6 Sources Of Leadership Power

When studying at the University of California, Irvine, there was a great class taught by Professor Kristin Behfar at the Paul Merage School of Business on “Foundations For Teams” and while reviewing what I’ve learned from her during that class, I want to share it with you on this blog.

By the way, I absolutely loved the class and think that Professor Behfar is such an amazing expert on organizational team management.

Go read more about Dr. Behfar and what she does here: The Secrets of High Performing Teams

Most of the concepts and information I’m going to talk about are from Professor Behfar’s material distributed in class, so she needs to get the credit. I’m just elaborating on what she has taught me.

Alright, let’s jump right into it…

There are 6 sources of power and we’re going to go over each one.

1. Reward Power

Based on a person’s access to rewards; other person complies because of desire to receive rewards. For example, promotions.

2. Coercive Power

Based on a person’s ability to punish; other person complies because of fear of punishment. For example, negative performance evaluations.

3. Information Power

The ability to influence  based on the higher power person having information that the lower power person does not possess. For example, “Here is the data that prove it.”

4. Rational Persuasion

The ability to convince others, to lead others to your own conclusion, to use logic and facts to make people believe you are right.

5. Expert Power

Based on personal expertise in a certain area; other person complies becaue of  belief in power holder’s knowledge. For example, “I know what is best.”

6. Referent Power (Likability)

Based on a person’s attractiveness to others; other person complies because of respect and liking for power holder. For example, “The company needs you.” Also referred to as Charisma or Popularity.