Discussion Question – Five Bases of Power

Conduct research on French and Raven’s five bases of power, which include coercive, legitimate, reward, referent, and expert power. 

For the first part of your post, choose five leaders, one for each of the power bases, and give a brief example to support why a leader’s use of power best exemplifies a certain power base.  

For the second part of your post, select any one of the following bullet points. Attempt to spread the bullet points out among class members (e.g., not have one bullet point answered by all course participants).

• Assess which base of power is most appealing to you from the perspective of both a leader and a follower.
• Justify which leader seems the most successful, using specific examples and research to support your view.
• Propose a supported plan (three or four action steps) for how you (or the organization) might help one of the least successful leaders you chose to improve their leadership success.
• Analyze a leader that uses a good balance of the different bases of power. How does this leader compare to those who have a dominant style?

Conclude your post with a three or four sentence summary of the most important point, lesson or takeaways from your research and analysis for your initial post.

Provide a substantive (500–1,000 words) initial discussion posting. Justify your answers with examples and reasoning. Comment on the initial postings of at least two peers. Your responses to other initial posts must be a 100 to 200 word minimum each.

By the due date assigned, post your initial response to the Discussion Area.