When we hear the word power we usually think of it negatively, because the term power has a negative connotation. But in reality what is power? And how is it different than authority and the most important why do we see it as a negative thing.
Power is actually the ability to influence other people's will to do something we want them to do. It is a natural thing that comes from within the person, from his personality and it's often linked to his knowledge, expertise and experience. Power is not hierarchical but it rather flow in all different directions which means it's not linked to a certain level. Power stays within a person so once powerful remains powerful.
Authority is something different, even though many people mistaken it to be the same thing as power. Authority the ability to command people to do something, it's legitimate, it's linked to a certain title or position which automatically makes it hierarchical, it flows from up to down. And it stays withing the position and not within the person possession.
As we see power and authority are quite the opposite, they're completely different, but still power can be sometimes legitimate and its use can effective and beneficial. The fact of often linking power to something negative is because power can be abused easily and that's what usually happens.
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