Power. Do you think much about it? Some people seem to think about it quite a lot … who has it, who doesn’t, how to get it, how to keep it. Why is power so important? Well, power is ability, capacity, faculty, motive force, the means to get things done. Power can mean control. So yes, power is a desired commodity. In fact, as some analysts have pointed out, the study of human history is really the examination of the acquisition, the harnessing of, and the usage of power.
Years ago a classic study on power was undertaken by two social psychologists, John French and Bertram Raven. They were researching how people exert power over others and by what authority. They came up with these five primary power forms: legitimate power (the power held by virtue of rank, job title, or place in a hierarchy); reward power (the power to influence through the granting of benefits, money, or prestige); coercive power (the power to influence through threat of punishment, arrest, loss of job, or loss of reputation); expert power (the power that comes in knowing something significant that others don’t know but need to rely upon); and finally, referent power (the power of interpersonal social influence).
When we learned about this categorization of power forms recently, we were particularly intrigued by the fifth form: referent power. Referent power is a subtler sort of power than the other four and may not be readily visible. It’s not the sort of power that can be grabbed. It has to be granted. It has to be earned. People to whom others turn for approval or advice, those who have desirable qualities, those whose character is admired, those who inspire the respect and loyalty of others have referent power, apart from any other form or source of power they may hold. Fascinatingly, referent power has sometimes been called the “X-factor” because it is a bit mysterious. It can’t be predicted to occur here or there. It’s entirely dependent on the cluster of qualities any individual holds that others revere. Kind teachers have referent power. Wise friends have referent power. Loving grandparents have referent power.
Often we people of faith are encouraged to be a bit leery of power. We are encouraged not to grasp and claw for it. We are shown the folly of power mongering and power coveting. But if power is the means to getting things done, then power is not innately bad or wrong, though we might be well-advised to assess its form and be cautious in its application.
What forms of power are at your disposal? What are you capable of achieving with the power you hold? Suppose you enhanced your referent power, by developing your unique qualities that others could admire and emulate, then how much good might you and others, together, be able to accomplish?
Perhaps we are all more potentially powerful than we know. Let’s put our power to work. In the words of one who has inspired many: let’s do all the good we can, by all the means we can, in all the ways we can, in all the places we can, at all the times we can, for all the people we can, as long as ever we can.
