EYI (Expand Your Influence)
I recall a term “Circle of Influence” explained by Stephen Covey in his book – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. One of the past ministers in state government is my neighbor. We used to see lot of crowd in front of his house whenever he was at home during his minister-ship. But as soon as he lost the election and his position, he has become lonely. On the other hand there are great people who departed thousands of years ago from this earth but their followers are ever increasing.
If we deeply analyze them, we will find that it all depends on what is there at the center of Circle of Influence. Is it position, money, power, charisma, love or wisdom? The aura or circle of influence will be dependent on that fundamental nature of tangible and intangible things you choose. The influence of position, money will remain as long as they are with you. The day it is gone, your influence is finished but the aura of love, care and wisdom will last longer, sometimes even after you have left the planet.
Stephen covey explains that our success and effectiveness depends on how, when and where we are spending our time, energy and resources. If we focus on the areas which are out of our circle of influence, we will be wasting our time and energy. But if we focus within our circle of influence, results will be faster and better. One cannot control competitors but one’s product, services and employees are in their control. So they should focus on motivating employees, improving the quality of product and effectiveness of services. This principle can be applied to various problems and circumstances surrounding us. When you focus on your circle of influence, slowly your circle expands and your authority also widens.
5 tips to expand circle of influence:
- Focus and deploy your resources within circle of your influence and ignore circle of no influence and circle of no concern.
- Knowledge and wisdom is power. The durability of knowledge and wisdom will last longer than money and position.
- In this modern era, social connectivity can help in expanding circle of influence.
- Do not depend on one source of energy because once that source is finished your circle of influence will pounce like punctured balloon.
- Life of intangible things like love, care, knowledge and wisdom is far longer than tangible things such as money and position
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