The Importance of Influence

I recently read a blog by Art Petty about the value of power and influence that I strongly agree with. As he points out, power and influence are tricky, as they are not things one should intentionally pursue.

In my opinion, if you lead your life, and especially your business life, in a can-do, helpful and caring way, power and influence are likely to come to you, and that is the best way to gain them, not as a goal – let them come to you naturally!

I think, as Petty does, that power and influence just comes to those who connect, motivate, inspire and who have a knack for getting things done.

I have written previously about being a go-giver, not a go-getter and have recommended The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann.

In The Go-Giver, the authors recommend living a life of delivering value to others, living and thinking first about others. And guess what? Living this way, thinking of others, wanting to be of service and to help others, will result in a network of people who admire, respect and appreciate you and will want to help you when an opportunity arises – for example, when you want to connect people to get something done.

Some people just know how to make these connections, but others don’t, i.e. they just do not have the knack of connecting people who have common interests and potentially influence and power. If you strive to develop this sense, I strongly recommend reading The Go-Giver. Again, one should not seek getting to know the right people, those with influence and power, but rather it is best that these relationships come to us naturally through living our lives thinking about and helping others, connecting people, doing what we say we’re going to do, and getting things done.

For example, in the corporate world, relationships with key people can come from doing small things. There are routine tasks that have to be done in any company, all organizations, all charities. What better way to become appreciated than showing a willingness to do these unglamorous, mundane jobs, and then doing them enthusiastically, no matter whether you are an up and comer or a high level executive. Offer a “Sure, I’ll do that,” and people, including those at the top, will be appreciative.

Petty espouses forging respectful relationships, supporting others more often than asking for support, knowing your boss’ goals and priorities, and helping your boss succeed by getting involved and making things happen. Having influence can be huge because it enables us to get things done.

Hard work (remember, the harder we work, the luckier we get), great ideas, getting the job done, naturally building a network, helping your boss succeed, and being a giver, will bring good things our way. We ourselves will succeed!

So, my call to action is to become known as one who can deliver, make things happen, get the job done, and be assured that there will be a demand for you.