William Channing, an author, once stated this, "Every human being has a work to carry on within, duties to perform abroad, INFLUENCE to exert,, which are peculiarly his, and which no conscience but his own can teach." I love how the quote ends with "...and which no conscience but his own can teach" because it teaches us that influence is not only an important job, but it is unique and everyone has their on influence on each other.
THE LAW OF INFLUENCE.
"If you don't have influence, you will never be able to lead others."
Chapter two on influence is a very important law in my opinion. Everybody poses an influence on others, think about it. There is easily a person that comes to mind from around school that you would consider a bad influence on yourself or others, and I would hope that you could easily think of at least one person that is a good influence on yourself or others. We influence by our attitudes, words and actions. The question for a leader is: "What kind of influence am I putting on others?" This chapter opens up by writing, "the true measure of leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less."
The chapter gives a story of how when Diana became married, her marriage was watched by millions on public television, and her funeral was watched by 2.5 billion people around the world. Take a guess at whether she had a positive or negative influence on others... I love to think about who will show up at my funeral, because it always keeps my influence on others in check. Seriously take a second to think about it, how many of us want nobody to show up at our funeral? Why wouldn't you? Because it shows what a negative influence you put on others.
As Christians, we influence both Christians and non-Christians. I heard a quote at SLU 101 this summer that will never leave me, "Your life is the only Bible that some people will read... What are they reading?" - Brent Crowe. From a leader's standpoint, that question could be posed as, "Your life is the only leadership in ________ (any situation) that some people will ever see... What are they seeing?" When you were raised by your parents they taught you basics of life, but what if they taught you to eat soup with a fork? It doesn't make sense to you now because you know that eating soup with a fork would be insane, but it's because your parents taught you to use a spoon. People around you are like children and you are the parent, you didn't know better at that age, and neither do some of the people around you. Influence can and WILL change lives.
My challenge for you is to seriously think and pray about this: What kind of influence are you displaying through your words, actions and attitude even when you think nobody is watching?
Praying for each and every one of you!
God Bless,
Spencer
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