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Tommy Spaulding is the best-selling author of The Gift of Influence: Creating Life-Changing and Lasting Impact in Your Everyday Interactions and founder of the Tommy Spaulding Leadership Institute. Tommy believes that to have a life of impact, you must live intentionally and show compassion to others.
WHAT INSPIRED TOMMY TO WRITE HIS BOOK
The current dictionary definition of “influence” is all about social media. Tommy believes a great influencer isn’t someone with a large following but instead, an influencer is in the business of changing lives.
Everyone can have a positive impact on others no matter their profession. The gift of influence is to inspire the world to look at it from a different perspective and challenge themselves to be a gift to others.
NEGATIVE VS POSITIVE INFLUENCE
The average person influences 80,000 people in their lifetime and the average life expectancy is 78 years. You have the chance to impact 2.8 people every day of your life. What if, at the end of your life, you get to meet all 80,000 people you influenced? Would you serve them differently?
There are 37 football stadiums in the US that hold 80,000 people. Tommy wants you to think: Is your stadium full of people thanking you for the difference you made in their life? Are they clapping or are they booing? Those people are your legacy.
THE IMPACT OF COMPASSION
After Tommy dropped his son off at Shattuck-St. Mary’s Boarding School he felt close to tears. After eating dinner at the airport, he passed a coffee shop where he saw a young woman crying at a table, writing a letter.
He turned around and sat next to her. She was writing her long-distance boyfriend a letter to end their relationship. Tommy gave her a hug and they both started crying. He never got her name, but he knows she’ll be in his stadium because he was the guy who didn’t just walk by.
How many times do we walk by or say, “If you need anything, let me know?” What you’re really saying is, “I don’t care enough to do anything.” When true influencers see someone who’s in pain, they help. Tommy emphasizes that we’re called to influence the lives of others. True influencers serve people and ask for nothing in return.
Listen to this episode to learn about...
- [0:56] Why Tommy wrote his book
- [2:51] A powerful story about the impact of influence
- [9:27] The difference between negative and positive influence
- [13:07] The influence of compassion on people’s lives
- [19:46] The importance of relying on your gut
- [21:40] The most important four words
Listen to the bonus episode to learn when it comes to compassion, actions speak louder than words, and understanding different leadership types.
Resources:
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Visit Tommy’s website
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