Influencers Need to Lead from the Front

In recent years corporate voices have become more vocal in their commitment to conducting business differently Blackrock CEO Larry Fink for example titled his 2018 Investor Letter quotA Sense of Purposequot establishing an argument as to why businessasusual would no longer be possibleBoth Fink39s letter and the new direction out of the Business Roundtable matter because they are shifting the conversation as to what type of society is possible Ironically perhaps those best positioned not only to prosper but also to play a leading role in a purposedominant future are influencersThe shareholder value obsession has been the dominant operating system since the Friedman school days out of the University of Chicago In a rush to keep shareholders happy corporations have been trapped in a cycle dominated by shortterm thinking and decisionmaking Marketers tasked with delivering everincreasing sales targets and fighting for customer attention have been particularly stretched with the average chief marketing officer lasting just about four years This is a period too insufficient to create and steward a strategic visionThe growth of influencer marketing seemed like a panacea to demands for more and more engagement And for a while the budgets and clicks seem to affirm the allocation of those resources However as the efficacy of traditional influencer marketing is debated amidst a downturn marketers are now seeking new options As I noted in quotPurpose Power and the New Influencequot those influencers who stand for something meaningful and whose work is purposedriven are the futureThe Three Horizons model provides a useful template for how purposedriven influencer leadership can solidify and grow a new agendaThe dominant force of shareholder value is on the decline Business leaders have pushed back because they recognize that their businesses and society as a whole can39t continue to function under this modelThe emerging change curve represents the willingness to change mostly in the form of discussion within traditional circles amp8212 but it is still mostly lip service There have been no transformational business models to accompany the rhetoric The emerging change curve when confronted with an uncertain environment can slow a decline and maybe even create a temporary bump in growth However extended along a significant time horizon inevitable decline sets inThe third alternative the weak signal curve is where purposecentered influencers can flourish in a leadership role Unlike corporate leaders influencers are grassrootsbased and naturally embedded within communities through strong network relationships These are the quotengaged consumersquot that brands seek to reach capturing a share of their attentionUnlike the bombast of the emerging change curve purposecentered influencers can drive their community toward action The wellintentioned rhetoric of the emerging change curve is like a wave it comes in strong makes an impact and eventually recedes Purposecentered influence is like a ripple It starts with one drop but cascades far beyond its origin point The ripple effect of the weak signal curve has the potential to break through the zone of uncertainty and reverse the downward trend of the other curvesThere are three ways organizations can work with purposecentered influencers to be positioned for transformational success First a shift away from shareholder value should translate to longterm strategic planning taking precedence over shortterm ideas and trendchasing Influencers should be integrated into a company39s strategic organizational plans not only within marketing but also by actively leveraging their best practices What are these influencers doing right that can be incorporated into your work Make them allies not just spokespeopleSecond organizations must define their values then work with influencers who personify them Discard the scattershot approach where easily gameable metrics drive the decision on which influencers brands decide to work with It is not enough to debate between macro and microinfluencers It has to be a decision between values alignment or notThird marketers must do one of the hardest things anyone can do Give up the idea of control In a paradigm where brands had all the power it was easy to control influencers As the momentum in the brandinfluencer relationship shifts brands must relinquish some control to their new allies Trust will be a critical part of the relationship and will help maintain an environment of collaborative freedomOf course the temptation will persist to revert to status quo influencers and fraudsters It will be a challenge to resist the easy way but continuing down that road is fraught with perilThe fact that those least likely to call for change are changing their tune is a clear signal that there is an opportunity to chart a course for a more viable future Influencers can shake off their malaise and lead from the frontClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Influencers Need to Lead from the Front

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Philip McKenzie

Don’t’ Back Down; Double Down on DEI Investments - By Jack Myers

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Influencers Need to Lead from the Front

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