Power and Sources of Power

Concept of Power ?  distinguish between power, authority and influence. What are the various sources of power ?

CONCEPT OF POWER

Power is said to be like love, impossible to define but easy enough to recognise (Martin, 1977). Power is understood as the ability to influence other people and events.

In the words of White and Bednar, "Power is the ability, to influence people of things, usually obtained through the control of important resources."

A comprehensive definition of power is given by Dahl (1957), when he wrote that "A has power over l3 to the extent that he can get B to do something B would not otherwise do." Russell (1938) conceptualizes power as "the production of intended effects."

Dehl's definition suggests that power must overcome resistance in order to succeed whereas according to Russell, power need not imply resistance. All the above definitions suggest that power involves compulsion.

These has been a recent trend towards empowerment, the shifting of power away from managers and into bands of subordinates. Empowerment occurs in varying degrees in different organisations.

DIFFERENTIATING POWER FROM AUTHORITY AND INFLUENCE

Usually, the term power is intertwined with another concept, authority. But there is a difference between the two concepts. Power refers to the capacity to influence others. The person who possesses power has the ability to manipulate or change the behaviour of others. Authority, on the other hand, is the source of power. Authority is legitimate and it confers legitimacy to power. Power itself need not be legitimate.

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Counseling and Counselor Qualities

What is Counseling ? Salient features of counseling ? What are the Qualities of an effective counselor / helper ? 

Counseling : People seek the service of professional helpers-counselors, social workers, psychologists and psychiatrist - when their capacities for responding to the demands of life are strained, when desired growth seems unattainable, when important decisions elude resolution, and when natural support systems are unavailable or insufficient. Sometimes the person in need of help is urged or required to seek counseling by a third party, spouse, parent, employer, teacher, or judge who believes the individual is failing to manage some important aspects of life effectively.

The purpose of counseling, broadly conceived, is to enable the client to cope with life situations, to reduce stress, to engage in growth related activity, and to make effective and important decisions. Counselors increase their control over present adversity and present future opportunity as a consequence of counseling process.

Persons of any age, in any walk of life, and with almost any kind of problems can be helped to gain power over the adversities and opportunities of their lives. Counseling to achieve client empowerment is viewed by some as a generic process that includes same elements inherent of the context in which it is used. It does not matter whether it is performed in an organization, school, hospital or in a community counseling clinic, the basic structure of the helping process remains same. Let us examine a few salient processing of counseling in general in the next section. 

How counselling differ from psychotherapy ?

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