How would you define power in your own words How does power

How would you define power in your own words? How does power differ from authority? From influence?

Must be a good sized paragraph and in your own words or site the sources

Solution

Power is the influence that you have on other people. A person can have influence on others by the virtue of his or her personality traits, knowledge, skills etc. For example a doctor has the power to influence his patients to do something i.e if the doctor will tell his patients to give up saturated fats to avoid a heart attack, the patients will perform this act, under the power of the doctor\'s knowledge.

Power can also come from official position. Example a CEO can influence his employees by the virtue of his official position.

Power differs from authority. Authority is a right given to a person in the senior level of an organization. For example a manager working at a Ford\'s showroom has the authority to give a maximum discount of 5% on the cars on his own discretion. Power cannot be given by others but authority is always given.

Influence, like power, can effect the behavior of others. While power has a positive effect, influence can have negative effects. Children watching violent and action movies can get negativley influenced.