Why Most People Never Build Real Influence and what separates those who do!
‘Most people think influence is something you earn over time. Put in the work, build the audience, collect the credentials, and eventually the world will notice.’
That’s not how influence actually works.
I’ve watched extraordinarily talented people spend years doing everything right, the podcast, the speaking gigs, the social media grind, the networking events, and still wonder why they’re not moving the needle. Meanwhile, someone with half their credentials walks into a room and commands it instantly.
The difference isn’t talent. It isn’t timing. It isn’t luck.
It’s positioning.
Real influence is engineered, not accumulated. And most people are so focused on adding more, more content, more connections, more credentials, that they never stop to ask whether the foundation they’re building on is actually solid.
THE MYTH OF ORGANIC GROWTH
There’s a story we’re sold early: keep showing up, stay consistent, and the right people will eventually find you. And while consistency matters, that alone is not a strategy. It’s a hope.
The world doesn’t reward people for showing up. It rewards people who make it impossible to be ignored.
That requires something different. It requires you to understand exactly what you stand for, who needs to hear it, and how to position that message so it lands with precision, not volume.
I built the Imperfectly Perfect Campaign from nothing. No backing, no connections, no media training. What I did have was a clear understanding of what I was trying to say, why it mattered, and how to engineer the conditions for it to spread. That clarity was worth more than any budget or network.
THE THREE THINGS THAT ACTUALLY BUILD INFLUENCE
First: A point of view that isn’t interchangeable. Most people communicate what they do. Influential people communicate how they see the world differently. If someone else could say exactly what you’re saying, you don’t have a position, you have content.
Second: Proof that operates at scale. Not testimonials. Not followers. Real, documented results that demonstrate your thinking translated into impact. 12 million+ media impressions didn’t make me credible, they validated the credibility that was already there. Understand the difference.
Third: Access to the right rooms. Influence multiplies through proximity. Not social media proximity, physical, strategic proximity to people operating at a level that forces you to rise. Who you’re seen with matters. What tables you’re at matters. Not for vanity. Because perception is part of strategy.
THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH
If you’ve been building for a while and it still feels like you’re pushing uphill, the problem is almost never effort. It’s almost always positioning.
You might be saying the right things to the wrong people. You might be in the right rooms saying things that aren’t landing. You might have the results but not the ability to articulate them in a way that creates demand.
Influence isn’t complicated. But it is intentional.
The people who build it aren’t working harder than everyone else. They’re working on the right things, and they’re clear enough on their positioning that when the right opportunity arrives, they’re already ready for it.
That’s the game. Start playing it deliberately.
