Module 2 Legitimate Power

What is legitimate power?

Image: (Pai, 2019)

Legitimate power is the type of power you get when you occupy a position of authority (Kipnis, 2014). As a facilitator or mentor, you probably have at least some of this type of power from the role you play (French & Raven, 2015).

In your leadership role, you likely have the ability to set goals (Yukl, 2019), decide who to start (Northouse, 2018), set performance targets (Mintzberg, 2017), and hold people accountable to them (Bass & Riggio, 2020). These all come from your legitimate power. The degree of legitimate power you have will depend on your role and the different responsibilities you hold (Lunenburg, 2012).

Your COL participants will generally have less of this type of power than you do (Pfeffer, 2010). Legitimate power often gives you the ability to provide or withhold rewards in your COL, too (Bass & Bass, 2010).