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We’ve all seen leaders who let power go to their heads. They rule with an iron fist, believing their position gives them the authority to do so.
These leaders might succeed in imposing their will on their employees in the short term. But eventually, this management style leads to lower employee engagement, which is bad for business.
A great leader understands the different types of power and knows how to use them in combination with influence tactics. They know this is the best way to achieve results.
But what is power, really?
We’re going to answer that, as well as explain the five different types of power. We’ll also discuss how you can use them to become a more effective leader.
What is power?
Put simply, the power definition is: having the capacity or ability to act in certain ways or impose your will on others.
But in a work context, people interpret the concept of power in different ways.
Some people see power as something they receive from an external source. This could be an assigned title or position that gives someone control and authority over others.
Other people believe power is an innate quality that can be cultivated internally and that manifests externally. In this sense, a person’s personal power grows as they develop.
True power is a combination of both internal and external power. This means that anyone can access a certain amount of power, regardless of their position in the hierarchy.
Power vs. influence
Powerful leaders have a great capacity to influence others. Their power is based on a combination of their innate leadership qualities and the way others perceive them.
However, having power does not necessarily equate to having influence. The most powerful leaders support and uplift their team members instead of dominating and controlling them.
Also known as servant leaders, those who put the needs and development of their employees first have the greatest influence.
Power and leadership
The most powerful leaders have clarity and self-discipline. This allows them to lead by example.
By modeling disciplined behaviors, they encourage and inspire their team members to do the same. And when employees are self-disciplined, they require less micro-management. This, in turn, increases the leader’s power, creating a virtuous cycle of trust and self-leadership.
Insightfulness is another key aspect of a leader’s power. An insightful leader has the capacity to see the bigger picture and communicate that vision. Their insights give them greater power and influence over their team members.
The greater the impact a leader can have, the more they will be perceived as powerful by their employees. Using your creativity to find solutions, make decisions, and set organizational goals can increase your perceived power among your employees.
Confident leaders also have more power and influence over their subordinates. You can cultivate confidence by acting in line with your values and defending your positions.
Understanding the bases of power
French and Raven, researchers at the University of Michigan, identified five bases — or sources — of social power in 1959.
Before diving into the different bases of power, it’s important to understand that they are not all equally effective.
Some types of power may oblige your employees to comply with your demands, but they will fail to win employees’ support. Nonetheless, these types of power can sometimes be useful in situations that require disciplining an employee.
Other types of power are more influential. They help you gain the support and commitment of your employees, leading to better outcomes for your organization.
By understanding the different types of power, you will know which ones are most likely to give positive results. You will also know which power bases you should avoid relying on too heavily.
A great leader knows how to draw on different types of power depending on the situation at hand. So let’s take a look at each power base in more detail.
What are the five types of power?
A study by Gallup found that managers have greater influence over employee well-being and burnout than working hours.
With 76% of employees burning out at some point, this means that as a leader, it’s essential to use your power wisely. Otherwise, you will drive employee disengagement and make your team less productive and more likely to quit. Not to mention, contribute to burnout.
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To be a more effective leader, you must understand the five types of power, how effective each one is, and when it’s appropriate to use them.
Let’s take a look at the different types of power:
1. Legitimate power
This is a type of formal power that you receive when you occupy a certain position in your organization.
Depending on the position, it gives you authority within the company. It also lasts as long as you remain in that role.
This type of power is recognized by subordinates. For this reason, it works well in hierarchical organizations such as the military.
Legitimate power is obtained through demonstrating you have the skills required for the role. Because this type of power is given, it can also be taken away. Effective leaders don’t depend solely on legitimate power. Instead, they use it in combination with others.
2. Reward power
Reward power means having the capacity to offer rewards or benefits in exchange for carrying out a task or achieving a result.
Rewards usually come in the form of raises, benefits, promotions, or public praise. However, this type of power is not always as effective as some leaders think.
It should be relevant and tangible enough to motivate your employees. It should also be something that’s within your power to give and doesn’t depend on your superiors.
This type of power may help achieve results, but it doesn’t necessarily ensure the support or commitment of your employees.
3. Expert power
Expert power comes from having both deep technical knowledge and extensive experience in your field of expertise.
When you’re the expert in your field, people in your company naturally come to you to benefit from your knowledge. Your expertise gives you credibility, and people trust and respect your opinions.
Expert power gives you the ability to influence co-workers across all levels of the organization. This enables you to steer the growth and development of both individual colleagues and the company as a whole.
However, a true expert knows they must continue developing their knowledge and skills to maintain credibility.
4. Referent power
According to Nicole Lipkin, author of “What Keeps Leaders Up At Night,” this is the type of power that gives a leader the greatest influence.
Leaders get referent power through qualities that inspire trust and respect in their colleagues. These include honesty and integrity.
A person who holds referent power has excellent interpersonal skills and exudes confidence. This makes them natural leaders. They listen to their colleagues and offer help and support.
This type of power is internal rather than external. It is a personal power that cannot be handed to you by someone else. As your referent power grows, so too will your capacity to influence your colleagues.
5. Coercive power
Coercive power is one of the most commonly used in many workplaces, yet it is also the least effective.
In fact, Lipkin advises leaders never to use coercive power.
It involves using threats to force people to do your will. They might not agree with what they have to do, but they do it out of fear of repercussions such as losing their jobs.
For example, in many companies, leaders demand constant innovation and new ideas from their employees. Those who don’t measure up face being replaced by someone else.
Although it may work in the short-term, coercive power creates unhappy, disengaged employees and is best avoided. It can also negatively affect employee retention efforts.
What power do effective leaders use the most?
Effective leaders know how to draw on the different types of power in different situations. This is usually a skill that develops with experience.
Bear in mind that certain types of power are only effective in situations that require immediate action or resolution.
In the case of employee misconduct, you might use coercion to persuade your employee to stop their inappropriate behavior. Use your discretion to determine whether this is the right course of action.
For the most part, you will rely on softer types of power to encourage employee commitment to organizational goals and plans. These include legitimate, referent, and expert power.
Use the types of power wisely
The different types of power can give you greater influence, boost employee engagement, and achieve better results for your organization.
Knowing how to use your power is a skill that usually comes with time and experience.
However, you can accelerate the process and become a more influential leader in less time with the support of a coach.
Book a session with one of BetterUp’s expert coaches and start your coaching journey today.
Driving cultural change and organizational transformation is now a priority for businesses that were heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. They’ve realized that for their company to survive – let alone thrive – they need to be agile in their operations and prepared for any future disruption. Adding this necessary agility is a process that starts from the top, but many leaders are finding that they aren’t sure where to start.
There’s no tried-and-true approach for how to respond to a pandemic, especially when its impact differs so greatly from company to company, industry to industry. As a result, many business leaders are going back to the basics in hopes of understanding their sphere of influence and how they can best utilize it to drive positive change in their company’s culture.
The hope is that by understanding power dynamics and how these dynamics affect others will uncover insights about what type of leadership a company currently has, and if that type of leadership is truly what the company needs.
The five bases of power, identified by John French and Bertram Raven in the early 1960s, The showed how different types of power affected one’s leadership ability and success in a leadership role. And when managing complex projects in industries like construction, understanding power in leadership is more important than ever.
The five types of power are divided in two categories:
Formal Power
1. Coercive
Coercive power is conveyed through fear of losing one’s job, being demoted, receiving a poor performance review, having prime projects taken away, etc. This power is obtained through threatening others. For example, the VP of Sales who threatens sales folks to meet their goals or get replaced.
This type of power can be used to set high expectations for employee performance. Leaders can use coercive power to establish innovation as part of their employee’s responsibilities – if people aren’t able to come up with new and inventive ways of doing things, then they might get replaced with someone who can provide that value.
2. Reward
Reward power is conveyed through rewarding individuals for compliance with one’s wishes. This may be done through giving bonuses, raises, a promotion, extra time off from work, etc. For example, the supervisor who provides employees comp time when they meet an objective she sets for a project.
This is all about positive reinforcement and can work to really incentivize people while on the job. The draw of a reward – whether big or small – can foster creativity, healthy competition, and excitement across your team. Even if it isn’t realistic to offer rewards all the time, the energy reward power can generate will encourage cultural change that sticks even after the fact.
3. Legitimate
Legitimate power comes from having a position of power in an organization, such as being the boss or a key member of a leadership team. This power comes when employees in the organization recognize the authority of the individual. For example, the CEO who determines the overall direction of the company and the resource needs of the company.
Driving cultural change with legitimate power means leading by example. If you want your employees to prioritize things like innovation, automation, or building out digital capabilities, demonstrate the importance by communicating the why — why it aligns to with business goals, why it is the right move for the company, and why employees have the power to make a difference – and back your words up with the resources and support teams need to succeed.
Personal Power
4. 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.
With expertise comes respect. People are more likely to trust your insights and follow your lead if they know that you have a wealth of knowledge in a relevant field. For leaders who model expert power, they can drive organization-wide cultural change by encouraging others to become experts, too. This could look like practicing knowledge-sharing throughout the company, so people can access a single-source of truth to inspire and inform their innovation efforts. This could also look like using your expertise to provide training opportunities for new and useful skills.
5. Referent
Referent power comes from being trusted and respected. We can gain referent power when others trust what we do and respect us for how we handle situations. For example, the Human Resource Associate who is known for ensuring employees are treated fairly and coming to the rescue of those who are not.
You can hope that your efforts to be a leader to your company — whether through a successful business quarter or a successful digital transformation — will result in referent power. If you have referent power, it means you have already made progress towards changing your organizational culture. And with each successful project, this reference will only grow, encouraging your employees to take bigger, smarter risks and keep moving forward.
Leading Teams Through Transformation
We live in the age of agility, meaning that businesses either must adapt or fall behind. You can change your processes, upgrade your tech, and increase your market visibility as much as your like, but if these changes aren’t backed up by the people at your company, your efforts will inevitably fall short.
It’s up to leaders to make sure that their organizations can keep up with these changes by driving cultural transformation alongside all other transformation efforts. This is best done by strong leadership who aren’t afraid of using their power for the good of the company and who care about empowering employees across the business to grow and innovate.
Being cognizant of how leadership’s power effects their employees is a great first step but needs to be followed with a commitment to change. And for this change to make the biggest impact, it needs to involve each and every employee in your company.