Influencer bootcamp

Most people don’t like being stuck in obscurity in their profession. They want recognition and compensation for their value. Here’s how to build a reputation or professional brand as an influencer in your anti-fraud field.

How do you become an influencer? The journey from expert to influencer begins by recognizing a knowledge gap in your professional specialty and filling a void with your unique perspective, knowledge and experience that can result in the creation of the “Big Idea.” You have to learn how to promote and distribute your Big Idea in different ways that launch you from expert status into influencer standing.

Experts who often embrace labels such as influencer and thought leader typically have written a book, given a TED Talk (technology, entertainment, design, ted.com) or conference presentation, or have one million followers on Twitter. In truth, it’s not easy to be considered an influencer or thought leader. Those are labels of distinction you’ll have when the elements of your influence or thought leadership have reached critical mass in your profession, field or industry.

Influencer and thought leader are titles others give you

During the “Influencer and Thought Leader Masterclass for Executives” corporate program I teach, I ask attendees, “How many of you consider yourselves to be influencers or thought leaders in your profession?” Only once has anyone raised their hand.

However, when I ask the question differently — “How many of you have been called influencers or thought leaders in your profession by others?” — a few more hands go up. That second question is based on the opinions of others, usually people they work with or who are familiar with their reputations in the profession. At that point, I ask, “Do you know by what criteria they base that on?” That question gets people to think: Hmmm … Do people say that about me because of my position or title, or have they recognized where my Big Idea has generated a shift in my profession, field or industry?

Most of us don’t proclaim such titles because: 1) we have a deep personal sense of humility or 2) we realize that we have more currency (standing within the community) as an influencer or thought leader when others refer to us in those terms — not when we do it. (You can scatter a crowd at a cocktail party by referring to yourself as a member of the Mensa Society.)

Let’s look at five techniques that can elevate your status from expert to influencer  and maybe on your way to the next level — thought-leader status.

Are you an advocate or an opponent of key issues in your field or profession?

Every issue has two opposing positions: the advocate and the contrarian. Pick one in which you have a strong belief and commitment to, and run with it farther than anyone else. If you’re an advocate for some key issue, your voice must elevate the issue above its current standing with the status quo. Otherwise, you’re just one of many thousands of voices all saying or agreeing to the same thing.

If you take a contrarian position because you see flawed thinking or erroneous assumptions, your arguments must be sufficiently cogent and convincing against an issue to devalue its importance.

Regardless of the position you take, if it’s well-reasoned and clearly articulated, it can become your Big Idea. It can become the message no one’s heard before. As someone once told me, “A great idea is one that people will write a check for.”

Can you depict your Big Idea/concept graphically?

A picture is still worth a thousand words, and nowhere is this old saying more applicable than with communicating the essence behind your Big Idea. The eyes are the gateway to reasoning and evaluation of your position or concept. If you can’t picture your concept, neither can others.

If you can graphically illustrate your concept so others can quickly grasp the overall context of it, you’ve planted a seed. Image or pattern recognition is easier on the brain than recall because recognition relies on context.

The figure below shows two ways of communicating how to escape a rip current. Of course, you’re going to remember the image better than the written five points. The important information transmitted through context of the image occurs nearly instantaneously, which is a good thing when you have to escape a rip current. Or, you can try to recall the numbered list in the midst of panic.

Figure 1: Information recall vs. information context

Can you craft a metaphor or simile that captures the essence of your Big Idea?

The verbal picture-painting characteristics of a metaphor or simile provide flashes of insight to grasp the equivalency of your concept. A metaphor communicates how your Big Idea is something else. A simile aligns your concept with a different but parallel concept using the words “as” or “like.” Here are examples of both:

Metaphor: Influential and persuasive intelligence is the pathway that takes emotional intelligence to new levels.

Simile: Describing the concept of leadership presence is like trying to describe a summer breeze; you can only see the effect it has on things it encounters as it moves through the surroundings.

Can you re-spin a famous quote or create your own that captures your Big Idea?

When it comes to quotations, there are those who borrow from the remarkable lives of others and those who live remarkable lives others quote from. (Sorry, that quote is taken — by me.) Anyone can post a quote on LinkedIn or Facebook from some famous person (that’s called “thought repeating,” and there’s too much of that on social media), but what are you doing to create your own memorable bits of wisdom?

Influencers are quoted more often than experts and thought leaders more often than influencers. Influencers (and thought leaders) use their quips or their own takes on well-known quotes in their domain to reinforce their advocacy or contrarian positions.

Start by gathering quotations from all sources that relate to your Big Idea. Next, begin replacing keywords in the quotations you’ve identified until you create a new direction of thought.

Here’s a quote that embraces a contrarian perspective from Ralph Waldo Emerson that has application to leadership development: “Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Next, begin substituting words. And then say, “To rephrase a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote …”:

• “Don’t follow where the crowd may lead; go instead where there is no one and forge a new direction.”
• “Don’t follow from behind as the view isn’t flattering; instead lead from the front where your vista is unrestricted.”
• “The beaten path is congested with followers; elect to create a new route that others so inclined may tread as well.”
• “The problem with the beaten path is that it’s littered with the beaten; instead, a new trail lies undiscovered awaiting your journey.”

Can you develop different ways and channels to distribute your intellectual property?

Moving from expert to influencer status requires the development of your Big Idea into different forms and formats of intellectual property (books, white papers, journal articles, LinkedIn articles, videos, TED Talks, conference keynotes or presentations, speeches, seminars, blogs, podcasts, etc.) for distributing the value-rich, paradigm-shifting content you’re creating.

If you work in the private sector, your employer might have restrictions on what you can and can’t develop as your intellectual property. However, you might be even more restricted if you’re in the public sector, especially if your organizations use social media as distribution channels for creative works, and your employer might actually “own” your work. Unfortunately, these restrictions can lead to a digital footprint void and are major impediments for public-sector employees who are seeking to transition to private-sector jobs.

Your growing scales of influence can change your organization’s roadmap, hasten your path to personal and professional success, or extract a confession from a suspected fraudster. Your Big Idea just has to be big enough to affect some change that radiates through other’s lives directly or indirectly.

Donn LeVie Jr., CFE, a Fraud Magazine staff writer, has been a presenter and a positioning/influence strategist at ACFE Global Fraud Conferences since 2010. He’s a senior fellow with the Management and Strategy Institute and a member of the National Speakers Association. Visit his website at donnleviejrstrategies.com. Contact him at donn@donnleviejrstrategies.com.