INFLUENCE is a very critical issue in life. Influence is power – it produces power, it produces money, it makes or destroys relationships, it promotes, it produces affluence and recognition.
We are always influencing people and people are always influencing us. Influence is a currency we all spend.
We all have influence one way or the other and we can increase our influence and make it profitable to us and those we influence.
“Whether we are aware of it or not, every day we are either influencing or being influenced. It is one of the many transactions we are having with life that we are often unaware of. In the corporate world we use influence to accomplish two things; either we want to influence others to buy our products or services or we want to influence ourselves or our teams to improve our or their effectiveness. In its most distilled form, our effectiveness is directly proportional to our ability to influence the people around us. We can both become more influential and we can create more influence around us.” Duncan Stevens
Influence is affecting people’s beliefs and actions. Influence is wanting people to act in a particular way.
“Influence is the ability to inspire action. That’s it. Influence is the ability to inspire action.
The most influential people in the world can inspire action. They can cause action. They create the action. They are a catalyst for action to take place.” Rory Vaden
Influence is not static – it can increase or decrease and there are certain things that can be done to increase or decrease influence.
If our lives will count we need to regularly check the state of our influence – who are we influencing, who is influencing us, what is the nature of our influence, is our influence having the desired impact etc.
How to enhance your influence (II)
Last time we began looking at how to enhance our influence. Influence is a very critical issue in life. Influence is power – it produces power, it produces money, it makes or destroys relationships, it promotes, it produces affluence and recognition.
We all have influence one way or the other and we can increase our influence and make it profitable to us and those we influence.
Influence is not static – it can increase or decrease and there are certain things that can be done to increase or decrease influence.
If our lives will count we need to regularly check the state of our influence – who are we influencing, who is influencing us, what is the nature of our influence, is our influence having the desired impact etc.
One vital key to enhancing our influence is competence. If our influence will be enhanced we must be competent in whatever we do. Competence makes people we relate to trust us to get the issues involved in leadership right. We must get better per time. We must avoid errors, mistakes and failures. Competence is the right mix of knowledge and skill. If one part of the equation is missing, competence is lacking. Competent people know what to do and how to do it. Competence is getting it right the first time and every time.
“Competence alone can’t make a leader, but it can undo one. While inaction is a prime problem facing many organizations (and individuals, for that matter), there’s the very real possibility that one is doing the wrong thing. An incompetent leader has almost unlimited opportunities to be ineffective.
Knowing what to do—professional competence—is vital. Being competent doesn’t mean that a leader knows how to do everything, but rather that they know what to do and how to get it done. Even the most brilliant leader who tries to go it on their own is setting themselves up for failure. A good leader will know where their strengths and weaknesses lie and thus know what kind of expertise they will need to surround themselves with.” Leadershipnow.com.
TO BE CONTINUED
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HOW TO ENHANCE YOUR INFLUENCE Part 3
We have been dealing with the issue of enhancing our influence . If our lives will count we need to regularly check the state of our influence – who are we influencing, who is influencing us, what is the nature of our influence, is our influence having the desired impact etc.
The tree of influence thrives where trust is abundant. The foundation to any influence is trust. We tend to be influenced by people we trust more than those we do not trust.
“Trust is the foundation of great leadership. Building trust means that through your actions, you make team members feel comfortable relying on you, feel confident in your abilities and your intentions and feel motivated by working with you. One of the best ways to build trust is by giving it to your employees before it’s earned. This can help you connect with your team members because they will appreciate being trusted and may work harder to keep it.” Jennifer Herrity.
Our leadership influence is also enhanced by our reputation . When our reputation is good our influence is likely to be enhanced and grow. People will rather follow and be influenced by a leader with good reputation than one with a bad reputation. Reputation is what people think about us.
“A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich; a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.” Proverbs 22.1.
“And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil.” 1 Timothy 3.7.
Reputation is not automatic, it has to be built.
We must build our reputation by being promise keepers. We must be people who keep our word. We must be genuinely interested in people and not just in getting things done. Also, being competent enhances our reputation.
Integrity is a sine quo nom for enhancing our influence.
“Love and truth form a good leader; sound leadership is founded on loving integrity.” Proverbs 20:28 Message.
Integrity will keep us on track and safeguard us from falling.
“The integrity of the honest keeps them on track; the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin.” Proverbs 11:3.
We cannot live a double life and expect that our influence will grow. We must not just say things but do as we say. We must be models and model what we want people we influence to be and do.
“Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” 4.9 Message
CONCLUDED
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