126. Karen Leong: The Two Pillars of Influence

Karen Leong is an influence thought leader and sought-after global keynote speaker. A TEDx speaker, a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and the author of the book ‘Win People Over’, she was featured as one of the ten influential professional speakers in Singapore by the Singapore Business Review. Karen is the co-founder of Influence Solutions, a leading learning and development organization, headquartered in Singapore with offices in USA and India. She is also the co-founder and host of Rise Through the Ranks summit, a global online leadership summit launching on 12-18 November.

What influence is

Influence is the ability to change the way people think, feel and to inspire action.

The two pillars of influence

Karen discovered that influence has two pillars: Like and Respect.

Like opens the door to influence, and Respect holds it open.

Likeability has two core points:

* People like people who like them.

* People like people who are like themselves.

How to close the gap with people? Find the common. When you speak, the best way is to talk about shared values among your audience and you.

Mistakes people make in building influence

* Some people when increase respect, they decrease likeability. An example is someone that once becomes a boss creates a distance with the others. The opposite is a mistake too.

* Selling all the time, talking great about yourself all the time.

Can we measure influence?

You can measure social media influence, such as the number of engagements.

Influence per se is hard to measure. It’s about taking action where people can actually see. Actions must be: simple, repetitive, and visible. Even a smile can get results.

Related: How to Become Highly Influential in Your Field

Favorite quotation

“The quality of the conversations you have with anyone dictates the quality of our relationship.” — Karen Leong

Recommended book

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

Routine to Shine

Schedule 15 minutes to spend time with your creativity every single day: write, read fiction, speak for free, share a post on LinkedIn with an idea you really love, write in your journal, etc.

Links

<a title=" " href="https://risethroughtheranks.