[Referent power] We are in the middle of a six-part series
on French and Raven's power bases, the types of power,
and in this video we're going to look at referent power.
(soft music)
Hey there, welcome back.
Alex Lyon here, Communication Coach.
This channel is here for the professional development
of emerging leaders, and we're doing a six-part series
on French and Raven's power bases, the types of power.
They wrote about these decades ago
and power more generally defined as they see it
is social influence.
The ability of Person A, or the leader,
to have some influence over Person B,
to change Person B's behavior, attitude, or belief.
And there are lots of ways to do that like in the last video
we looked at legitimate power and in this one
we're going to look at referent power,
so let's paraphrase French and Raven's definition of this.
Referent power has its basis in identification,
a feeling of oneness a follower has for a leader.
They feel a sense of identification
or have a desire for that oneness.
So if I were to boil this down even further
I would say that the leader is a model
that the follower wants to emulate.
They like the leader.
They want to be like the leader.
And so that's the source of power.
Just like we might look up to an older brother,
like I really look up to my older brother,
and I was willing to go along with just about anything
that he said or did because I wanted to be like him
when I got older.
Referent power functions a little bit like that.
So if we were to verbalize this,
this is a way French and Raven would verbalize it.
I really admire my supervisor
and wish to be like him or her.
That's the way you might hear it spelled out
if you were to think out loud.
Now we don't often say it like that in our head,
but that's how we act it out.
I want to unpack this a little bit further
and get into some of the details on here,
and one of the first things you'll notice
is that they say supervisor, and I mentioned my brother.
You don't have to have any kind of legitimate connection
to the person that has referent power over you.
They don't have to be your actual boss.
Like in the last video we talked about legitimate power.
That person is in a position where they have power over you
and you accept that power.
Here it's not like that at all.
Referent power is they may not have a position at all,
but because you look up to them and you want to follow them,
there's a kind of referent power that's functioning there.
It's where you have this close association
or you want to have a close association
with the leader or some group,
and so you're willing to go along with their influence,
a special kind of influence.
Now I want to get into some details here even further.
One of them is that the stronger the identification
or the stronger the desire, the more powerful the influence.
So if I want to be a little bit like somebody,
then they might have a little bit of influence over me.
Like I admire and look up to
the former bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger,
championship bodybuilder, and I look up to him a little bit.
I don't look up to every aspect of his life,
but I have some degree of identification with him.
But there may be people in my life
that I really identify with and they have that
strong connection that I feel with them,
and they might have a lot more influence
over me in that way.
So it depends upon the depth of that referent power.
Then that's going to shape how much power we have there.
It's also intrinsic, which is also implied
in what I've been saying.
So the desire for me to be like that person,
to emulate that person, comes from within.
I get a special satisfaction as French and Raven put it.
Some special satisfaction by following along
with the person who has that referent power.
That's internal to me.
That's quite different from reward power
or coercive power, some of the other types of power.
That's external.
The reward or the punishment comes from somewhere else
to me, but referent power comes from a desire
within me to be like that person.
So I might buy shoes for example
that a famous athlete wears, because by wearing
the same shoes, I feel that special satisfaction.
That's an internal feeling that I have.
So that's really where this comes from.
Another part of this, the leader may not
be aware of this referent power.
So if they're your supervisor, they might have
a few different types of power functioning on this list,
but they don't have to be your supervisor
and in fact they may not even know
that they have an influence over you.
Like Arnold Schwarzenegger does not know
that I take his fitness advice, his exercise advice.
He doesn't even know that, and there may be
other people that you look up to personally
that really don't know anything about that.
In fact, I really look up to my former boss
and he has influenced me for years
because I thought he was like an ideal supervisor
and I want to be like him, and so he has
referent power over me and he didn't know this
until recently I told him.
I said, I really look up to you.
You're like a role model for me.
And so he finally knew, but he didn't know that
up until then.
So referent power can function in that way
where the person doesn't have to be aware of it, to know it.
So, I want to tell you about three teachers that I had,
not by name, but I went to Rhode Island College,
and I had these three professors that I really look up to
that if you put them together
I really wanted to be some combination of all three of them.
They were good in the classroom,
they were good with people, they were intelligent,
they seemed to be happy people, well-adjusted,
and as I went to my different classes I said,
I want to be like them when I grow up so to speak.
They had a lot of referent power over me.
Sure I cared about grades but that was secondary.
I wanted to emulate them and be like them,
so I was willing to do almost whatever
they asked me to do academically
because I looked up to them in that way.
They had a strong referent power.
I was willing to go much further because I liked them
and looked up to them.
And so that's really the way that referent power functions.
So unlike some of the other types of power,
I really think that referent power is special
in that as emerging leaders,
we have almost a limitless capacity
to expand our referent power by being role models.
We want to become the kind of people
that others look up to, and that will expand
our influence in lots of positive ways.
So before we go, I want to tell you about two things.
First of all, the next video in this series
is on expert power, which is a fascinating one to me
and I want you to stick around for that.
I encourage you to look at that one.
And the second thing I'll leave you with
is a free resource, if you're interested.
I have created a free PDF download, a Quick Guide
to Essential Professional Communication Skills.
So there's a link in the description below this video
and also it's pinned to the first comment
in the comments section, and you go to that link
and it lets you put in your email
and then I email you this downloadable quick guide,
and it's a great handy reference
about the five essential skills
that I believe every professional should have,
so I invite you to check that out.
So thanks, God bless, and I will see you
in the next video on expert power.