INFLUENCE – The Engine to Success, Greatness & Purpose!

We have welcomed a New Year and it seems that everywhere I turn, there is a conversation about Vision, Plans and Goals. Besides just the excitement of a brand new year, there seems to be a hunger for living a life of PURPOSE and making an impact in the world. Many of us have finally awakened to the reality that we are created for something, we have a reason to be alive, we are called to make a difference, we are mandated to be a beacon of hope to a desperate many and the list goes on.

I must acknowledge that I am acquiring valuable knowledge and wisdom from reading and listening to others share their perspective of the tools needed to become a visionary, birth a vision, nurture the vision, fulfill the vision and ultimately walk in purpose. Today, I want to share a powerful engine to fulfilling what some call 'purpose or vision' and others call 'destiny or mandate'. There is an under-utilized tool within us called INFLUENCE which is a currency we have been given to effect the changes we want to see in our world and make a difference in our society.

A great example of a leader who utilized his currency of influence to revolutionize a generation is a man called Cyrus. He was a king who had a great commission which required having a clear vision, understanding the vision, the application of great leadership skills, wisdom, insight and influence to accomplish. Cyrus's mandate was to facilitate the restoration of a group of people who were exiled to different regions under different rulers. These people had lost everything they ever had in the process of their displacement. The mandate which came upon Cyrus was not an ordinary one because it included 4 different components that were all highly critical. He was challenged to do the following:

1. Restore the people back to their land
2. Restore the temple (their place of worship and encounter with God)
3. Restore the community – healing and reconciliation so they could work together to rebuild their nation
4. Restoration of a Covenant – the promise of God before and after exile

Not only were the people he was called to restore scattered all over the region, they were hurt, broken, emotionally battered, stripped off dignity and divided. They needed to return to their land to mend their lives and walk in their purpose and God needed someone – the only one he had equipped with the adequate dose of INFLUENCE needed to convince the other rulers to buy into his vision to restore the people.

Cyrus started by writing the vision in the form of a decree and circulated it to all the rulers in the regions were the exiled people resided. The decree read: "The Lord, the God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build his temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them"

Remember that these people had nothing to execute the vision of rebuilding and restoring so Cyrus knew he had to apply effective leadership skills to equip the people for their new journey of purpose. He added a side note to his decree which read: "If you have any survivors of Israelites with you, don't send them empty handed. Give them the resources needed (silver, gold, goods, livestock, money, offerings etc) to advance their work".

The good news is that just as Cyrus desired and decreed, it was so for the people he was called to restore. He motivated the other rulers to stand by the people and provide them the resources needed to rebuild. I acknowledge that God definitely working behind the scenes however, can't discount the fact that he raised an influential leader; one who understood the power of the pen, one whose vision was very clear, one who must have understood that his seat of honor (Kingship) was not for his own personal gain but to serve others and one who had invested in building respect, trust and integrity in order to have the foundation to stand on to influence others for such a radical move.

My friend, I believe you will agree with me that "LEADERSHIP is INFLUENCE, nothing more, nothing less" and because INFLUENCE is a currency which grants us access to make an impact, we must invest in building, strengthening and developing the skill. As you embark on creating your vision, outlining your success plan and working a life of purpose, remember that: 'INFLUENCE is the meat of everything. It moves the vision to get you on the path of purpose and engineers success which births greatness'.