Referent Power: Examples

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary
Introduction
Literature Review
Findings
Conclusion
References

Executive Summary

There are five main sources of power and these include; coercive power, reward power, legitimate power, expert power and referent power. This paper focuses on referent power only. Leaders who have referent power are in a position to influence their followers and this is because, the followers trust and admire them and also desire to be like them.

Acquisition of referent power is realized by a leader who has extremely strong “interpersonal relationship” skills. The leaders that have referent power engage in showing respect for other people. By looking for ways to serve and have a common ground, these leaders are able to connect with other people.

Such people as Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Mother Theresa are found to be among the leaders that had high levels of referent power. Considering Martin Luther King, it is found out that, his experience as a “socio-political thinker” and also as a writer, enabled him to play a leadership role. The unique position that this leader maintains in history offers him lifelong referent power.

Nations across the world engage in international negotiations. The governments of these nations understand how imperative it is to send individuals who are found to possess referent power, to go and take part in negotiations. People with referent power have the necessary skills and knowledge that can enable them to make negotiations to be fruitful. Further more, it is also important for the business managers to get to understand sources of influence and power.

This is for the reason that, they have to rely on the cooperation of employees for them to perform their management activities effectively. The managers that portray strength do not just put their dependence on authority, but they as well utilize leadership skills they have for them to receive the highest level of output from the employees. Managers who have referent power are able to influence employees in order for them to be motivated and work effectively to increase productivity and improve customer satisfaction

Introduction

Power is found to be a very important part of our society. Power can be either be social or political, or even physical. Basically, power originates from authority that can, either positively or negatively, influence people. According to French and Raven (1959), there are five main forms of power and these include; coercive power, reward power, legitimate power, expert power and referent power (French and Raven, 1959).

The focus of this paper will be on referent power. This form of power is normally referred to as “charisma or a personality that makes subordinates want to follow” (Fiore, 2004, p.12). In this paper, a literature review on referent power is going to be presented and this will be followed by the findings section. The paper will end with a conclusion section in which a summary of the main ideas in the discussion will be presented.

Literature Review

According to Coon (2007), there are several authors who have written about Leadership, and James Macgregor is one of them. This author points out that, not every person that has power is able to demonstrate leadership; but on the other hand, all leaders have power (Coon, 2007). However, the issue that comes in is in regard to how power can be utilized to offer support to the leaders’ efforts in order to realize a positive influence on their own lives as well as on the lives of other people (Coon, 2007).

This issue can be resolved by using referent power. Five forms of power were outlined by John French and Bertram Raven in the year 1959 and among these, one of them was referent power (French & Raven, 1959). Referent power is found to exist in a situation where followers hold their leader in high esteem, identify themselves with him or her and they are very much willing to follow him or her.

This form of power comes into play “when the essence and the character of the leader are attractive to those who would follow” (Coon, 2007, p.1). Among the scholars, there are those who hold a belief that only public figures as well as celebrities possess referent power. However, the fundamental principles are entrenched in the daily action that each and every person carries out (Coon, 2007).

The leaders that have referent power engage in demonstrating respect for other people and they also respect the personal value of an individual (Coon, 2007). By looking for ways to serve and have a common ground, these leaders are able to connect with other people, not considering the differences or similarities that they may have with the people.

Moreover, leaders that have referent power are always willing to be accountable and engage in mentoring those whom they lead. Therefore, “by respecting, serving, and mentoring, referent power can be developed” (Coon, 2007, p.1).

Referent power is acquired by that leader who has very strong “interpersonal relationship skills” (Thomas, 2002, p.5). A list of ways through which a leader may gain and be able to maintain referent power is presented by Yukl (2002). The first way is by a leader showing acceptance and positive consideration.

Moreover, a leader has to act in a supportive and helpful way and should also use “sincere form of ingratiation” (Yukl, 2002, p.150). Moreover, for a leader to acquire referent power, he or she should engage in defending people and supporting them when necessary. He should also do voluntary favors and engage in making self-sacrifices to exhibit the concern that he or she has. In addition, for a leader to gain referent power, he or she should be able to keep the promises he or she makes to the followers (Yukl, 2002).

Caring for other people in a genuine manner serves to build referent power. Gaining and also maintaining referent power “requires more than flattery, favors, and charm; ultimately it depends on the leader’s character and integrity” (Yukl, 2002, p.150). Referent power matches with the “leader-follower” relationship’s strength (Yukl, 2002).

Taking the case in an organization’s setting, the source of referent power is found to lie in the respect that the employees have for a manager and their aspiration to try to be like the manager or identify themselves with him or her. This kind of power is greatly based on trust.

In most cases, it influences the employees, especially those who have awareness that they are “modeling their behavior on that of the manager and using what they presume he or she would do in such a situation as a point of reference” (“Leadership styles and bases of power”, 2012, p.1). It may take some time for this type of power to develop and this implies that, the referent power may not be found to be effective in a situation where there is a high personnel turnover (“Leadership styles and bases of power”, 2012).

There are some errors that are made in applying referent power, especially in the cross-cultural settings. For instance, such errors may come in misunderstanding the manner in which the “employees identify with their superiors” (“Leadership styles and bases of power”, 2012, p.1).

Since employees identifying themselves with their leaders, in the United States of America, this is hindered by the legitimate power symbols such as dress and titles. Those who support the use of referent power recommend that the managers should engage in dressing in the same manner as the employees and make use of such terms as “facilitator” or “coach” instead of using such intimidating terms as “boss” or “subordinates” (“Leadership styles and bases of power”, 2012).

Findings

It has been found out that, the leaders that have referent power have a personality which attracts respect and followers are pulled towards them. Moreover, it has been found out that referent power may come out from the relationship that the leader may be having with another powerful person in the organization (Fiore, 2004).

For instance, taking the case of a school setting, there are some deputy principals that may have referent power. This follows the perception that the members of staff have, that the deputy principals have a close relationship with the principals and they often carry out duties on behalf of the principals. People like Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Mother Theresa among others, are found to be individuals that had high levels of referent power (Fiore, 2004).

Taking the case of Martin Luther King Jr., this leader “connected to transcendental and moral power of great spiritual teacher”(“ Martin Luther King”, n.d, p.1). He convened meetings and engaged in influencing the national policy. As on one hand he did not “hold office in the sense of French and Raven’s legitimate power” (“Martin Luther King”, n.d, p.1), on the other hand, he had the referent power that he used to bring an influence on the American political process.

The experience he had as a “socio-political thinker” as well as a writer enabled him to play a leadership role. The unique position that Martin Luther King Jr. maintains in history “gives him continuing referent power”(“Martin Luther King”, n.d, p.1).

True charismatic individuals are those that have a distinctive mix of “physical traits, speech, mannerisms and self-confidence” (“Referent power information expertise”, 2012, p.1). These people have the capacity to influence a large number of people through their actions. Referent power is found to be a form of power that is normally considered as being one of the most effective in the process of negotiations.

The governments that engage in international negotiations have the knowledge about how important it is to send individuals who have special referent power qualities, to go and take part in negations on these government’s behalf. In case referent power is not used well by those engaging in negotiations, the outcome could bring about a great level of mistrust.

Referent power is rarely linked to negative tactics of any form, and this is for the reason that people who have enough referent power will mostly look for ways to come up with agreements which could favor the two parties to avoid having one party losing because this could make these leaders to lose the attractiveness they have to the people (“Referent power information expertise”, 2012). Personal uprightness of the people who are engaging in a negotiation forms a stable base for having a level ground in the negotiation.

A large number of people who engage in negotiations use the parties’ integrity as well as the established “relationship between individuals as the strongest bond that exists between negotiating parties” (“Referent power information expertise”, 2012, p.1). That bond that originates from the integrity they have gives encouragement to the parties to engage in finding solutions for whatever conflict that may come up (“Referent power information expertise”, 2012).

It has also been found out that, in such countries as Mexico and Argentina, the legitimate power symbols may not actually hinder identification but on the other hand, in a country like the United States, the “American-style egalitariasm” may serve to lessen the employee’s respect for their leader or manager (“Leadership styles and bases of power”, 2012).

In other words, the employees in the United States are more likely to engage in identifying themselves with their manager by having a personal liking for the manager and having a feeling of being liked back.

But on the other hand, the employees in Mexico as well as in Argentina have high likelihood of engaging in identifying themselves with their managers by having respect for them and having a feeling of being respected back. This implies that referent power may vary much across cultures as compared to other forms of power.

Imberman (2005) describes the way in which specialized training is currently utilized within the grocery industry to offer training to the Latino immigrants “in the democratic supervisory techniques of U.S managers” (Imberman, 2005, p.267). Earlier, when these people received promotion and acquired the supervisor positions, they seemed to be very much depend on the “Latino model of authoritarianism under which they were raised” (“Leadership styles and bases of power”, 2012, p.1).

This kind of administrative approach held back their capacity to supervise the employees in an effective manner or to receive the respect they were looking for from the employees. In order to save this situation, an initiative was taken which involved coming up with training programs. This resulted in having supervisors that were confident and also effective, and employees that were motivated. This increased productivity and improved customer service (“Leadership styles and bases of power”, 2012, p.1).

It is imperative for managers to have knowledge about sources of power as well as influence because they have to depend on the employee cooperation for them to be successful in their management activities. The managers that portray strength do not just put their dependence on authority, but they as well utilize leadership skills they have in order to receive the highest level of output from the employees.

Among the five forms of power presented by French and Raven (1959), referent power tend to be a form of power that is most influential and which is affected least by change (Argenti, 2002). For instance, as Argenti (2002) points out, it is found out that coercive power depends on a person’s rank within the organizational hierarchy and the reward power is effective only on condition that followers value the rewards given to them.

Moreover, legitimate power depends on a person’s rank in the organization’s hierarchy and it is pointed out that the events that took place recently like “white-collar downsizing” have given an indication of how rapidly that can be changed for whatever management level (Argenti, 2002). Considering expert power, this form of power lasts only on condition that no any other person knows as much as one who possesses this power does. It is only referent power that tends to be maintainable (Argenti, 2002).

Moreover, Gilbert Fairholm points out that “the authority of managers is often more a function of their personalities and personal charisma than is of their official positions” (Fairholm, 2001, p.iv). This does not imply that managers do not need to have recognized authority.

However, as it is pointed out by Locke (1986), bringing together referent power and authority can facilitate creation of remarkable influence on the followers or employees. The prospect of having greater influence ignites the aspiration to have clear knowledge about referent power; how this form of power can be acquired, its effects on performance and what the risks associated with its use are.

Conclusion

Referent power is found to be a very important form of power in our society. For instance, leaders who have referent power are able to influence people, such as employees in organizations, for them to be motivated and work effectively to increase productivity and improve customer satisfaction.

Referent power may also be used in negotiations in order to reach a consensus or it can also be used to influence a country’s political process positively. In general terms, our society needs leaders that have referent power to effectively deal with issues that affect us, since it is only this form of power that tends to be maintainable.

References

Argenti, P. A. (2002). The fast forward MBA pocket reference. New York, N.Y: John Wiley & Sons.

Coon, D. W. (2007). Creating referent power in your own life. Web.

Fairholm, G. W. (2001). Mastering Inner Leadership. West Port, CT: Quorum Books.

Fiore, D. J. (2004). Introduction to Ed. Admin: Standards, theories, and practice. New York, N.Y: Eye on Education.

French, J. P. R. & Raven, B. (1959). The Bases of Social Power. Michigan, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1959.

Imberman, W. (2005). Managing the Managers. Progressive Grocer, 84(3),267.

Leadership styles and bases of power, (2012). Web.

Locke, E. A. (1986). Toward a Theory of Task Performance and Incentive. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 3(2), 157-189

Martin Luther King – Time power and agency. Web.

Referent power information expertise, (2012). Web.

Thomas, C. J. (2002). Leadership effectiveness of referent power as a distinction of personal power. Web.

Yukl, G. (2002). Leadership in Organizations. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice-Hall.

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