Everyone Has the Ability To Be an Influencer
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to hear change leadership expert Cheryl Cran at SilkRoad’s Connections Conference. If you ever have the chance to hear her speak, she’s definitely worth your time.
During her session, she made the comment that “Leadership is the ability to influence others.” I’ve been saying this for years as well…so I tweeted it out. One of the reasons I like this definition of leadership is because it also implies that everyone is a leader. Leadership is not designated for a certain group of people within the organization. Well, after I hit send on my tweet, I received a response.
Everyone can influence other people? Definitely not! Leadership is more than that anyway.
It’s easy to think that leadership consists of a whole bunch of things. I’ve done it myself. But leadership isn’t management. It’s also not the same as entrepreneurship. Leadership is one thing – influence. Granted management, entrepreneurship, and leadership work very well together. That’s what can add a layer of complexity to the leadership conversation. I’ve been thinking about this comment for a while, so I wanted to dissect it a little.
Leadership is the ability to lead, which is “to direct on a course of action or in a direction.”
Influence is defined as “the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something.”
So it seems logical that if you’re able to influence, then you can lead. Now this isn’t to say that influence is easy, because it’s not. Which is why leadership isn’t easy. But anyone can be an influencer. Here are some real life examples, some you may know, and some maybe not:
Erin Brockovich wasn’t a lawyer when she built a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company of California. But did she influence people? Yes. And to the extent that Julia Roberts portrayed her in a movie.
Alexandra Flynn Scott was diagnosed with pediatric cancer two days before her first birthday. Despite her health issues, she decided to open a lemonade stand. Alex’s Lemonade Stand for Childhood Cancer raised more than $1 million dollars toward finding a cure until the disease took her life. Since then, her parents have started a foundation in her name and raised close to $20 million dollars for awareness, education and research. Was Alex an influencer? You bet. And she continues to influence.
Miles Scott is a cancer survivor who wanted to celebrate completing his treatments by being “Batkid” for the day. The Make-A-Wish Foundation in San Francisco organized one of the most elaborate wishes ever, turning San Francisco into Gotham City, complete with an actor dressed as Batman, a Batmobile, and The Riddler villian. The city’s newspaper changed its name for the day, the Mayor gave Batkid the keys to the city, and over 10,000 residents crowded the streets to cheer. A documentary has been released about it. Did Miles influence a few people? Yes, he did.
There are thousands of stories like this. And there are stories like this in the business world too. Think of the people who enter the Lay’s potato chip contest and influence new flavors. Or the kid who makes the news by building a clock and gets an invite to meet Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook. That’s influence.
It’s true that influence might come easier when you’re famous or have a certain job title. But it doesn’t mean that influence isn’t possible. And that’s the point. Influence is possible at every level of the organization. The question becomes are organizations putting themselves in the position where they can take advantage of it.
Image taken by Sharlyn Lauby at an adventure in Chicago, IL
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