WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A WOMAN OF INFLUENCE?

Visibility

Jun 2

The title of what I want to talk about today is ‘What Does It Mean To Be A Woman Of Influence?’ understanding what influence means at this time in our culture and see how we can understand it and harness it for good in our work, our businesses and lives.

It’s a familiar word right now, right? Influence. Influencer. It’s a hot topic, has actually become a job title for some people, used in linked in profiles and Instagram profiles. According to agency Mediakix, influencer market value on Instagram alone is projected to rise from £2.3bn in 2020 to £12.5. in 2022.

Influencers with over 1 million followers have an engagement rate of 1.21%.

I want to caveat this post by letting you know that this is not a talk about the benefits or dangers of influencer marketing – this is so much bigger than that. There is no shame to be scattered here today. But influence as a concept has got me really curious because I feel like right now at this time in culture, it’s a word that’s skewed and it’s significant that we understand what it means and how we can harness it to do some good in the world. Some good that our world desperately needs.

I’m hoping that what I share here will give us all some insight into what it means to cultivate influence in a way that actually makes a difference - that shifts us away from the idea of influence being about consuming and see it more through the lens of contribution or contributing.

I want us to discover the essence of influence and how it can reveal something true and good about ourselves and the culture we live and operate in.

A few years ago I spent some time interviewing people from all walks of life to find out what influence really means to them; what or who they think about when they consider who or what has been most influential to their lives. And then breaking down what it was about those people or those situations that shaped them.

I distilled all of the information I gathered and what emerged was really fascinating and I want to share with you where it took me. But before I do –I want you to think of the things or the people that have been most influential to you. The people that have shaped you, left a lasting impact, have shown you something true about yourself. What were the qualities of that person? What made them significant?

For most of us, when we reflect on those influential people, it’s REALLY personal. It’s grandmothers, mentors, parents, teachers and people who have had direct access into our lives. There is a really personal layer to what makes someone influential in our lives. That’s personal influence.

What about social influence. Who are the thinkers, leaders, innovators that are shaping our view of the world and culture? Who are the people in that realm that are showing us something good and true? That’s another layer of influence, social influence.

Both personal and social influences can have an enormous impact on us and right now, as my research developed, there were 3 themes that seemed to be emerging as the most significant attributes of someone who is influential in both of these realms. There are 3 pillars that seem to cross over both the personal and social influence that we find most significant in our lives and I want to share them with you today.

The first one is INTUITION.

People of significant personal and social influence are acutely tuned into their own intuition.

This first pillar of influence came out of responses I got from people like:

- They had a strong sense of self

- They seemed to be able to try things and fail and get back up again.

- They had really deep convictions about things.

- They stepped outside of the noise and walked their own path.

What seems to be coming up over and over is that people who are personally and socially influential to us are those that are not swayed by the status quo. They are able to access an inner sense of self, of calling, of responsibility and move in that direction.

We live in such a noisy world. There are a million ways that we can be swayed and so many voices that are ready to tell us who we should be and what we should be doing or buying or being. What seems to be significant is that people of personal and social influence are those that can cut through the noise and develop a practice of listening to their own thoughts and ideas, accessing their own wisdom, knowledge and understanding and move through the world with that as their driving force.

INTUITION.

The second pillar that is coming up is INTEGRITY.

Responses that came up that have formed this pillar were:

- They were consistent with me.

- What you see is what you get with them.

- They were the same in real life as they are online.

- They showed up for me when things were hard.

- They always held on to what they believed in even when other people didn’t care or understand.

What’s coming out of the research is that INTEGRITY is a foundational quality of someone who is personally or socially influential.

It is one thing to have intuition, but the step after actively tuning into our intuition and being assured of our own wisdom is acting on it.

To me, this integrity isn’t about outer platforms – it’s about an inner posture. It isn’t about reach or popularity, it’s about depth and sincerity.

People that influence us in significant ways, in ways that bring out the good and the true things in the world are people of integrity. One of my favourite quotes is by an author turned marketing expert called Donald Miller and he says “what you believe, isn’t what you say you believe. What you believe is what you do”. Let me say that again.

This is integrity. Showing up, even when things are hard, doing the work of being a flawed human, trusting our intuition and our own mind and living out the things we believe in.

The final third pillar that I can see emerging is IMPACT.

People of great personal and social influence have a lasting impact. And not only have an impact, but know that their actions and their movements in the world have an impact.

The responses that formed this pillar were things like:

- She believed in me.

- They made me feel seen and heard.

- They called out something in me that I thought I had lost and I was able to see myself in that light again.

- They put language to the things that I had always thought but didn’t know how to articulate.

- He shone a light on something that I didn’t know what happening.

- Their example paved the way for others.

- They tried this way of doing things and it helped so many people, including me.

IMPACT. Small impacts, enormous impacts, but impact all the same. People of personal and social influence understand that they have the power to have a positive impact on the people and world around them and they take that responsibility seriously. They see the small things that make a big difference. They bring light to the dark places for other people and in the world around us.

We don’t need more popular people. We need more people of influence of THIS kind. We don’t need more people scrambling for space, clambering over each other to be seen. We need more people taking up spaces in the world and harnessing their intuition, integrity and impact. The people who are going to create really lasting, important things in the world will have these three things evident in their life.

And it’s my belief that if we can do the inner work of cultivating our intuition, our integrity and our impact, that our scope to leave the world and the people in it better than we found it is immeasurable.

As always you can reach out to me with any thoughts on IG or email. Feel free to share with your friends or on social media. And ill see you next time.