Power 7

In the last byte, we looked at some of the ethical issues that come in the context of power usage. In today's byte, we look at the two faces of power - personal power (a negative one) and social power (a positive one).

Personal Power is a negative face of power and essentially signifies the use of power for personal gains. Another description for the managers who use personal power is "power hungry". Extreme cases of personal power are called - Machiavelli - i.e. willing to it whatever it takes to get one’s own way. These people are generally unconcerned about other's opinion or welfare.

The positive face of power - Social power - represents the use of power to create motivation or to accomplish group goals. This could be done through the following four power-oriented characteristics:

1. Belief in the authority system
2. Preference for work and discipline
3. Altruism
4. Belief in justice.