Influencer leadership – Definition, Traits & Examples

Influencer leadership is a style where the leader or executive inspires or motivates people or subordinates through their techniques, strategies, knowledge, innovations and thoughts. They encourage people to be responsible and are empathetic towards them, guiding and assisting them in their activities.

In this article, we will extensively discuss influencer leadership and how to become influencer leaders or thought leaders with some illustrating examples.

What is influencer leadership?

While talking of influencer leadership, the focus point is on leading by value and commitments. Leadership influencers have well-defined strategies and goals in their mind with clear vision and objectives. They motivate, inspire, guide and aid people in pursuing the mission with vigility and agilance. 

The particular leadership style is all about promoting innovative and inclusive ideas that will help in achieving the objectives seamlessly. The leaders bring a sense of responsibility in fulfilling the goals with better productivity, focused on creativities and ingenious ideas. Besides they ensure the latest industry trends, best practices and standards are being followed.

Read: 21 irrefutable laws of leadership | With examples

Key traits of leadership influencers

The key traits of leadership influencers are illustrated below:

• The professionals align their self-interests with the goals and objectives of the company. They ensure both are balanced to bring in a win-win situation. 
• Influencer leadership is a style where the leaders seek in investing in new innovations, and trends in technologies to be competitive in the market. They understand the importance of staying ahead in the race.
• Influencer leaders stress on strategic visions for future growth that will churn in more revenue and market presence. They love to work on big visions and goals to place the company best in the sector.
• Stress on collaboration with fellow influencers for aiding and assisting each other. They create communities for resolving each others problems and issues.
• Influencer leaders love to experiment and take on risks. They strive to overcome barriers while pursuing their objectives. 
• They are good listeners and good communicators. Understanding others by careful listening and focused attention is a very important trait of them. Besides they love conveying clear and concise messages.
• Influencers focus on continual learning and development for upgrading their competencies and enhancing their knowledge. This helps in awareness of the latest trends and applying them well in the tasks and activities

Also read: How to inculcate inclusive leadership in your organization

What makes you an influencer leader?

Let us now try to answer the question, “What makes you an influencer leader?” 

• Trust is a very important factor in determining what makes you an influencer. You need to have faith in your team and provide them opportunities to assume responsibilities
• Connect with people for seamless collaboration and effective communication. To aid and assist people in resolving problems and issues
• Encourage people in achieving the vision and mission with focused and dedicated attention. Influencer leadership is all about instilling confidence in the team to achieve the goals faster.
• Curating situations that help the team to gain success in their activities and tasks. They encourage in leveraging innovations and ideas that help in achieving their objectives with better productivity
• Do not be authoritative only but motivate and inspire your team to move forward. Provide them requisite guidance and advice to focus on their goals and seek growth opportunities.
• Be generous, kind and attentive towards the team. Empathize and listen to them so that they shower trust and confidence in you. When you question what makes someone an influencer, believing in you is one of the important factors for judging your behavioural characteristics and attitude.

Also read: How to learn from animals & become effective leaders [with examples]

Influencer leadership examples

Here are some of the influencer leadership examples, that you can follow. Noticeably this section will focus on the leaders or dignitaries who have been known for their influential leadership.

• Alexander the Great – The great Greek king was an influential leader, who commanded a huge army towards victory.
• Charles Darwin – Prominent geologist, who influenced people by his evolutionary theory
• Plato – A renowned philosopher and mathematician, Plato was phenomenal in leading by example. He laid the foundation of Western philosophy and science, thus influencing people by his phenomenal discovery
• William Shakespeare – Prominent Engish poet and author, whose contribution to literature has influenced the minds of many poetry and story lovers. His creativity had been significant in driving the essence of literature.
• Mahatma Gandhi – Father of the Nation of India. His values and virtues of life, and struggle for Independence by being at the forefront had influenced many Indians. He taught people to be honest, truthful, and good human beings.
• Abraham Lincoln – A man of stature and dignity. He influenced the people of America by his moral values of life. His contribution to uniting the nation and its people are stupendous.
• George Washington – An influential leader who is significant in heading over the convention that drafted the constitution of the United States. He led the country and its people from the forefront
• Gautama Buddha – He enlightened the world with his preachings to love human beings and help them to get rid of their sufferings. Buddha inculcated a spirit of humanity among the people, urging them to understand reality and act accordingly.
• Karl Marx – A German socialist, economist and philosopher, who has been phenomenal in the world of economics. He was influential in establishing the meaning of labour and its relation to capital.
• Martin Luther King Jr – He was a voracious spokesperson who was significant in influencing people to fight for their social, civil and legal rights.

Also read: 15 frequently seen leadership weaknesses and ways to fix them

How do you influence others as a leader?

Influencer leadership is not only leading from the front but also encouraging people to be responsible and confident with the tasks at hand. A leader must appreciate the activities of the team and energize them to move forward in achieving the goals. The talent and skills of the team must be appreciated along with proper guidance and assistance.

Besides, they promote the team for recognition in the company; awarding or complimenting them for their achievements. They collaborate and communicate elaborately and clearly as and when needed, leaving no ambiguities.

Anticipating risks and assisting the team to overcome and mitigate them, are some of the greatest traits of an influential and expert leader. This helps in gaining trust and faith in the leader. In the end, proper planning and organizing skills govern the capability of a leader.

Thought leaders and influencer leaders

Thought leaders and influencer leaders to follow are:

• Andrew Ng – Entrepreneur and scientist focusing on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Kirk Borne – Phenomenal for NextGen Analytics and Data Science, currently at Booz Allen Hamilton
• Tamara McCleary – CEO of Thulium, branding expert and an influencer
• Bernard Marr – Bestselling author, business and technology advisor and keynote speaker
• Evan Kirstel – A tech influencer and key opinion leader 
• Ronald van Loon – He is on the advisory board of Simplilearn and is considered a key influencer
• Mike Quindazzi – managing director, Business Development Leader and the U.S. digital alliances leader for PwC

How can I be a good influencer as a leader?

So, how can you be a good influence as a leader?

Well, you need to trust people and listen to people to be a good influencer. He or she must be able to connect with the people and influence them to achieve the goals and objectives of the program or the company as a whole. You need to possess a strong and confident character with poise and integrity for influencing others. Lastly you need to be generous and attentive with the team, listening to their thoughts and ideas while appreciating their work.

Also read: 5 levels of leadership | John Maxwell’s 5 levels of leadership explained

Are social influencers leaders?

In today’s world, the use of social media platforms is significantly high. Almost 45 to 50% of the world population uses social media. Hence influencing them through these platforms is highly beneficial.

Well, yes social influencers are leaders. These professionals are experts in their domain, sector or technology. They share their knowledge among the people to help and assist. They deal with the trends, thus attracting lot more followers. Many times, they help in sorting out the problems and issues of the people in general. They do promote products and services by sharing their experience, reviews and feedback.

What is an influencer leadership style?

An influencer leadership style is a leadership style that is more focused on the vision, mission, and strategic objectives of a company and even the programs executed in a company. They spread the message of targeting the mission with the purpose of benefiting the organization and in turn the employees. Influenced leadership stresses on sharing of knowledge through the collaboration for success.

The leaders communicate the messages in simple terms for easy consumption and application in work and the tasks in hand. They are also compassionate and encourage the team to pursue growth. They bring in innovations and long term strategies into the programs, introducing new techniques and methodologies in the company.

Kuntala Banerjee

Kuntala is a versatile writer with a focus on diverse areas around work, productivity, collaboration at work, hiring, management, HR, and training. Her background of past experience in technology and consulting helps in molding razor-sharp insights into the research and user-focused content she creates. Professionally she is an IT consultant in a sales role and also a writer of short stories and poems, travel blogger, and fashion influencer.