French and Raven's Forms of Power: A Simple Summary

Coercion involves forcing someone to do something against their will. This is usually achieved by being able to punish someone for non-compliance. Coercion can only ever achieve compliance in others, it can never lead them to exceed a minimum delivery level. It also usually causes resentment and if used too much will cause people to leave. This power can be abused, watch-out.

The second of French and Raven’s Forms of Power is reward power. Reward involves giving benefits to someone for doing something. This is almost the opposite of coercion.

As with coercion, reward generally only achieve compliance. Reward generally only influences people work to the point at which a reward has been earned, after which there is no ongoing incentive. Some rewards are personal, like a nice “thank you” and these can be very powerful.  The power of rewards diminishes over time, and recipients of rewards may start to consider them as entitlements.

Legitimate power is power derived from a position or a set of formal relationships.  Leaders in a hierarchies and elected officials have legitimate power. People are influenced by legitimate power and they will do what they are told due to the rules of society and the workplace. Legitimate power is fickle though. If someone loses their position, they often quickly lose their power.

The fourth of French and Raven’s Forms of Power is expert power.

Expert power derives from an individual’s expertise. Their level of skill, competence and experience helps make them trustworthy and able influential to others.

Expert power is derived purely from personal traits and is wholly independent of  a position in an organization. Expert power only lasts as long as an expert keeps getting good results and is not acting purely for personal gain.

Referent power is based on being liked and respected as an individual. It’s derived from an individuals perceived value, worth or attractiveness.

Social media influencers have referent power. It’s a highly personal type of power and generally uninfluenced by position (though it may help individuals gain position). Referent power alone often isn’t that strong in the work place.

The last of French and Raven’s Forms of Power is informational power.

Informational power is based on the ability to control the flow of information that is needed to get things done. It is often derived from having access to confidential information that others don’t know (information asymmetry).

Informational power can be very strong in our increasingly information and data driven world. However, once a source of information is lost, so is its associated power.