How Are You Using Your Influence?

By Linda Fisher Thornton

With leadership responsibility comes a certain amount of influence. We can impact how people think. We can advise them on the choices they make and invite them to follow our lead.

“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” ― John C. Maxwell

How are you using your influence?

The best leaders use their influence for more than just achieving their own goals and the goals of their organizations. They use their influence to develop others and nudge them to grow into their own greatness. This not only helps the leaders who are supported and developed, but also all those people they will lead in the future. In this way. great leaders create a ripple of positive influence that extends beyond the tenure of their own leadership.

Ethical influencers leave a positive legacy that outlasts their leadership.

With leadership influence comes a certain amount of responsibility. We can impact how people take responsibility for their actions. We can advise them to make ethical choices and we can set the example as an ethical leader.

How are you using your responsibility?

The best leaders take responsibility for their actions and encourage open dialogue about how to make ethical choices. They are not afraid to make mistakes and they admit them and learn from them. They help others understand that ethical business is not just “the right thing to do,” it helps define the organization’s ethical brand value and helps provide a competitive advantage.

Are you an ethical influencer in your daily leadership?

We can use our influence to develop future leaders (who will then go on to influence many others). Along we way we need to help them learn how to make ethical choices. That is the straightest path to leaving a positive leadership legacy in a world where identifying “the right thing to do” is challenging and complex.

Are you an ethical influencer in your daily leadership? How will you use your influence to leave a positive legacy?