The Title less Influencer

An influencer in today’s parlance is someone who has millions of likes and is posting stuff every day to woo an audience that is drooling over and going in circles. Well, that can still happen if you are in love but that’s for another day.

You can get inspired by an ant which is not stopping anytime soon to get food no matter rain or sunshine. It can get crushed by anyone who has a bigger ego than the humble and hardworking ant. But the spirit of an ant can influence anyone who accidentally treads in its path. It just moves relentlessly and courageously without the outcome in mind.

This is not the story of Ant, the Influencer, so let’s get back to the topic.

If you check the definition of Influencer as suggested by Merriam Webster, it is one who exerts influence, a person who inspires or guides the action of others.

The keywords here are inspires and guides.

You can be influenced by your father, mother, the neighborhood vendor or perhaps the visiting help at your home. It doesn’t matter if they have the title of Influencer. In fact, they are not even aware that they are inspiring you to take some action in your life. What you are attracted to is some of the qualities of the real-world influencer who through their actions are changing the world, making it a better place.

So, influence is infectious, and it travels fastest on the authenticity wagon. Of course, in the digital world, spikes are normal in a nonstop quick fame and glamour frenzy world. However, only those influencers can survive the test of the time who have some value to offer, are real and have a genuine connection with the audience.

The second most important keyword is guides. The influencer shares his/her knowledge, expertise and helps people learn, adopt, upskill, or benefit in some way or the other. The true power of an influencer is the extent to which they are ready to share their true self in a responsible manner.

If your job is to find an influencer in your organization, look for impact in terms of value delivered and do some research for genuineness and not let likes and followers confuse you with the glittering shine

As Bob Marley has once said, “The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity to affect those around him positively”.