Everyone influences others. You don’t have to be in a high-profile occupation to be an influencer; whenever your life connects with another person, you exert influence. Everything you do– at home, at work, or at play—has an impact on the lives around you. No matter what your goals are in life, you can achieve them faster, you can be more effective and the contribution you make can be longer-lasting if you learn to develop your influence.
Pictured right: Tammy Tiller-Hewitt, FACHE, Chief Executive & Chief Motivational Officer
Integrity allows others to trust you. When you earn trust, people respect your motives instead of suspecting them. Consequently, the trust gives you the opportunity to influence and add value to their lives.
If you look around, you will discover that the people in your life are hungry— for encouragement, recognition, security, and hope. The process of feeding these basic human needs is called nurturing. Influencers nurture others, not to make people dependent on their leadership, but to free people to reach their potential.
Your goal as an influencer is not to get others to think more highly of you. Rather, your duty as a leader is to get people to think more highly of themselves. Rarely do external difficulties defeat people; usually a lack of self-esteem holds them back.
Be impressed and interested, not impressive and interesting. If you consistently listen to others, valuing them and what they have to offer, they are likely to develop a strong loyalty to you, even when your authority with them is unofficial or informal.
Most people do not look beyond their own experience when dealing with others. They tend to see events through the grid of their position, background or circumstances. Their narrow vision of life alienates others and hinders relationships.
Most people want to get ahead, but they are reluctant to change. They are willing to grow only enough to accommodate their problems; instead they need to stretch until they reach their full potential. On their own, most people stop short of achieving their best. They need someone to come alongside them in order for their dreams to translate into reality.
People need assistance as they work through life’s difficulties. When the storms hit, they need guidance until they can travel under their own power. You need to help them find their path, avoid pitfalls, and stay on course. At times, this means walking beside them on the journey until they can navigate on their own.
Many leaders believe that it is the follower’s responsibility to initiate contact with them, but the reverse is true. To be effective, you must initiate connections. Unless you meet people where they are, no progress will be made.
When you empower people, you share yourself—your influence, position, and wisdom—so that they can function at their best. Empowering means entrusting power to others. The act of empowering increases the stature of others without decreasing your own authority.
Anytime you influence people who either do not or cannot exercise influence with others, you limit the extent of your leadership. However, when you influence leaders, you are not influencing just them; you are indirectly influencing all of the people they influence as well. The effect is multiplication.
If you have an upcoming leadership meeting, retreat or training, one of our leadership programs may be a great fit for your needs. Contact Tammy @ tth@tillerhewitt.com
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