I’ve slowly (okay, maybe not so slowly since it’s been happening over the last fifteen years or so) been coming to grips with the fact that I’m not a kid anymore. The way this has come more and more into focus for me is the lingo that young people are using that I just don’t get. Some of it is fairly obvious, like when my nieces tell me that I need to “check myself before I wreck myself,” but sometimes it’s a little more confusing. Like, how is it possible that a “whip” is a vehicle? I just don’t get it.
The most recent word that has left me scratching my head is “influencer.” I’ve read that word in a few news articles of late and the word “influencer” was used almost like a job title, which was really confusing to me. It appeared to me that the word was being used to describe bloggers. So, I researched it a little bit assuming that an “influencer” would be someone with a high number of twitter followers; an impressive count on videos that they had posted; or, thousands and thousands of friends on Facebook.
What I found out is that an “influencer” is actually someone who is trusted by others and that may influence the behavior or decisions that are made by other people. Of course, in terms of consumer products it would be a great thing if an “influencer” recommended your product or your goods, or were photographed using your product or goods, but I started to realize that many of the customers of The Mandt System could be considered influencers.
Allow me to explain. As a Mandt Instructor, if you have taken to heart the concepts from Chapters 1-2-3 and you have established healthy relationships with people served and with other members of your team, you have the potential to influence them. If you are trusted by those people and you are consistently seen treating people with dignity and respect and that you consistently are able to affirm your feelings and choose your behavior – you have the potential to influence them. The influence will come about as the result of the connection that you have with others.
So, create those relationships and be someone worthy of influencing others.
Nikki Wince – Mandt Faculty Supervisor
