Silent Influencers

The Story

When I was young, I used to admire three people in the world of work. My father, his secretary (old school executive assistants) my auntie and uncle.

My dad was the General Manager of a company that made welding rods. He would take me with him to the factory and I would see the assembly line right from raw product to packing finished product. When there was no production, he would let me wander through the company boardroom and his office. There were two ways of getting into his office – through the secretary’s office or the accountant’s office. I always preferred the secretary because she wasn’t as grouchy as the accountant. ☺

I admired the secretary because she wielded power and I saw how helpful she was to my dad’s effectiveness at his job. She managed his calendar and she was a gatekeeper.

My auntie was also a secretary and while I never visited her workplace, I saw how materially endowed she was including going for annual holidays! She showed me the other side of a secretary’s life!

My uncle was and continues to be a businessman. I always admired how he traveled and was constantly meeting other people I only got to see on TV!

The Takeaway

That background, unknown to me, was shaping the career choices I would make later on in life. Now I look back to that period of my life and I wonder about the power of silent influencers.

Social media has allowed every influencer to be loud and deliberate but, there are many silent influencers, who make their mark quietly on our lives and we can only identify their marks long after the period of influence. They may not show us how to dress or which tech gadget we should own, but their influence reaches a deeper part of our being.

As the end of the year approaches and you continue to use the 2019 reviewer that I am sharing throughout this month, I’d like to ask you:

• can you identify your silent influencers and what impact they have had on you?
• do you like the person you have become courtesy of that influence?
• now that you are aware of your silent influencers, do you choose to continue living life with their influence?
• with the possibility that you are a silent influencer on someone else, are you a positive or a negative?
• If you consciously knew that you were influencing someone, is there something you would do differently?

Parting shot

In adulthood, the child-perspective wanes off and is replaced with deeper curiosity and a wider knowledge base upon which life decisions are made.

An honest assessment of your life begins at the place where you say, “No matter the influence around me, I am solely responsible for my life and how it turns out. No one else is answerable for my progress, regression or stagnation”

P.S. Because you can’t achieve greatness alone, please share the template with someone who can gain greatly from using it too. Also, let them know about our Thursday conversations and ask them to join in at https://wangarimaina.com/join-the-conversation/