Acting within your Circle of Influence
Ask yourself: “Where do I have influence?”
Which leads to: “What kind of influence do I have?”
For things that matter most to us, it’s necessary to have an effective approach. Before addressing the people and places to which you believe you have influence, check in with yourself. Is the subject matter within your Circle of Influence, or does it actually fall within your Circle of Concern? Your Circle of Concern extends beyond your Circle of Influence. Meaning, you won’t always have influence simply because you have concern.
Sometimes it’s a bitter pill to swallow that you may only have little influence for some of the things that matter to you. There are ways for that to change. It’s important to assess your level of influence if you’d like to improve it. With an accurate assessment, you can choose the most aligned actions as you move forward. Part of this process is checking in with those around you. You don’t garner influence because you believe you have it. Your influence is perceived by your audience, whether that be your community or your online network.
You must accurately assess the subject matters in which you can effectively exhibit some form of mastery and expertise. Your mastery consists of studied knowledge and experiential knowledge. The greater your perceived mastery, the more influence you’ll have. If you don’t have mastery in the subject, you can still be concerned and still engage in discussions on the topic. There’s just a different way to go about it if you don’t have the influence yet.
Habits of Highly Effective People
Many moons ago (you know, in the 90’s), I read Stephen Covey’s book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” The book had a profound effect on how I viewed what determines the influence someone has on their surroundings. It was a major perspective shift. For my first 3 attempts at reading the book, I couldn’t fully process the first habit regarding proactivity. I was like, “if I can’t master the first habit, why even move on to the 6 remaining highly effective habits?” I eased up on my self-critique, and realized I was being too hard on myself. As many of us know, routinely taking a proactive approach is a process. It takes time to master.
I was captivated by the ideas shared about proactivity and how to have true influence. I strongly believed every responsible adult needed to understand the underpinnings of what comes with acting proactively versus reactively. I often gave this book as a gift to friends. When I became a health coach, I gave the book to clients. To this day, basic tenets of the book are as needed as before. There are many forces pulling us to rely on acting reactively, especially with the built-in designs for reactivity on social media platforms.
Have you noticed how reactive most online behavior seems to be these days? It will remain the default approach unless there’s deliberate intention to use proactivity and respond with awareness. Increased use of online platforms has broadened people’s Circle of Concern. People are more overwhelmed and anxious by the high number of concerns they can connect with daily. Making it much easier to lose sight of where one has influence to exact positive change.
A reactive approach may not seem inherently wrong, but you must consider the adverse effects. According to Covey, a reactive approach won’t increase your Circle of Influence. As you can see in the diagram below, reactive focus sets up a flow in which negative energy could reduce your Circle of Influence. To increase growth of your Circle of Influence to cover more of your Circle of Concern, it’s recommended to drive positive energy with a proactive focus.
Reduce Reactive Focus, Increase Proactive Focus
Some people believe that the concerns discussed within their social media network are within their Circle of Influence. This is not necessarily true. Social media platforms consist of high noise, low signal information. Also, the communication style is largely reactive. People casually act as if disseminating information has influence, but it often doesn’t. With the exponentially increasing amounts of information being shared online over the past decade, simply voicing concerns doesn’t hold much weight in having influence and exacting positive change.
To truly influence, certain criteria must be met. This includes genuine engagement, clarity of communication and deep understanding of the subject and solutions. Fortunately, our online connections allow opportunities for genuine engagement and discussions of substance. When meaningful interactions occur with those who have some mastery of the topic of concern, there’s more likelihood of actual influence. Which brings us back around to the initial question to ask yourself: “Where do I have influence?”
With regard to your broader concerns, ask: “Am I approaching the concern reactively or proactively?” You can also ask if you’re willfully engaging with someone who has more mastery or influence on the topic than you do. You can ask them how they perceive others to garner more influence. You can ask what are some best practices to take or what you can do to support those who have the greater influence for your concern.
As the model suggests, when you have a proactive focus using positive energy you’ll expand your Circle of Influence. First, you must affirm this as part of your core intention. Then, you gradually shift instances of reactivity within your Circle of Concern to increased proactive focus within your Circle of Influence. Are you wiling to improve your effectiveness to make this happen? Trust that this shift will bring you closer to possible solutions, while growing your influence potential.
