Another interesting snippet from my Organisational Behaviour text. These are the sources of social power within an organisation:
- Legitimate Power😕 The power your superior has due to his position within the organisation. This is formal power delegated to a particular role.
- Reward Power: The power someone has to allocate rewards. This is normally associated with legitimate power, but other individuals may have this power over you though fulfilling some other desire you may have.
- Coercive Power: The ability to withhold rewards or punish in some way. Often carries negative connotations as can be demoralising and build resentment
- Referent Power: The ability to be charismatic and attract others. This is quite a personal quality rather than based on a person’s role within the organisation
- Expert Power: Power derived from the experience or expert knowledge someone may have. A subtle flavour of this is Information Power, where someone is well-informed or hold important information that may help attain your goals.
Interesting huh?