Power 3

In the last byte, we defined the various Interpersonal Forms of power. In today's byte, we look at these in a greater detail.
Reward power was defined in the earlier byte, and it would be interesting to note that this could lead to better performance only as long as the employee sees a clear and strong link between performance and rewards. The manager would need to be explicit about the behavior being rewarded and should make the connection clear in case this is to function well.
Coercive power would leverage on the threats of punishments - managers using this power could be found to verbally abuse employees or withhold support from them.
Legitimate power would be effective only if the employee also believes that the manager has the right to tell them what to do! The manager thinking that he has the right to influence the target would have little to no influence in this case!
Referent power emerges since the target identifies with or wants to be like the agent. Charismatic leaders are often thought to possess referent power - there is no mandate that the agent has to be superior to the target in any way!
Expert power needs three conditions to be in place:

1. The target must trust the expertise given is accurate
2. The knowledge involved must be relevant and useful to the target
3. The target perception of the agent as an expert is crucial