Coercive (принудительный) Power

This is the opposite of reward power because this power is based on the leader having control over what happens if followers do not act as required. If followers do not undertake the action required, the leader will impose a penalty. Penalties take a variety of forms including withdrawal of privileges, job losses, verbal abuse, and delayed or loss of promotion. In all cases the leader will need to choose the penalty carefully to prevent breaking the law or being the subject of an employment tribunal.

Coercive power requires followers to believe that the leader has the ability to impose the stated penalty. Also the penalty has to be something that the followers do not want to have imposed on them. For example a penalty results in coffee being banned is unlikely to influence a tea drinker.

Finally (just as the reward in reward power should be proportional to the action taken by the follower), the penalty should be proportionate to the action not completed by the follower. For example it would be disproportionate to fire an employee follower the first time they do not return from their lunch break at the stated time. Similarly it is disproportionate to reduce the wages of an employee follower that hasn’t completed their duties over a six month period by £ 20 when their monthly pay is £ 1000.

Coercive powers should be used carefully; overuse can lead to unhappy employee followers. Unhappy followers can be negative or unmotivated; they may resign or adopt a “work to rule” attitude. Work to rule is where employees refuse to undertake any duties (or adopt working practices) that are not stated in their contract.

Legitimate Power

This is the power that a leader has when the followers believe that the leader has “a right” to instruct them and that they have an obligation to follow instructions. Sometimes legitimacy power is created by the leader’s job title (such as captain, doctor, or area manager), combined with the follower’s belief that the job title gives the leader the right to give them orders.

Referent Power

This is created when the followers believe that the leader possess qualities that they admire and would like to possess. The followers identify with their leader and attempt to copy their leader. As referent power is dependant on how the follower views the personality of their leader, a leader will not have referent power over every follower they lead. Some leaders will have referent power over just a few, whilst others such as Gandhi have lead millions through their personality and charisma.