Influence Is The New Authority

Be Careful…Or Not.

When I was laid off from a company after ten years, I found myself unreasonably giddy. Finding that next job was not the first thing on my mind. I had a number of projects and ideas that had been languishing for years. An unfinished novel, a dozen or more starts on short books and blogs, business ideas, and most importantly — no desire to be careful. That last thought struck me in the place where so many others were seeded, in the shower. It was like an epiphany, or as spiritual folks would say, it was inspired. As I reflected on my life there was one thread that carried through. I was always careful. And I don’t mean shy or withdrawn, I mean thoughtful and methodical. Now was not the time to be careful. It was time to take some chances.

Over the coming months I finished that novel, wrote an e-book, dozens of blogs, started two businesses, and like so many writers and small business owners found myself in need of a job that actually pays bills. Preparing for interviews took more work than I had remembered, and that became painfully clear when I was asked a fairly simple question that I couldn’t answer with any reasonable clarity. In fact, my answer sounded like something from the Wizard of Oz — a clinking, clanking collection of collagenous junk. The question was, “What is your greatest strength?” And no, I’m not a complete idiot, I did prepare an answer, just not a detailed answer. Part of my answer was that I was an Influencer. The follow up question was, “What makes you a good influencer?” And that’s where a bunch of disjointed, rambling nonsense came out of my mouth. As a side note and unbelievably, I ended up with three more interviews with this company and got down to the final four — but alas, no job offer for me.

My strengths as I had listed them for that interview were Collaborative Leadership, Strategic Thinker and Influencer. I had all kinds of examples of what I had done in those areas, but I had given no thought to where those skills actually came from. In relation to that particular question, what made me, or anyone else, a good influencer?

One of those starts I mentioned earlier (for those non-writers out there, a start is the premise or idea for a story) was about influence versus authority. It was about now, as the shampoo was running into my eyes that the correlation between influence and my careful nature came together.

So, I did what careful, thoughtful people do. I sat down and started to review my personality, my leadership style, and the highlights in my career that directly related to influence. I surprised myself when I saw the correlations and connection points between several major achievements and the effect that influence had on them.

Influence is becoming a muddled term as it becomes more closely related to social media influencers. Many people might think of Kardashian’s more than a skill set when it comes to influence. One definition of Influence that I found seems to capture its essence as an aptitude as well as a marketing function.

Influence is the capacity or power of persons to be a compelling force on or produce effects on, the actions, behavior and opinions of others.

I found that those gifts of collaborative leadership and Influence went hand in hand. It seems that I had done this so long that it felt natural to act as an influencer. That, of course is no answer, it was the same drivel that I had fed to the interviewer and gotten away with it. But during my reflection I dug into the real question — what is it that makes a good influencer?

The first one directly related to my careful nature. I found that for me, influence comes from not being reactionary. I’m pretty smart, well-spoken, I listen and think before I speak. It seems true that people look for the calm in a storm. Over my career, the companies I had been with had calamities of all kinds and I found that I had been instrumental during many of them. That leads to the next part of the answer to what makes a good influencer. A tendency towards action over inaction that will consistently put a person on a go-to list for problem solving.

Then I started looking at that other strength I had listed — Strategic Thinker. What did that even mean? If an interviewer was going to dig in and ask what makes me a strategic thinker, I had all those work examples, but I didn’t have an answer as to why. And as I carefully gave thought to the why, another connection point came back to influence. There is one phrase that has always been a spark for me when I hear it — “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” If there is one thing that leads to strategic thinking and innovation it’s questioning the way we’ve always done it.

My favorite piece of clothing in college was a well-worn, once red, now more pinkish t-shirt that read QUESTION AUTHORITY, in all caps but written out very small across the front. And as it turns out, it’s sometimes the person who questions authority who is in the position to influence outcomes. As a twenty-something I just liked the idea of being a non-conformist and bucking against traditional power roles of any kind. But when you apply this thought carefully and intelligently in a business, what you get is the balance of customer intent with the company’s position. Another piece of the influence puzzle, when people know you are coming at a problem objectively.

The last part that fit in didn’t come from strategic thinking or collaborative leadership or any other soft skill I could identify. It was just a part of my personality that tends to air itself frequently. I’m honest and I admit when I’m wrong. Transparency helps to develop relationships not only with customers, but with leadership, peers and teammates alike.

So I thought I would introduce a definition for Influence that might not be accurate in any dictionary sense of the word but in an increasingly influence driven society it may be the best way to describe it.

Influence is producing effective, encouraging change.

Influence has this almost magical, compounding effect. Success that comes from influence, builds on itself, which then increases trust and more influence in new areas. No one wakes up one day to find they have become an influencer. It’s a process that begins with successful change. At some point the most successful influencers will gain authority and that’s where integrity will be tested. If you stick with the same qualities that made you an influencer to begin with; personality traits like honesty and transparency, and skill-sets like collaborative leadership and strategic thinking, you’ll seldom need to make use of the authority you’ve been given. You’ll produce effective, encouraging change without a list of directives, policy and procedure or rules of engagement. I once won a corporate contest for a new leadership tagline — Leadership is the voice people listen to and follow. That voice can be authoritative or influential. Influence is a choice. And it’s a voice that resonates far above authority.