Carl asks

“Why? Whaddyer tryin’ t’be an Influencer or sumtin’?”

Carl, a voice from my youth, not a friend exactly, just someone I used to know, questioned why I write this blog, and post on LinkedIn, and Medium, and BizCatalyst 360. He couldn’t understand my motivation. Truthfully, I was having a difficult time explaining it.

“I dunno, I. . .”

“I mean, you’re not getting paid, right? You don’t even carry advertising. Why would you spend your retirement writing this ____? Yunno, Mr. Beast has millions of followers, makes a gazillion dollars and gives people houses, I don’t get why you do this? Just sayin’ . . .”

“I don’t know. I’m just trying to share some things I learned. . . and I like to write . . .I’m not trying to influence anyone.”

That conversation was last spring. Recently, Dr. Ali Anani, one of my LinkedIn connections, posted a piece on Influence, which caused me to reconsider the concept.

What is Influence?

“The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of something, or someone, or the effect itself.” (Oxford Dictionary)

It’s one of those words that can be a noun or a verb. Synonyms for the noun include impact, persuasion, clout, domination, and leadership; synonyms for the verb are shape, sway, persuade, affect, inspire, impress, manipulate, guide, and lead.

People talk about the influence of a leader, and that can be negative or positive so dominate, and manipulate sit cheek by jowl with inspire and guide.

Writers on Influence

Writers, long before me, pondered the positive and negative definitions of influence.

In sixteenth century Florence, Niccolo Machiavelli, writing in Discourses on Livi, noted that:

“A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.”

Machiavelli’s best known writing is The Prince, wherein he advocated a politics completely separated from ethics.

“. . . know how to take possession of popular prejudices and passions, in such a way as to introduce a confusion of principles which makes impossible all understanding . . .”

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, written in 1936, has sold over 30 million copies and the concepts have been used as the basis of countless sales, self-help, and leadership training sessions.

“The only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it.”

Carnegie’s advice often sounds like what my mother told me, “Smile, and listen,” and what my father did, “Say people’s names three times when you meet them so you’ll remember their name and they’ll know you are paying attention to them.”

In 1982, when I worked at training and consulting firm The Forum Corporation (now Achieve Forum a part of Korn Ferry), I taught their program Influence Management. This program taught how to “get things done through other people, without the use of direct lines of authority.”

The program was based upon competency research on what differentiated high performers in matrix organizations and other high influence environments. There were twenty three behaviors that all correlated  around a core of three practices:

• Being supportive and helpful
• Sharing power in the interest of a shared goal
• Behaving in a way that led others to trust you

Being supportive and helpful invites others to reciprocate. Sharing power prioritizes the shared goal over credit. Trust behavior was defined as being sure you share information, involve others in decision making that affects them, and always do what you say you’ll do, (Wouldn’t the world be better, if we all did these things?)

In 1984, Robert Cialdini of Stanford University (now at Arizona State), wrote Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Dr. Cialdini’s research showed influential behaviors included,

• reciprocity, give to get
• showing commitment and consistency,
• social proof (leading by example so others can copy),
• demonstrating authority (often knowledge based),
• being likeable, by connecting around similarities,
• scarcity, appear limited in availability, and
• unity, stress the consensus and group bonds that unite.

Cialdini, unlike Machiavelli, and despite the fact that he calls himself the “Godfather of Influence,” does not divorce these behaviors from ethical principles.

Influencer Marketing

OK, influencers didn’t just spring up with YouTube, despite the way that my granddaughter introduced me to Mr. Beast when she was ten.

“Look Grampa, this post by Mr. Beast has 34 million views, and because of the number of eyeballs, advertisers want to be associated with his YouTube site, and provide him with cash to give away houses and cars and stuff. The fact that so many of his posts go viral increases his influence on the market.”

(Did I mention that my son-in-law is in the marketing department of a major business school?)

There have been celebrity spokespeople forever. Roman gladiators advertised oils to fans. “Potter to her Royal Majesty Queen Charlotte,” Wedgewood used royal connections to promote blue-and-white-ware. Nineteenth century actress Lily Langtry promoted Pear’s soap and Santa Claus has been promoting Coca-Cola since 1931.

Social media just changed what it takes to be a celebrity. Now popular online personalities collaborate with brands to promote products, or otherwise sponsor their content. It is powerful stuff, which is why social media companies are creating rules to make it clear that influencers inform fans that they are being paid to promote brands, products or ideas.

Back to Carl

Why?

Do I want to be an influencer? Well maybe a little. I would like it if some wisdom I learned along the way caused someone to change their behavior or avoid a mistake I made.

Do I want to be rich? Not really.

Will I charge for a subscription to this shared knowledge? Probably not. Do I want to employ my writing to sell someone else’s salty snacks or dishwashing soap? Definitely not.

Do I want to be famous?

Well, I’d like a few more people to read what I write. So feel free to share links here. Famous though? Not-so-much.

Sorry, Carl.