Contents
How to wake up your inner influencer
Psychology
Xavier Santigosa, founder of a professional skills development company, teacher and lecturer, has just written his first book «The influencer that we carry within», in which he unravels the skills to get to influence others
What surrounds us influences us, but not everything in the same way or with the same intensity. And this does not mean either that each step we take in our life is given by the influence of someone or something, but it does happen with many of our acts or behaviors.
Xavier Santigosa, founder of a professional skills development company, teacher and lecturer, has just written his first book «The influencer that we carry inside», in which he unravels each of the skills of so-called influencersThose who manage to have a legion of people who follow them (not necessarily on social media) and whose decisions influence others.
«After years observing leadership and influence situations inside and outside companies, and if we incorporate into all this what we learn every day (good and bad) about online influencers, I have created the method Gym of Influence, in which we can identify the four progressive stages of influence that we find in those people, anonymous in many cases, with the ability to also influence outside the networks “, says the author of” The influencer that we carry inside. “
In his book, where you can find four interviews with different influencers from different sectors, the now writer shows us the keys to becoming an influential person, but also makes us dive into our minds to know the names of those people who have most influenced in our life.
What differentiates influencers from those who are not?
We can all become. There is a very important issue and that is that to influence you have to add value; you don’t influence anyone without contributing. The online phenomenon of influencers is very worn and it is a concept that even they do not like, but instead there is always something good behind you, because someone who is capable of generating a legion of followers that follows them is for something positive.
These types of people add value and being aware of what that value is is important, because sometimes they become unconsciously successful. Most influencers have become successful and influential without realizing it: uploading recipes, recording videos about video games, showing looks … What’s so special about them? It is important for everyone to know.
How do we find out where to stand out? Do you think that the scarce or unknown is the most desirable?
Acquiring awareness of what value we are contributing to others in whatever field (music, medicine, fashion …) allows us to influence to a greater extent and exploit it in a better way.
I do not consider that it has to be something that is seen little, but it does have to be distinguishable. More than scarce, I would say differentiable. In the book, one of the things I liked doing the most was interviewing different influencers. Each of them knows how to explain what their value is. In one of those interviews they told me that they do not play any role on social media. The day a food influencer cooks, it is because she really feels like it, and the day she is ill or uninspired, she does not upload any content, because she knows that her greatest strength is in showing her personality in front of her work and hobby.
In his book “The influencer that we carry inside” he develops the Gym of Influence method. What does it consist of?
Part of the basis that the first thing to become an influencer is to want to influence. Since wanting is not power, you have to apply a method. The second is to bring that desire to the level of consciousness and the third is to train it, because influence can be trained. From there is born Gym, gym where you train, and in the end we improve without any doubt. I created Gym of Influence because the influence is exerted at four levels:
Instrumental: protocols, characteristics, instructions. It is the most basic.
The second level is the Racional: that level at which I want to influence someone by presenting some evaluations and getting us to value them together.
experimental. Here we seek to exert influence by giving positive experiences to others. It can be a sense of belonging, affection, fun …
Fourth The most essential level of influence: when you try to exert influence by appealing to the beliefs of the people you want to influence. If we have a conversation and I expose my beliefs and yours are similar, that influence is very strong and almost unbreakable, that is why I say that it is in that each person is susceptible to be influenced in one of the four themes.
So, as he explains, we influence first and then lead. What has to happen for this to happen and what characteristics does this type of person have?
Influence is prior to leadership. First you are a boss, then a leader and finally an influencer. To be a boss you need an organization chart with people in your charge and have a project with a purpose while to influence you do not need any of that, only day to day.
What people who want to influence have in common is that they know how to differentiate the value they bring. For example, in social networks we can already find health and medicine professionals. What makes them different? That they are doctors who when they speak, they are understood. They are in charge of exposing medicine in a virtual scope. The people who influence us are the ones we always remember.
We like to influence others but nevertheless we do not see with good eyes that they influence ourselves …
It is very easy to differentiate someone who seeks to influence from someone who seeks something in return … Influence when it is creative is good, but if we see something behind that makes us doubt, we disconnect and leave. The leadership has a goal while the influencer does not have to have one.
For example, I love music and I know that I have influence over my friends when it comes to talking about music or going to a concert. If they ask me it is because my opinion matters to them. For some reason, there are people who when talking about music look at me. I have that share of influencer in music and I let it grow offline and with my friends. This can turn into leadership or manipulation, as with a cult, which is an exercise in bestial influence but with a clear objective: to take advantage of others.
His book will allow you …
- Become aware of your own personal resources.
- Define an influence strategy.
- Gain persuasiveness.
- Master key competencies.
- Effectively structure your communication with those around you
- Train interpersonal skills with influence tools.