LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"The key to successful leadership is influence, not "In order to have influence, you have to be influenced." Stephen R. Covey

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We're going to explore this word INFLUENCE over the next number of weeks. I'm hosting a Global Leadership Summit in Georgia in March with Leader Mundial, and the theme this year is The Influence of a Leader. While we have a number of topics, books and presentations to address this, I wanted to simply look at some quotes that explore this more.

I've always appreciated the leadership principles from Stephen Covey, so when I saw this quote from him last week, I pondered it for a little bit. I think Covey's basic idea is that "to influence, you have to be influenceable."

We have all been influenced by somebody, whether we admit it or not. I believe there's a point in our lives where we open ourselves up to others, instead of insisting to do it all on our own.

Throughout my life, there are times when I sought out others advice and wisdom, and there have been times when I've relied on my own knowledge and abilities.

Here's what I've learned over the years:

There are times that I am completely capable to do things on my own, simply relying on my experience, my strengths and my own abilities.

However, when I bring others into the conversation, into the mix, I do better, the thing I'm working on is better and that leads to greater success or impact.

I think it's easy to believe the lie that says when you rely on other people, you're not capable! This isn't true.

When we rely on others, we're stronger, we're better and we accomplish more.

I go back to this story of my 21 year-old self in my first job as a Youth Pastor. I "believed" that I had to do everything, even though I had volunteer staff that wanted to serve with me and help me. I carried the load, I tried to do it all on my own, and I was an utter failure. My Youth Group shrunk because I couldn't keep up, yet I had all these people standing on the sidelines wanting to help.

Once I began to learn that lesson, things changed. These leaders impacted me, they taught me, they helped me, they supported me, they made me better.

I don't think it was an ego thing, but it was an ignorance thing.

I needed other people speaking into my life then, and I still need them now. This is where my influence comes from.... The wisdom of others!

Think of a time you chose to NOT listen to someone else or to NOT rely on someone else? What was the result? Did you learn anything from that experience?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority." Ken Blanchard

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We're going to explore this word INFLUENCE over the next number of weeks. I'm hosting a Global Leadership Summit in Georgia in March with Leader Mundial, and the theme this year is The Influence of a Leader. While we have a number of topics, books and presentations to address this, I wanted to simply look at some quotes that explore this more.

Look at these 2 words that are both connected to leadership:

AUTHORITY - INFLUENCE

AUTHORITY: Power is given by position

Authority is the formal right to make decisions, give orders and expect compliance. It comes from a role, title, or a structure.

INFLUENCE: Power is earned through relationship

Influence is the ability to shape someone's thinking, behavior, or decisions without forcing them. It is relational, not positional.

Think about different people in your life who have been in leadership above you. Did they use AUTHORITY for their power, or INFLUENCE?

• I remember a baseball coach, early in my little league career, say, "I am the coach! You have to listen to me!" That's AUTHORITY.

• I remember a boss in college say to me, "Russ, what do you think would be the best decision to make? That's INFLUENCE.

• I remember when I had to fire someone that reported to me early in my career... I tried the influence route, and that didn't work, so I pulled the authority card and fired him because of insubordination.

In leadership, there are times where we need to use both kinds of leadership, and both are important, however I think it's much more important to emphasize INFLUENCE over AUTHORITY, in fact if you lead from a position of influence, you won't need to rely on authority because of the trust that has been built through relationship.

Look at this:

• Authority can make people obey. Influence makes people believe.

• Authority works when you're present. Influence works even when you're absent.

• Authority makes you the leader on paper. Influence makes you the leader in reality.

• Authority changes behavior temporarily. Influence changes hearts and minds long-term.

What kind of leader do you want to be? Where does your power come from: AUTHORITY or INFLUENCE?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"The true measure of leadership is INFLUENCE - nothing more, nothing less." John C. Maxwell

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We're going to explore this word INFLUENCE over the next number of weeks. I'm hosting a Global Leadership Summit in Georgia in March with Leader Mundial, and the theme this year is The Influence of a Leader. While we have a number of topics, books and presentations to address this, I wanted to simply look at some quotes that explore this more.

A definition of Influence is simply this: "The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something."

Basically to "shape" something.

Here's a story of influence. I've shared this in the past, but it's such a good story, I want to tell it again.

When I was in High School, my dad was a pastor. He hired me as the church janitor, and my job was to clean the church during the week, and get it ready for Sunday Services. I usually spent a few hours on Saturday cleaning, then I showed up early on Sunday to dust and to make sure things were set for the day.

My dad showed me what he wanted done, and being a teenager, I looked for ways to do the minimum required and keep my job. Sometimes I didn't vacuum all the floor, or I wouldn't empty out all the trash cans. I remember trying to just get through it as quickly as I could, and sometimes I didn't really care about the quality.

My dad would point things out to me, and he'd remind me what I had committed to do.

But then, on Sunday Morning, if something wasn't done right, he would just do it. He'd dust the piano that I hadn't cleaned. He'd empty out the trash, or line the chairs up the way he wanted them to be.

He just did it. And I watched him.

Soon I realized that this job that I had was important. My dad really cared about what the sanctuary was like on Sunday Morning, and while he was the Pastor, he cared about the little things like picking up leaves and trash that blew into the entrance way overnight.

I watched him do it, and then I began to do it. I didn't want him doing my job, so I tried to do it better.

His simple attention to detail taught me something, and challenged me.

Here's the funny thing: Today, when I'm hosting an event, I pay attention to the little things, in fact I obsess about them. If something isn't right, I fix it. If there's paper on the floor, I pick it up. I care what things look and feel like.

Guess where I learned that. From my dad.

There was some teaching, but there was a lot of just "showing me" what was important.

This is influence. He shaped the way I worked and the way I think about preparing a room for something important.

WHO has influenced you in some way, large or small? WHO taught you or modeled for you something that has become important to you?