Every team has a key influencer—the person that the group looks to first when being introduced to change. That key influencer’s view generally sways the group to embrace the change or to resist it.
This idea was introduced in John Maxwell’s The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership—one of the best books on leadership I’ve ever read. In it, Maxwell talk about his time as a young Pastor, wanting to come in and impact change. He learned that at his elder meetings, whenever he brought up a change, everyone would look to a farmer named Claude to see what Claude felt about it. If Claude was on board, the change was voted through, if Claude was not, the change was vetoed.
Every team has a Claude. In this video, I’ll tell you how to spot your key influencer and the right way to utilize one-on-ones with them in order to get them on board on the front end.