I was just reading John Sumser’s posting regarding “Key Influencers”. John has taken it upon himself to try and identify the Top 100 most influential recruiters in the industry. The next step of his project is to interview all of them.
I love this idea, it’s an interesting concept, and it now poses an interesting challenge. How do I get on this list? As John would probably say, my influence at the moment is about a mile wide and an inch thick.

MY INFLUENCE

While the roles I work on are generally director level and above, and my contact list looks like a who’s who of the key players in the industries I like to recruit in, I don’t think I have ANY influence. In fact, while my contact information is all over the web, and I blog regularly, I don’t think I even register on the radar of influence. My mom may think I have future leadership potential, but I don’t remember ever receiving one of those recruiter calls that we would all like to get from time to time If not for any other reason than the sense of validation (the “ok, my professional efforts are finally being recognized“, sensation).

So, in a rare moment of humility, I would like to turn to my readers, to anyone who would read this blog post, and ask for your input. How does one develop a sphere of influence? John thinks he has figured it out, but really he has just been able to capture the “who”, but hasn’t put his finger on the “how”. What steps can I take? What can be done to increase my sphere of influence, and the strength of influence within that sphere?

What do you think? How can I get on that list? Is it networking? John suggests that “Influence is a combination of word of mouth, reputation, and relevance to the organization.” Which facets do I need to focus on?