As a new leader, visionary or entrepreneur, your sphere of influence is your power circle. Influence is the effect you have on a group of people. If you don’t have a group of people you’re influencing then you aren’t leading. The goal of all leaders should be to increase their circle of influence and cater to the interests and needs of the people in it.

All leaders have a team of people who are dependent on their vision and leadership to guide them. This is your sphere of influence. Your energy should  be dedicated to the vision, mission, and team. You should know what is most important to that circle and how you are reaching them. You need to know how your circle receives information best, and how frequently you need to connect with them to keep them motivated.

To tap into your sphere of influence think about this:

• Who is currently in your circle of influence? Who do you currently connect with consistently? Do you share the same values, career, problems? What attracts you to one another? Think about if this is the right group for you to sell your vision to. If not begin to think about who you need to add to your circle.
• Who would I like to add into my circle of influence? Maybe there are a group of professionals who you’d like to market your vision to but currently aren’t. You have to study places they frequent and who they tend to gravitate to. You’ve got to do what you need to to grab their attention, and once you’ve got it give them all you’ve got. They need to leave understanding who you are, what you do, and why they should care. Think about this carefully before approaching new influences. Work on creating your 30 second elevator pitch. That’s about how long it takes to garner the attention of new peers.
• What is most important to them? Know their values and principles. Know what problems they have, what makes them tick, and where they go to de-stress. You need this information to target and position yourself to be on their radar. Once you are speaking to them, you have a few speaking points of their interest  and you can now transition into telling them more about you and what you do.
• How can I communicate what I know to that circle of influence? Once you initiate contact, how can you stay in contact with them?  When you exchange business cards you can ask if they’d like to know more about the topic you discussed and get permission to add their email to your list. Now you have targeted exactly who you need to have on your list and you can win them into your circle of influence!
• Stay connected and add value. If you don’t have a list you need one. Let people know that you have something of value to add to their personal or professional lives.