I agree with my peers’ choice of referent power. I believe it one of the most influential types of powers besides informational, charismatic and legitimate powers. In referent power, the leaders get to influence their followers due to the affection, respect, friendship, loyalty that the followers have on them. A leader could not demand the attributes mentioned above from their followers if they were hard to relate to, unreasonable and unsuccessful. To receive respect, loyalty, and admiration from others, one must be a good manager; one that had good track records, have a good relationship with his or her followers and above all, he or she must be willing to assist his or her followers.
A stakeholder is any person who has an interest in something or an organization. The interest can take various forms including shares. In communicating, managers ought to communicate with all the stakeholders in an organization regardless of how small or little their interest may be in the organization. In this regard, the stakeholders include the following; shareholders, fellow managers of the organization, workers, the community, sponsors, beneficiaries, government, unions, suppliers, creditors, directors among others. The list is long. However, the main point is that a stakeholder is a person or an institution that gets affected by a given organization’s activities or decisions.
Constant and effective communication with stakeholders is vital for any institutions. There are various means of communicating with the stakeholders, but there are specific methods that can help in communicating with stakeholders effective. Some of them include the following. First, it is essential to create transparency by making all necessary information open and available to all the stakeholders. Secondly, continuously educate stakeholders to make them aware of what they should and should not do. More importantly, apply the right communication channel in communicating with a particular audience or group of stakeholders.