Fun With Words: Defining Power

Power is defined in my Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary as a possession of control, authority, or influence over others.

According to Dictionary.com:
1.
ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something.
2.
political or national strength: the balance of power in Europe.
3.
great or marked ability to do or act; strength; might; force.
4.
the possession of control or command over others; authority; ascendancy: power over men's minds.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_power

Politcal Power is seen as an act of domination by its very definition.

Anthony Robbins provides his understanding of power in his book, Unlimited Power as such:

“I don't think of power in terms of conquering people. I don't think of it as something to be imposed. That kind of power seldom lasts. But you should realize that power is a constant in the world. You shape your perceptions, or someone shapes them for you. You do what you want to do, or you respond to someone else's plan for you. To me, ultimate power is the ability to produce the results you desire most and create value for others in the process. Power is the ability to change your life, to shape your perceptions, to make things work for you and not against you. Real power is shared, not imposed. It's the ability to define human needs and to fulfill them—both your needs and the needs of the people you care about. It's the ability to direct your own personal kingdom—your own thought processes, your own behavior—so you produce the precise results you desire.”


There is a difference between Imposed Power and Harmonious Action. There has to be value on both sides of the bargain or else you produce misery when might and deceit are the tools.