What is Referent Power? Definition and Examples

Consequences of Using Referent Power
Richard Aghama Okundia, Student (Other), Nigeria, Member
What will be the effect and what are the likely drop-backs faced when using this source of power?
Please give a practical example if you can.

Expectations from the Referent Power
Priya Rathore, HR Consultant, India, Member
@Richard Aghama Okundia : There are no drawbacks whatsoever using referent power. The point is here, not many people have this power.
They may have the remaining, i.e. legitimate power, reward power, expert power, coercive power. But to have referent power, you have to excel in the charisma domain in a way that people want to idolise you even if they can perform better than you. For example Charlie Chaplin. We have had better comedians than Charlie Chaplin, but he has the amazing referent power that people idolise him.
The drawbacks are not the ones that are faced by the others. But the drawbacks are faced by the people who possess these powers. The people who possess the referent power are under constant scrutiny. They are evaluated every moment and there is a vast degree of expectation from the people around as not just the task, but the charisma of the person draws newer expectations from the people.

Referent Power (French and Raven)
Jaap de Jonge, Editor, Netherlands
Indeed referent power is the power someone has, because another person likes or wants to be like that person. It can be thought of as charisma, charm, admiration, or appeal. It comes from one person liking and respecting another, and strongly identifying with that person in someway.
Celebrities have a lot of referent power, allowing them to influence what people buy (this effect is heavily exploited in various forms of advertising) and even who should be elected to certain political positions.
Also in (business) organizations, people with charm often make colleagues feel good, and have a lot of influence as a result. Referent power is also typical for great leaders. Consider for example in charismatic leadership.
A potential drawback of referent power is that it can be abused, for example for coercion or social exclusion, because someone with a lot of referent power could easily cause someone to be shunned by others in some group or department by saying something negative about that person.
@Tom, I improved the text of the summary to explain referent power more clearly. Thanks for this tip.