BCOM 230 Week 3 DQ 1 : Analyzing the Five Bases of Power in Leadership BCOM 230 Week 3 DQ 1 POWERPOINT: Organizational Behavior , Ch. 14 What are the five bases of power? Consider a current manager you admire or a person you know who is in a managerial role. Which of the five bases best describes that person? Is this person an effective leader? Why? There are two parts to power 1) formal power, 2) individual power: Formal Power e stablished by an individual’s position in an organization . Three bases - Coercive Power is dependent on having fear with negative results . Reward Power is c ompliance achieved based on the ability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable. Legitimate Powe r is t he formal authority to control and use resources based on a person’s position in the formal hierarchy (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Power that comes from an individual’s unique characteristics – these are the most effective . Two bases - Expert Power is i nfluence based on special skills or knowledge . Referent Power is i nfluence based on possession by an individual of desirable resources or personal traits (Robbins & Judge, 2009). The best base that describes my ex - manager is expert power and reward power . He has been e xperienced for many years. I believe that these bases are an effective leader because having special skills or knowledge is useful for employees. If an employee needs help on a complicated assignment, he would help because he had skills and knowledge that the employee do es not have. Rewarding employees in any way helped employees feel comfortable knowing they are doing a good job. My manager was very helpful in all aspect of assignment, projects, and reports.