Power, or the ability to influence others, is important to leadership. Though before this lesson we may not have been aware of the five types of leadership, French and Raven’s five sources of power are around us in the media every day.
Expert power is the power that one obtains through having a thorough education in a certain field. An expert is someone that has extensive training and experience in the field. Expert power therefore uses the education and experience the leader has to influence others (PSU WC, L7). In the media, consider Dr. Melinda Warner from Law and Order SVU. Dr. Warner has expert power in this show. When the detectives are investigating a homicide, they turn to Dr. Warner for her expert advice. Dr. Warner gives them information on how the victim died and when the victim died. The detectives also turn to Dr. Warner to provide DNA evidence on the killer. In this situation, Dr. Warner has more education, in this case a medical degree, than the detectives and she can therefore provide expert insight into what happened. She has the ability to influence how the detectives proceed with the investigation because whatever information she gives them will change how the detectives investigate the homicide (Dr. Melinda Warner (Character)).
Referent power is the ability to influence others because of the relationship between the leader and the followers. In this case, the leader is seen as a role model. In expert power, the leader had power due to their education and experience. Referent power, on the other hand, is a type of power that requires time and work to obtain (PSU WC, L7). In the media, consider the movie Freedom Writers. In this movie, Erin Gruwell is a high school teacher in a high-risk school. At first, her class is resistant to her efforts. Some of the students are gang members, many do not attend class and none of them want to be there. Erin works hard to gain the trust of her students. Eventually, she is able to connect with the students and create referent power. She gets them to write in journals, read book and take an interest in their education. At the end of the movie, she was able to influence some of her students to attend college, which is something none of them would have considered before they met Erin. Since Erin developed a close relationship with her students, she had referent power with them that led to her being able to influence them in their education (Freedom Writers).
Legitimate power is a type of power that one obtains because they are in a position of authority (PSU WC, L7). In the media, consider President Schwarzenegger from the Simpsons Movie. In the movie, Springfield has a pollution problem. The Head of the Environmental Protection Agency Russ Cargill presents President Schwarzenegger with five “unthinkable options” to control the pollution. President Schwarzenegger randomly picks option three, without even reading them. When asked if he wants to read the options first, President Schwarzenegger says he was elected to lead not to read. This is an example of legitimate power. Since Schwarzenegger was the president of the Untied States, the option he picked was the one that was selected. Without even reading his options, he elected to enclose Springfield in a glass dome. The only reason he was able to influence what option Springfield took to contain the pollution was because of his position (The Simpsons Movie).
Reward power is one in which a leader can influence the followers by providing incentives (PSU WC, L7). In the media, consider the episode of The Office titled “The Incentive.” In this episode, Andy creates a point system in order to increase sales. When the employees reach certain point levels, he will give them certain rewards. The ultimate reward comes when the employees reach 5,000 points, at which time Andy will get a tattoo of whatever they want him to get on his butt. This is an example of reward power because Andy provided the employees with an incentive to increase their sales. Since the employees wanted to see Andy get a tattoo, they worked harder until they reached the 5,000 points (The Incentive).
Coercive power is one in which a leader can influence its followers through fear of punishment (PSU WC, L7). In the media, consider The Lion King. In this movie, Scar uses coercive power when he takes over Pride Rock. Everyone in Pride Rock is afraid of Scar even though Scar has turned Pride Rock into a wasteland. This is an example of coercive power because all of the lions and hyenas lived together in Pride Rock under Scar’s control because they were afraid of him. He had the power to control them even though he was ruining Pride Rock (The Lion King).
The five types of power are important to understand when studying leadership. The five types of power are around us in the media all the time. From the time we are young and watch movies like the Lion King to when we are older and watch other shows on television, we are exposed to the different types of power.
References
Dr. Melinda Warner (Character). (n.d.). Retrieved from IMDb website:
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0013530/
Freedom Writers. (n.d.). Retrieved from IMDb website:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463998/?ref_=sr_1
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2011). Retrieved February 24, 2013, from PSYCH 4
85 Lesson 07: Power & Influence: https://elearning.la.psu.edu/psych485/lesson-7
The Incentive. (n.d.). Retrieved from IMDb website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt205
1718/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
The Lion King. (n.d.). Retrieved from IMDb website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/?ref_=sr
_1
The Simpsons Movie. (n.d.). Retrieved from IMDb website:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462538/?ref_=sr_2