POWER VS. AUTHORITY

POWER

Power is the ability to get others to do what you want them to do. It involves a relationship between 2 or more people. A person or group cannot have power in isolation. It has to be exercised or have the potential for being exercised in relation to some other person or group.

Unless power is shared, productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction will never reach their highest potential levels. Implementing power sharing takes time to develop within an organization’s culture. It cannot be forced on people, and proper leadership and vision are needed to implement the process.

Time is needed to develop:

i) better lines of communication,
ii) more trust, and
iii) openness between the power sharers – managers, subordinates or subunits, etc.

AUTHORITY

Authority is the formal power that a person has because of their position I the organization. It involves a "suspension of judgment" on the part of its recipients.

Authority has the following features;

1. It is vested in a person's position:

An individual has authority because of the position that he holds, not because of any specific personal characteristics.

2. It is accepted by subordinates:

The individual in an official position exercises authority and can gain compliance because they have a legitimate right.

3. Authority is used vertically and flows from the top down in the hierarchy of an organization.


Excerpted By: Timo Steve
COPYRIGHT 2007 Shaques Publishing Inc.