I attended a conference once where I had the opportunity to listen to a keynote presentation by Joseph Grenny, one of the authors of Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change. It was awesome!

My Name is Influencer

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Kim, it was just a presentation.” Well, you are partially right. Yes, it was a presentation, but it was also confirmation!

Confirmation? Yes, confirmation! The research conducted by Mr. Grenny and his partners confirmed a secret I learned as a child. Now, are you wondering what the secret is? Okay, I will tell you. Leadership is influence!

Yes, I learned the “influence” secret when I was a child from my grandfather, who was a very wise man. When I was young, my family would always spend the holidays at my grandfather’s house. All of the children would be in his living room laughing and playing. Just imagine 20 plus kids running around, laughing, yelling and sometimes fighting.

My grandfather would sit in his recliner and watch us play. When the volume became too loud, my grandfather would call out to my cousin and I, and tell us to lower our voices. I didn’t understand why my grandfather would single us out, after all there were 20 kids in the room. So when I was a little older, I asked him “why did he always pick on us.”

I will never forget what my grandfather said to me. He looked me in the eye and said, “Kim you are a leader. The others follow your lead. So if you lower your voice, they will lower their voices. If you raise your voice, they will raise their voices.” After that conversation, I began paying attention to my interactions with my family and friends. I realized my grandfather was right. I learned I had influence with others. I was a leader!

Now that you are in your current position, are you an influencer ? According to Grenny, “what qualifies people to be called leaders is their capacity to influence others to change their behavior in order to achieve important results.”

[callout]Leaders who can inspire others to change their behavior are influencers.[/callout]

So why is it important to become an influencer? Your success is dependent upon others. To achieve your vision, you must get buy-in. In order to get buy-in, you must become an influencer.

To increase your influence with others, you must do the following:

  • inspire
  • empower
  • equip
  • support
  • invest

[shareable cite=”Kim D. Moore”]When we add value to others, we change behaviors and increase our influence.”[/shareable]

Now that YOU are in the chair, what steps will YOU take to become an influencer?

Your friend,
Kim

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Dr. Kim Moore

About the author

I'm Kim, your Educational Leadership Guide. I equip educational leaders with research-based and experientially learned educational leadership principles and best practices to promote student success.


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