The five bases of power 1 1. Legitimate power Legitimate power is when members of an organisation accept the authority of that organisation's leader. ... 2 2. Expert power Expert power comes from a person's high level of knowledge, skills and expertise in a field. ... 3 3. Charismatic power ... 4 4. Reward power ... 5 5. Coercive or punishment power ...

In 1959, two social psychologists, John R. P. French and Bertram Raven identified five underlying bases of power, as follows: Coercive power Reward power Legitimate power Expert power Referent power Later a sixth type of power was introduced, Informational power.

In a classic 1959 study, two social psychologists named John French and Bertram Raven originally identified five different sources of power: legitimate, reward, coercive, expert, and referent.

Raven identified five different types of power— reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, referent power, and expert power (shown in Table 22.3.1 22.3. 1), arguing that each type of power involves a different type of social influence and that the different types vary in terms of whether their use will create public conformity or private acceptance.

A great leader understands the different types of power and knows how to use them in combination with influence tactics. They know this is the best way to achieve results. But what is power, really? We’re going to answer that, as well as explain the five different types of power.

The five types of power are divided in two categories: Formal Power 1. Coercive. Coercive power is conveyed through fear of losing one’s job, being demoted, receiving a poor performance review, having prime projects taken away, etc. This power is obtained through threatening others.