“We don’t have to change our personality still take steps to be an influencer”, said Mr J who is a man with strong personality trait. “You don’t have to a writer to be an influencer”, added Ms Charistmatic C sharing her super experience. I did connect with Mr P who is a complete quiet person to get his views. And one thing was very clear that there is a myth that being an influencer is mostly an Extrovert zone.
When I took over this role two years back, who was the first influencer ? Who inspired me with unique strategy? What influenced me? She was clearly not an Extrovert. We share the same birth month and first alphabet of our names 😉 probably the only list of similarity haha. “Miss Introvert N“.
“There is a new program in that region which has a story, Miss I.N has made it a success and now it’s a global program. I spoke to quite a few stakeholders. Tried my detective skills to understand about the program. Every route led to me one answer. “It was the way Miss I.N channelized this”, “Have you met miss I.N? Oh, didi is so sweet she enables us to deliver”, “since she is also a process expert, she has a clear strategy on streamlining the process right from step one of a program”. And I was curious, I wanted to meet this “N”. She must be very authoritative, she must be having a round face, big bindi, bold glasses and powerful looks. Oops, I am a new bee, how do I reach her ? And I could not see her speaking “lot” in any forum. Uff, why is she so not reachable? Hmm I mumbled within and waited for the right time. Soon after, I had an audit and she was the peer level auditor assigned. Ah, finally I got the chance to meet this lady, everyone speaks of the work and everyone is influenced by her leadership style, and she is like a batman behind her mask hiding, let me call her now. Tring tring.. “Haan, hi, congratulations on your new role”, the other side of the phone confused me. It was not an authoritative tone at all, a very kind , extremely humble, sweet caring voice. She listened to me, answered my doubts and also said, “don’t hesitate to reach if you have any more queries”. My face was full of question marks and exclamation. Miss Introvert N is the best influencer in her zone 🙂 And today when influencer was related to an Extrovert habit, I smiled analysing a little deep.
The above display explains how to figure one’s style of being an influencer. Here are some tips :
- The key is understanding your comfort zone and pushing oneself OUT of that comfort zone. Introverts have to act upon quicker and Extroverts have to be patient to observe frequently.
- Listening is the key aspect in both cases where a 360 degree understanding of the product or initiative is required.
- Networking is key. Don’t only consult and network with your “like” group. Most importantly take steps to connect with those who wear a different lens and see the same action differently. This will throw new perceptions.
- Do what you like! I can never be a political or sports influencer, as I am not an active person on both politics and sports. So when the whole world is tweeting about a cricket match or a world cup football, I don’t mind eating potato chips and minding my own business. Because a hashtag is trending, we don’t have to participate.
- Create the right light : When there is a trending conversation or discussion which you belief in, invest time to participate and create an impact. Small steps count..
Me being Miss Extrovert N will scribble over a blog like this to influence others while people like Miss Introvert N will achieve that with her smile, like and sharing this with right network:)
A big shout out to all influencers, who have a lot of unsaid challenges and strategies behind the screens….
