13 Power, Influence and Behaviour
Legitimate power denotes authority to act or direct others to act. In an organisation such legitimacy is conferred by appointment, in a democracy it is by election, but informally it is conferred by the simple inclination of others to follow your lead. Max Weber, the sociologist, philosopher and social theorist, distinguished three ideal types of legitimate authority: charismatic, traditional and legal.1 He described charismatic authority as an extraordinary and personal gift, akin to the Heroic theory of leadership. Traditional authority was based on inheritance, which is passed from one generation to the next, like a monarchical or noble line of succession, while legal-rational ...
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