Circle of Influence

Many years ago, thanks to Arthur Andersen, I attended a leadership workshop based on Stephen Covey’s famous 7 Habits. One of the key ideas that has stayed with me is his Circle of Influence. We all know about your circle of control being surrounded by your circle of influence and that anything outside those concentric circles is, in short, a waste of energy. Covey’s idea is that the more we focus on those things that we can change, the more our circle of influence grows – and the opposite is true so the more we focus on things we cannot change, the smaller it becomes.

The positive energy we expend growing our circle of influence and making meaningful impact on our businesses, our teams, our families, improves our lives. If we stress about the things we can’t influence and become seen as Negative Nellies, always moaning about attitudes in society, the parlous state of the economy, even the weather, our influence diminishes. It’s like shouting at the TV...and people soon get fed up of us doing that.

I was reminded of this today while out cycling when a driver stopped to ask why we were cycling two by two. I mentioned that the Highway Code and British Cycling recommend it but she didn’t agree – we didn’t argue, just went on our way. Attitudes like those of this driver concern me, however, my influence is limited so I focus my energies on staying safe as a cyclist and ensuring that I’m courteous to car drivers rather than complain about their behaviour and arguing back. I’ve decided to stop shouting at the TV!