"If you already knew what you need to know, you would already be where you want to go." Mack Story, Defining Influence Are you looking for transformation in your life? Do you want better results? Do you want stronger relationships? In Defining Influence, Mack blends his personal growth journey with lessons on the principles he learned to apply effectively along the way. He's not telling you what he learned after years of research. He's a regular guy telling you what he learned after years of application and transformation. He has found his purpose in helping others grow and develop as they light the fire within. My passion is to help you transform your life as I share principles of influence mixed with personal stories that allowed me to overcome being a reactive, short tempered, self-serving, front-line factory worker. My transformation over many years resulted in my developing a strong passion for studying and teaching professional leadership. I'll detail the principles I learned and applied in order to change ME, so I could rebuild my relationship with my son after losing all influence with him from age 15-19. Our relationship is better than ever now. He's 23 and is a student of leadership as well. He is getting amazing results personally and professionally too! I don't just teach leadership principles straight from a book. I teach them straight from my life. I learn them. I apply them. I verify them. And then, I share what I have learned to help others improve. "We are anxious to improve our circumstances, but we are unwilling to improve ourselves. We, therefore, remain bound." James Allen Excerpt from the Introduction: You will learn the foundational principles of leadership (influence) which will help you understand the importance of the following five questions. You will be able to take effective action by growing yourself and possibly others to a higher level of leadership (influence). Everything you ever achieve, internally and externally, will be a direct result of your influence. 1.Why do we influence? - Our character determines why we influence. Who we are on the inside is what matters. Do we manipulate or motivate? It's all about intent. 2.How do we influence? - Our character, combined with our competency, determines how we influence. Who we are and what we know combine to create our unique style of influence which determines our methods of influence. 3.Where do we influence? - Our passion and purpose determine where we have the greatest influence. What motivates and inspires us gives us the energy and authenticity to motivate and inspire others. 4.Who do we influence? - We influence those who buy-in to us. Only those valuing and seeking what we value and seek will volunteer to follow us. They give us or deny us permission to influence them based on how well we have developed our character and competency. 5.When do we influence? - We influence others when they want our influence. We choose when others influence us. Everyone else has the same choice. They decide when to accept or reject our influence. We only influence others when they want to change. The first three questions are about the choices we make as we lead (influence) ourselves and others. The last two questions deal more with the choices others will make as they decide first, if they will follow us, and second, when they will follow us. They will base their choices on who we are and what we know. Asking these questions is important. Knowing the answers is more important. But, taking action based on the answers is most important. Cumulatively, the answers to these questions determine our leadership style and our level of influence (leadership).