How to Become a Person of Influence

by Christopher Armstrong Fire Chief Hall County Fire Rescue

I recently had the opportunity to speak with members of the Georgia Association of Fire Chiefs during their Spring Executive Session in Savannah.

The topic of our discussion was about how we can improve our leadership skills and what we can do to teach these critical skills to our future leaders.

I’m confident we have all seen our share of both, good and bad leaders during our time in the fire service.

It doesn’t matter if you work in a large or small department, career, combination or volunteer organization, the one thing we all have in common, is we all have some good leaders and some who could use a little advice on how to be better at leadership.

But if we want people in leadership positions to get better we must first understand what makes a good leader? And what makes a bad leader?

It’s important to start with an understanding that positions and titles don’t make leaders, actions do.

John Maxwell says “everything rises and falls on leadership” and we all have the ability to be good leaders!

So what makes a good leader? INFLUENCE. Your ability to build trust and relationships with people will directly affect your ability to influence people.

The ability to influence those around you to reach above and beyond what they think is possible is what makes great lead - ers.

So how can we increase our influence? According to John Maxwell, the answer is in the word itself.

Let’s briefly look at nine ways you can build your influence with people:

Integrity – Integrity commits itself to character over personal gain, principles over convenience, to the long view over the immediate.

Nurturing – As a nurturer, you focus more on giving than getting.

Faith – Most people will do anything to live up to your faith in them, people rise or fall to meet your level of expectations for them. When you have faith in others you give them an incredible gift.

Listening – Most people listen to respond not to hear. Listening shows respect and builds rela - tionships.

Understanding – If you can’t understand people and work with them, you can’t accomplish anything.

Enlarge - When you enlarge others, you do several things: Raise their level of living, increase their potential, and increase their capacity for growth.

Navigator – Understanding people’s passion, potential, and vision allows you to better see where they really want to go.

Connector - When you connect with others you are asking them to come alongside of you.

Empower - The act of empowering people changes lives, and it is a win-win situation for you and the people you are empowering.

The first of five of the nine qualities speak to the attitude of the leader and the good news is that all five are attainable and achievable.

We can all become better leaders by practicing these skills and attitudes with our teams, but we must be intentional about doing it.

Remember, the road to failure is paved with good intentions, but the road to success is paved with good actions!