French and Raven's Forms of Power

In 1959, social psychologists John French and Bertram Raven identified five bases from which one person influences another. The framework has lasted because it explains something managers discover the hard way: the sources of power that come with a job title are the weakest ones available.

The five bases

Coercive power rests on the ability to punish. It produces compliance quickly and reliably damages the relationship, and people subject to it minimise contact with the person holding it, which cuts off the information a leader needs.

Reward power rests on the ability to give something wanted: pay, promotion, favourable assignments. It works while the rewards last and while the other person values them, and it teaches people to act for the reward rather than the outcome.

Legitimate power comes from position. It is what a title confers, and it is narrower than most new managers expect — it secures compliance with reasonable requests inside your remit and very little beyond that.

Referent power comes from being someone others want to be associated with. It cannot be assigned, it takes time to build, and it is the most durable of the five because it survives changes of role.

Expert power comes from knowledge others need. It is the fastest to build deliberately and it decays: expertise that is not maintained stops being a source of influence within a few years.

Positional versus personal

The most useful cut through the framework is that the first three come with the job and the last two come with the person.

Leaders who rely on positional power have their influence end at the boundary of their authority. That becomes obvious the moment they need something from a peer who does not report to them, which at senior level is most of the time.

Why this matters more as you rise

Junior managers can accomplish a great deal with legitimate power alone, because their remit is well defined and their team reports to them.

Senior leaders cannot. Most of what they need comes from people outside their reporting line — other functions, external partners, their own leadership. Positional power does not reach those people. Referent and expert power do.

This is the mechanism behind a pattern common in executive coaching: a manager who was highly effective becomes markedly less so after promotion. Nothing about their capability changed. The power base the previous role ran on stopped applying, and nobody named the shift.

Building the two that last

Expert power is the more tractable. Pick a domain genuinely useful to the people around you, go deeper than the surface, and be reliably useful when consulted. It compounds and it is measurable.

Referent power cannot be pursued directly, which frustrates people who want a method. It accumulates from consistency, from following through when it costs something, from giving credit accurately, and from being the same person under pressure as when things are calm. Attempts to build it through charisma or visibility alone tend to be recognised for what they are.

Where the framework stops

French and Raven describe bases of influence, not a model of leadership. They say nothing about which decisions to make, and a leader can hold all five bases and use them badly.

Raven later added informational power as a sixth base, distinct from expert power in that it rests on the specific information held rather than on recognised expertise. It matters in organizations where access to information is unevenly distributed, which is most of them.

Frequently asked questions

What are French and Raven's five forms of power?

Coercive power based on punishment, reward power based on giving something wanted, legitimate power from position, referent power from being someone others admire, and expert power from knowledge others need. French and Raven published the framework in 1959.

Which form of power is most effective?

Referent and expert power, because they belong to the person rather than the position and survive a change of role. Positional power ends at the boundary of your authority, which is a serious limit at senior level where most of what you need comes from people outside your reporting line.

What is the difference between legitimate and referent power?

Legitimate power comes from your title and secures compliance with reasonable requests inside your remit. Referent power comes from people wanting to be associated with you and produces willing cooperation well beyond it. One is assigned; the other is earned.

Is there a sixth form of power?

Raven later added informational power, which rests on the specific information a person holds rather than on recognised expertise. It is distinct from expert power and matters most where access to information is unevenly distributed.

How do you build referent power?

Not directly, which is what frustrates people looking for a method. It accumulates from consistency, following through when it costs something, giving credit accurately, and behaving the same under pressure as otherwise. Attempts to shortcut it through visibility are usually recognised.