WHY FRENCH AND RAVENS WERE CROWNED AS KINGS
Other writers have examined the sources of power and produced much longer tracts on the subject. They have examined the nature of power, how you get it, how you keep it and how it can be lost. But none have been as succinct as French and Ravens or identified so clearly how synergy occurs when you can access power from a variety of sources. The identification of synergy more than any other factor makes this theory a worthy recipient of the title of king.
In everyday situations most British people are fairly diffident. They don’t like telling other people what to do or barking orders. They are terrified that if they do tell someone what to do the other person will turn around and say ‘Who put you in charge?’ Such a retort would be very embarrassing, and as we all know social embarrassment is worse than physical injury to most British people. So people hesitate to take control and as time passes the harder it becomes for them to throw off their learned behaviour and tell someone what to do.
As a manager you can’t be diffident. You are paid to exercise control and direction over your staff (see Theories 1 and 4) regardless of how you are feeling. Therefore you have to tell people what to do, even if that means challenging years of learned behaviour and socialisation. As a manager you have a certain level of traditional and legitimate authority and both your employers and your staff expect you to use it. So don’t disappoint them. Authority and power not used are lost.