Power and Politics Introduction Power and politics are two different concepts that represent the rough side of organizational life. Organizations are not democracies composed of individuals with equal influence. Some people will always have more power than others. On the other hand, power and politics are important organizational tools that managers must use to get the job done (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2008). To become a more effective manager is essential to understand how both of these concepts work and the difference between them. This paper will compare and contrast power and politics in organizations. It will also provide an analysis of organizational management and leadership practices that impact organizations as well as two real-world examples of the relationship between power and politics and how this relates to management and leadership practices. Compare and Contrast Power is defined as the ability to get someone to do something you want done or the ability to make things happen in the way you want them to. The essence of power is control over the behavior of others. Organizations are lead by power and when someone exercises power is because he or she has influence. There are two types of power: position and personal. Position power is formal authority based on the manager’s position in the hierarchy and personal power is based on one’s expertise and referent capabilities. There are six important aspects of position power: legitimate, reward, coercive, process, information, and representative power. Four bases of personal power are expertise, rational persuasion, reference, and coalitions. Managers can have both position and personal power. They can also become skilled at using various techniques such as reason, friendliness, ingratiation, and bargaining to influence superiors, peers, and subordinates (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2008). For