Legitimate Power, also know as earned or respect power, is a combination of respect, reputation, and your history. Reputation is the sum total of how you have conducted yourself in your professional and personal affairs. If you have shown respect, integrity, and character in all your dealings, people will know it.

Legitimate Power is the type of power an individual has when they are placed in special regard because of their honorable character. As a result of being honorable, other people trust and respect these individuals, willingly following them. This type of power is earned through one's track record, stability, and use of past power. It precedes a person and remains to influence others, even when their physical presence is gone. It exaggerates strengths and can create an aura that instills respect, even awe.

But more than just reputation, this power gets its roots from the 10 commandments of influence. Respect power is the hardest of all powers to gain. It must be earned one a drop at a time, but it is also the longest lasting. Respect power has a sustained influence on the audience long beyond the speaker's actual physical presence. The persuader must have honor, integrity, character, trustworthiness, and engender respect to earn Legitimate Power.

Respect power is based on having unquestionable honor, integrity, and dependability. When someone possesses Legitimate Power, their basic character is without deceit or fraud. Rather, their character is based on the truth. Such a personal commitment to integrity is felt by those around them and creates a long-term loyalty and respect. When individuals perceive that their leaders are legitimate, it gives them power. People instinctively trust them and are willing to be led and persuaded by them.

Parents and religious leaders often possess this type of power. Because of their reputation, people are influenced on the spot, without needing to analyze the speaker or the persuasive situation. Reputation has a power like magic. With one stroke of its wand, your good reputation can double your ability to persuade.

Francis Bacon once said, "Knowledge itself is power." Knowledge Power is earned Legitimate Power. It is based on the individual's expertise in a certain subject, procedure, or situation. People can be persuaded if they think you have more expertise than they do. For example, lawyers and doctors possess this type of power. People rely on their opinions, believe what they say, and trust implicitly what they do because of the extent of schooling or experience they have. We accept the arguments and data of people we assume have knowledge, whether it's real or perceived. Knowledge Power also includes experience, wisdom, and intelligence.

Informational Power - When you know something others need to know, you hold power over them. Informational Power is exerted when an institution's influence is based on the information it holds. Aristotle Onassis said, "The secret of business is to know something that no one else knows."

Resource Power - If you have access to key persons, commodities, goods, or services valued by others, you hold some power over them. As the saying goes, "It's not what you know; it's who you know."

Expertise Power - When you have special skill sets, expertise, or knowledge that others believe is relevant to their needs and which exceeds their own, they will do what you say or listen to your opinions.

Everyone persuades for a living. There's no way around it. Whether you're a sales professional, an entrepreneur, or even a stay at home parent, if you are unable to convince others to your way of thinking, you will be constantly left behind. Get your free reports at Magnetic Persuasion to make sure that you are not left watching others pass you on the road to success. Donald Trump said it best, "Study the art of persuasion. Practice it. Develop an understanding of its profound value across all aspects of life."