Influence is the ultimate equalizer.
Contrary to popular belief, the ability to influence is not determined by position or power. You can assert power if you have the title or financial resources. But you cannot assert influence. It’s earned, one person at a time.
Others assign you influencer status internally, of their own free will. When they do, they’re willing to commit to your ideas and requests rather than to merely comply, evoking the principle of least effort.
Being influential is critical if you want to lead in our rapidly changing world. Decisions must be made faster and action taken more rapidly, while walls of resistance and resentment mount quickly as the Internet reveals what used to be concealed.
And the iceberg goes even deeper.