"It is interesting to think that maybe social media is not only democratizing communication, but also influence and the ability to influence.
“I do question whether people actually think that they are influencers, but I believe they see their potential. What's interesting about Twitter and the influencers that someone follows – like say Shaquille O'Neal – is that they see someone who is using the exact same tools that they have access to and I think that inspires this hope to be able to really engage with someone like him.
“So signing up with a service like Twitter and then following him and taking the next step to reply to him and then the next step where he actually replies to you or he retweets you and suddenly you've become an influencer. Suddenly you are picked up by this person you admire or follow and that just changes the dynamic and then you get more confidence around influencing others and you look for ways to do it.”
Leaders are always looking for ways to influence followers – to motivate them to think or act in a particular direction. What Dorsey alludes to in his interview is how empowering it is to followers to catch the attention of, have the ear of, and potentially influence leaders. Influence – like trust, respect, loyalty, and other elements of strong leader/follower relationships – is a two-way street. The more leaders give the more they get.
Many of today’s leaders question the value to them of social media like Twitter. If you fall into that group, give these questions some consideration. How accessible are you to the people you want to influence? What opportunities do you give them to influence you? How personal are those opportunities? How do they know they’ve been heard? How much do you know about what’s in the hearts and on the minds of the people you want to influence?
