The law of influence

On March 17, 2010, in Leadership laws, by Neculai Fantanaru

You will be ready to lead only when you will have the power to change the people around yourself.

Curiosity has always been in my nature. Out of curiosity I started to write, to research, to learn as many things as possible about the science of leadership and to devote myself to the development of the people around me. I started on this road on the wrong foot, making many mistakes, but it was worth the effort, and now I believe that this road is beginning to be more and more easier.

The influence test

I write and I will always write. I don't write in order to praise someone, I don't write in order to flatter someone or out of the desire to generate more traffic on the website. I write in order to know myself better, but maybe some day my words, the messages I convey and scatter through the simple words and phrases will get to mean something for someone. Maybe my words will be covered in the thick dust of time. But maybe they will make someone curious. And if they will stay on many people's minds and will have the power to inspire them, make them discover and use their potential at a maximum, I will truly be happy.

This was the first test I alone decided to give myself. The test of influence. Depending on the results obtained, putting in balance the number of positive and negative feedbacks I receive from my readers, I will know the level I'm at, which, in fact, is the measure of my influence. Influence must be measured before determining its quality.

I don't intend to attend a master's program nor a PhD program in order for my professional training to be taken seriously. Ultimately, if they would be of any help, they would only help me. And just like a great writer noticed, man can learn a lot, but learning doesn't mean having knowledge. Beside that, no diploma in the world will make a person with influence and not that many a door will open for me. But if I improve enough and share with others what I know, what I think, what I believe, through the internet, both me and others will have something to gain.

Leadership is a team game, a game which everyone must win. If I would think only of myself, confidently miming interest and concern, I could have a short term influence and I would ultimately be marked as “spam”, just like more and more politicians, who use a lot of techniques in order to trick people.

This is why I write, always trying to add clear, quality and as useful as possible information, so that everything I know, all the knowledge I gained in time will reach everyone's ears. I cannot keep at the bottom of my being something that for others would be really useful. And I will always be as honest as possible, without trying to cut a dash only for wanting to be remarked.

In the beginning was the word

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist priest who wished from all his heart the fulfillment of the biblical principles of life and freedom. He understood that the Americans were lucky to have been born in that great country and that there is no other nation like it in the world. This is what he said in his speech on 28 August 1963, on the occasion of the march on Washington:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

These words are pure gold. They inspired all the color population in America. Only a man with strong convictions, who has a dream and completely devotes himself to fulfilling it can speak some words with such great influence. Only a man motivated to fulfill his ideal and who looks for ways to build bridges between people can guide them on the difficult road of upswing. Martin Luther King Jr. was certainly a leader with an incredible power of influence.

Whom and how do you make your influence?

First of all, leadership requires influence and not everyone has a high enough ability to make an influence. In real life, the higher the position a man takes in society, the higher his level of influence.

What would you like more: to rule or to be ruled? If your greatest ambition is to be in a dominant position, then extend your level of influence. Your success will greatly depend on the success of the people you lead. Your influence will be the greatest if their success will be the greatest.

Just like a teacher is always judged by the results of his pupils, you will also be judged by the results obtained by the people you lead.

If you hold a leadership position, don't forget that the problems people have to deal with are always your problems, as well. You won't be able to have a positive influence over people if you don't get involved in solving the problems they have to deal with, leaving everything to chance, thinking that it is only their job to solve them.

Conclusion: It is a real art to know how to make yourself listened to and be followed by the people around you. But you can obtain this only by hard work and sometimes taking difficult roads. Feedback from people will help you to assess yourself and to continuously improve your relationships with them.

How do you measure your influence? How are you labeled by other people? Is your influence of short or long term? How do you build bridges between people? Do you have strong convictions? Are you devoting yourself completely to the fulfillment of an ideal?