[Expert Power] We are starting to get toward the end of a six-part series
on French and Raven's types of power, the power bases.
And in this video, we're going to look at expert power.
Hey there, welcome back.
This channel is called Communication Coach,
and I am Alex Lyon.
And we put out weekly videos
for emerging leaders professional development.
And we are in the fifth video in a six-part series
on French and Raven's power bases, the types of power,
and power more generally defined,
as French and Raven described it, is a social influence.
Whereas the leader, or person A,
has an influence over person B.
By something they say or do,
they will change person B's behavior, attitude or beliefs.
And in this video we're going to look at expert power,
and this is a fascinating type of power
that, again, is different from the others.
But I'd like to take a special look at it because,
as emerging leaders, we can use this academic approach
to look at our own influence
and the way we might enhance our expert power down the line.
So let's define it.
Expert power results from the follower's faith
that the leader, or expert, has some superior insight
or knowledge about what behavior is best
under the circumstances.
So, if we were to verbalize it,
if we were to think out loud,
we would think a little bit like this.
My supervisor has had a lot of experience
with this sort of thing, and so she or he is probably right,
even though I don't really understand the reason.
And I love how French and Raven add that phrase,
even though I don't really understand the reason,
because that's why it's expertise.
The person in power, the strength of their expertise
comes from the fact that they have
some kind of special knowledge that we may not have,
and so we're looking to them for guidance.
And so, in that way, this type of power
depends upon the follower's acceptance that their leader
has the right expertise, and their knowledge, judgment
and opinions can make a difference in this particular case.
So, some examples of this is that I need to believe
and have a faith in that person's knowledge.
I have to believe they're trustworthy.
So, I'm gonna listen to my lawyer because I believe
that they know something about the law,
that they're a good lawyer.
I listen to my physician because I believe
that they are an expert of some sort,
and so they're gonna give me good advice,
and I'm gonna take that advice.
That's a typical kind of expert.
Another kind of expert
might be a little bit more specific to the context.
So, let's say I'm in a different city
that I've never been in.
Well, a local there on the street corner
might be a source of expertise for me.
That person might be able to give me directions.
That's one of the examples that French and Raven used
in their article because they know that they have expertise
on that location that I do not have.
And this is also depending upon the person.
I might go to a person for advice on the law,
but I'm not necessarily going to take their expert advice
once it goes outside of their area of expertise.
So, I'm not gonna take relationship advice from my lawyer
because what do they know about relationships?
So it depends upon the context as well.
In the same way, when I give my son wrestling advice,
he's in wrestling as a sport, and I know a little bit
about wrestling but he ignores what I say,
but he takes his coach's advice
because his coach is an expert in that particular area.
So let's get into some details.
First of all,
the expert does not have to be your supervisor.
That's probably obvious already
from the examples we've been using.
It might be your boss because they know more
about that process, the organization, and so forth.
But they could be someone outside.
And this frequently happens in professional settings,
like I'm often asked to come in to speak to companies
and do workshops and consulting
because I have a certain area of expertise
that they want to know about.
And then I give them a bunch of advice, and then I leave.
And it's up to them as to whether or not
they're going to implement that.
But experts can come from the outside as well.
So it doesn't have to be the actual supervisor or leader.
And the other part of this is,
the followers don't really need to understand,
and this is part of their definition.
I might not understand your advice and all the reasons
behind it because I didn't go to medical school,
I didn't go to law school, I am not a wrestling coach,
but I trust you enough to follow your advice
even though I don't fully understand it.
Now, once you fully understand it and you grasp it all,
once you have that information
and you have made it your own,
we're getting into the next type in the next video
which is called informational influence
or informational power.
But we'll get to that in the next video.
I'm taking your advice because you're an expert,
not because I fully understand it.
That's really how expert advice functions,
expertise functions.
And so, let me give you a personal example here.
So I have camera gear.
This is a YouTube channel, and I have microphones,
and I have all kinds of gear, and the truth is,
is that I don't really understand it all that well.
I didn't try out 15 cameras, personally, to select this one.
I took the advice of experts.
So there are people out there that have YouTube channels
that do gear reviews, and they look at every camera
you can imagine, every lens you can imagine,
every microphone you can imagine,
and so, when they go down and say, you know what,
this is the one I recommend based upon all my experience,
and I do this for a living,
that's expert advice that I am taking from them.
I don't know how most of the stuff works,
I just know that they saved me a lot of time
and a lot of money by getting rid of the options
that don't fit that well for my purposes.
So, that's a good example of expertise.
And that takes me to really the final point of this.
If you're a leader, if you are an emerging leader
of any sort, one of the best things you can do
for your influence is to work on your expertise,
to get really good at something,
and also learn how to communicate your expertise
because being intelligent, being smart,
having expertise is not enough.
You need to be able to share it with other people
to really have that influence.
If it remains in your head, or you can't articulate it
very well, then you'll have very limited influence.
So, as emerging leaders, we should all be working
on our communication skills.
So I wanted to leave you with two items,
and the first is that there is one more video in this series
on informational influence, or informational power,
the sixth type that French and Raven articulated,
and that's a very interesting one.
It's different than the others.
And the second item I wanted to leave you with
is a downloadable quick guide
to essential professional communication skills.
If you're interested in getting better
at your communications skills,
I have created this free resource.
It's downloadable, you go to the description below,
click on the link, or in the link
that I put in the comments section below the video.
And you follow that link, and you put in your email,
and then I email you this downloadable quick guide.
So, if you're interested in taking a look at that,
I encourage you to do so.
So, thanks, God bless, and I will see you
in the final video of this series on informational power.
See you then.