8 Traits of Highly Effective Influencers


This is a 10 page article. Be sure not to miss the rest of the story!

Influencers Create Conversation

Conversation is an often overused buzzword, and too often, it is not considered properly. For instance, simply talking in open dialogue about an issue does not create influence. Conversation is as much about dialogue as it is about channeling the thoughts and dreams of the participants into an effective stream of consciousness that enhances a position.

Conversation is not meant to be a manipulative thing. In other words, influencers do not set about to validate their own position by getting similar mindsets to rubber stamp their own thinking. Influencers tend to mine the collective consciousness of their audience and distill those ideas into sane, proactive action.

In the 1960s, at the height of the civil rights movement, there was a definite “conversation” happening in America around the role of race in American politics and culture. From Brown v. Board of Education to Rosa Parks to the Birmingham Riots, it was clear there was a dissenting opinion in America.

“Influencers tend to mine the collective consciousness of their audience and distill those ideas into sane, proactive action.”

Out of this dissent came a leader who so effectively channeled the hopes and dreams of the people he led, that when he gave his “I have a Dream Speech” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, over 200,000 people showed up.

Martin Luther King, Jr. channeled this crowdsourced conversation so well, that it cost him his life, yet to this day he rises above the rest as the most powerful influencer of the civil rights movement. He did it with a message of peace and respect saying, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.” It was impossible for this message to not influence and bring along men and women who disagreed with him. Even though it is clear that America still has a ways to go before this dream is fully realized, it is undeniable that King had a tremendous influence on American society and culture.