the family etc. For example a supervisor may reward his employee with a comp time for meeting an objective that is set by him or her.
• Legitimate: this power comes through position that he or she holds in the organization like a boss or a manager etc. This comes when the employees in the organization recognize the individual’s power. For example a CEO may express his power by directing the company or allocating the required resources.

Under the personal power comes the following:

• Expert: Expert power comes from one’s experiences, skills or knowledge. As we gain experience in particular areas, and become thought leaders in those areas, we begin to gather expert power that can be utilized to get others to help us meet our goals. For example, the Project Manager who is an expert at solving particularly challenging problems to ensure a project stays on track.

• Referent: this is a power that comes as a result of being trusted or respected. Generally a person would have this power when others respect him for his way of handling things. We can take the example of an HR who treats all the employees equally & comes to the rescue of those who are not.