Expanding Your Circle of Influence

FountainBlue’s May 13 When She Speaks online program was on the topic of ‘Expanding Your Circle of Influence’. Please join me in thanking our hosts at Texas Instruments and our esteemed panelists. 

We were fortunate to have such inspiring, accomplished and influential panelists for this month’s When She Speaks program. Although they represented a wide breadth of backgrounds and experiences, they had much in common:

• They proactively navigated the challenges and opportunities in their personal and professional lives to continue to learn and grow, while inspiring and empowering others around them.
• They embraced opportunities to try new things, even when it was intimidating to do so, and learned from their successes, but learned more from their failures.
• They have the self-awareness and the strength to challenge themselves and choose to be better, to do better for themselves, and for those they touch.

Our panelists commented on how being influential can help them better:

• Run fast, run well, and move slowly when necessary.
• Feel heard, be heard, drive strategy and impact results.
• Collaborate, connect, and conspire with others to move the needle forward.

Below is a compilation of their advice on how to be more influential. 
Be Strategic

• Clearly communicate and connect on the business and social/sustainability value of what you’re doing, and empower and inspire everyone to contribute to that common goal.
• Embrace a learning and growing mindset, and humbly empower others around you to grow and succeed.

Communicate with Influence

• Communicate with transparency, authenticity and purpose. Listen deeply and well so that the thoughts and ideas of others can contribute to that purpose, and so that all can be engaged with that purpose.
• Let the data inform your communications, decisions, and strategies.
• Think, speak and act in alignment with your values and the vision, and be resilient and focused on delivering measurable results. 
• Understand the motivations of others around you who may be resistant to a concept, technology, project or idea you’re advocating.
• Consider the words you choose and the way you speak them, as well as the profile and interests of the audiences you’re addressing. 

Expand Your Circle of Influence

• Collaborate to make things happen, for we all have pieces of the puzzle – independent of role, seniority, organization, gender, geography, etc.
• Invite people with diverse backgrounds into the fold, and inspire, empower and enable them to speak their ideas and their truth, for the betterment of all.

Below are thoughts on how to expand your own influence.

• Be other-centric rather than self-centric. It’s hard to follow and support someone who has a WIIFM (what’s-in-it-for-me) attitude. And it’s very clear to all who has that attitude.
• Choose carefully who you spend time with and how you give and receive energy with every conversation and connection. 
• Challenge yourself and others to do better, be better, while being positive and constructive at all times. 
• Help everyone “be the change they want to see”.

It was my pleasure to facilitate such an inspiring and powerful panel of influential world-changing leaders. They challenge us all to not only be more influential, but also to inspire and empower all we touch to do the same.

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