The Lord Of The Flies: Coercive Power

All leaders exhibit different traits that make them exemplary leaders in their ways, some leaders even resort to being stern and fearful to gain and maintain power. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there is a contention between the two leaders on the island. These two leaders, Jack and Ralph, both exert different forms of power. The boys soon discover that they have to choose a leader with the favored form of power. Overall, coercive power is the leading choice for gaining and maintaining power because coercive power uses fear and emotion to force subordinates to conform to the rules. Coercive power is valuable when gaining power as opposing leaders will feel threatened by the danger held in coercive power and be forced to allow the leader with coercive power to gain power. Towards the end of Lord of the Flies, Ralph's leadership started to tumble. Jack seemed to be taking over as the leader of the island. Two of Jack's group members, Sam and Eric, confronted Ralph to warn him of threats directed towards Ralph, “They hate you, Ralph. They're going to do you. They're going to hunt you tomorrow, and Ralph, Jack, the chief, says it'll be dangerous” (Golding 188). After Ralph found out about Jack's plans to harm him, he became engulfed in fear and started

In the article, the author accounts for how people act when under the leadership of a leader who utilizes coercive power. As stated by the author, “Employees may comply with a manager's directive because of fear or threat of punishment. Typical organizational punishments include reprimands, demotion, and dismissal.” (Luneneburg 3). The employees are more likely to do what is asked because of coercive power. The punishments given by a leader with coercive power enforce the leader's authority that they obtain with coercive