Real Communication An Introduction

Chapter 10  Leadership and Decision Making in Groups 275

demote employees if they step out of line. In Jaws, the mayor—whose pri-

mary concern is protecting the town’s tourist-dependent economy—uses

this kind of power to influence or override decisions made by the police

chief: he hired Chief Brody, and he can fire him.

c Reward power derives from an individual’s capacity to provide rewards. For
example, your boss might offer all the people in your department a paid day
off if they work late three nights in a row on an important project. In the
film, the mayor relies on reward power: hundreds of local fishermen set out
to catch the shark in hopes of winning a monetary reward.

c Expert power comes from the information or knowledge that a leader

possesses. Expert power is divided in Jaws. Faced with any other kind of

homicide, Brody’s credentials as a former New York City police officer might

have given him a fair amount of expert power, but as a newcomer without

fishing experience, he gets little respect from the islanders. Matt Hooper,

who studies sharks, fares a little bit better. But Quint, who has decades of

shark-hunting experience, quickly emerges as the true expert, garnering the

respect of his crewmates.

c Referent power stems from the admiration, respect, or affection that followers

have for a leader. The popular kids in your high school may have had the power

to influence other students’ style of dress or way of behaving simply because

others admired them. In Jaws, Quint demonstrates this kind of power: when

he relays his story as a survivor of the USS Indianapolis, which sank in shark-

infested waters during World War II, Brody and Hooper gain a new sense of

understanding of, and admiration for, Quint’s obsession with killing sharks.

It’s important to note that these types of power are not exclusive of one
another; indeed, most leaders wield several, if not all, of these types of power.

QUINT, CHIEF BRODY,

and Matt Hooper each bring

something different to the

shark-hunting mission and

derive their power from

different sources. © Universal

Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection