How to Be a Corporate Influencer (and Drive Positive Change)

Today I am talking about becoming an influencer. Not a social media influencer; rather, a corporate influencer.

A corporate influencer is someone who drives positive change inside an organization. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the CEO, a middle manager, a frontline supervisor, or even an individual contributor.

You can still influence culture, leadership, and performance.

So how do you do that?

Here are six principles for becoming a positive change agent inside your organization.

1. Build Relationships First

If you want to influence change, it always starts with relationships.

Yes, credibility matters. Yes, knowledge and expertise matter. But if you don’t build relationships based on trust, care, and understanding, you won’t be successful as a change agent.

People don’t just want to know that you’re smart or that you’re an expert.

They want to know that you care about them and understand where they’re coming from.

That means taking time to connect with people:

• Lunches or coffee conversations

• Walking meetings

• One-on-one discussions

• Asking about their experiences and recent wins

One of the worst things a change agent can do is enter an organization and immediately act like everything is broken.

Even if improvements are needed, you have to honor what’s already working well.

If you only focus on what’s wrong, you’ll turn people off—even if you’re right.

2. Treat People With Respect

Driving change doesn’t mean abandoning respect.

Even when organizations need to change roles, restructure teams, or move people out of positions, those changes should still be handled with human dignity, empathy, and respect.

At this stage of my life, I don’t want to be part of an organization that doesn’t treat people well.

Change is necessary. Performance matters.

But how we treat people while making those changes matters just as much.

3. Tone Matters When Asking Questions

A subtle but powerful leadership skill is tone.

Many leaders say they’re “just asking questions,” but the way those questions are asked makes all the difference.

If your tone sounds like:

• “I’m smarter than you”

• “I’m trying to catch you doing something wrong”

• “I’m proving a point”

…then the question isn’t really coaching. It’s criticism disguised as curiosity.

Instead, approach questions with empathy and genuine interest.

For example:

“You’ve been working hard and doing some really good things here. What areas do you think we could still improve?”

When the tone is respectful and curious, people will open up.

When the tone is condescending, they shut down.

4. Recognize Strengths—Not Just Weaknesses

Every organization has gaps. Anyone can find them.

But strong change agents also recognize what people are doing well.

I once shared a story about Coach Bob Ponick working in a tough unionized Boeing plant in Philadelphia.

He was brought in to drive performance improvements and hit challenging KPIs.

But for the first month, he didn’t focus on the gaps.

Instead, he focused on recognizing what people were already doing well.

Before long, employees began approaching him for advice and collaboration because they knew he respected their work.

When people feel seen and appreciated, they’re much more open to change.

5. Role Model the Behavior You Want

If you want to influence change, you have to model the behavior you want to see.

For example:

• Want better meetings? Run better meetings.

• Want people to accept feedback? Be open to feedback yourself.

• Want more continuous improvement? Demonstrate it.

One example that stood out recently involved an HR leader rolling out a new performance management process.

Instead of defending the system when people suggested improvements, she welcomed the feedback and made changes.

Because she was open to improvement herself, employees bought into the process even more the following year.

Leadership credibility grows when people see you practicing what you preach.

6. Shine a Light on the Behaviors You Want

Finally, highlight and celebrate the behaviors you want to see.

I remember attending a seminar in the 1990s with Jack Welch and Stephen Covey in Dallas with some aerospace clients.

At the time, GE was the model organization. Someone asked Jack Welch how he drove so much change across such a large company.

His answer was simple:

“I shine a light on what I want.”

That meant recognizing the behaviors, results, and improvements that aligned with the company’s goals.

Sometimes that recognition was big—awards, promotions, public recognition.

Sometimes it was small—a mention in a newsletter or a quick thank-you in a meeting.

But the message was clear:

What gets recognized gets repeated.

Final Thoughts

Anyone can be a corporate influencer and positive change agent.

You don’t need a big title or a formal leadership role.

Focus on these six principles:

1. Build relationships first

2. Treat people with respect

3. Ask questions with the right tone

4. Recognize strengths—not just weaknesses

5. Role model the behavior you want

6. Shine a light on the behaviors you want to see

When you do these things consistently, you’ll create an environment where people are more open to change, improvement, and growth.

And that’s how real influence happens inside organizations.

Building Trust as a Leader: 5 Simple Reminders

Recently in my consulting and coaching work, I’ve been reminded again how important trust is in leadership.

Whether we’re in middle management, frontline management, or senior leadership, almost every organization I work with is trying to improve performance. I don’t know one organization that isn’t trying to get better—and that’s a great thing.

But how we try to improve matters.

Leadership today cannot be about a holier-than-thou attitude or a command-and-control approach. Maybe that worked decades ago, but it certainly doesn’t work with today’s workforce.

We can’t rely on positional power or act like people should listen simply because we’re the boss. That approach only goes so far.

If we want to influence people, improve performance, and drive meaningful change, we have to build relationships. And at the core of strong relationships is trust.

Here are five simple reminders for building trust as a leader.

1. Communicate—Constantly

First and foremost, leaders need to communicate.

That includes tough news and good news.

Part of our job as leaders is to communicate the vision, the values, the direction, and the latest updates—over and over again. I know it can be time-consuming, and when we’re stressed or tired it can feel repetitive. But it’s still our job.

When people sense that leaders are hiding information, avoiding communication, or just too busy to share what’s happening, trust starts to erode.

If you want to build trust and lead change effectively, you have to:

• Communicate the vision

• Communicate the direction

• Communicate updates

And then communicate it again.

2. Honor Your Commitments

Another powerful way to build trust is simple: meet your commitments.

Most leaders want better follow-up from their teams. They want their direct reports to do what they say they’ll do.

But it starts with us.

If you told someone you’d get back to them by Friday, get back to them by Friday.

Even if you don’t have the answer yet.

You might be waiting on a supplier, a customer, or your boss—but people still appreciate an update. It could be a quick Slack message, a short text, or a brief email.

Something like:

“I’m still waiting on information, but I’ll try again by next Tuesday.”

That small action shows respect.

But when leaders go dark and fail to follow up, people lose confidence and trust.

Model the behavior you want from your team.

3. Listen With Curiosity

Imagine going to the doctor and after eight seconds they say:

“Yep, I’ve seen this before. Take this pill.”

None of us would want that.

We want our doctors—and our advisors—to listen carefully.

The same is true in leadership.

Yes, leaders are busy. Yes, we have agendas and deadlines. But we still owe it to our people to listen.

One of the most underrated leadership skills is curiosity.

Curiosity means:

• Asking open-ended questions

• Diagnosing the real issue

• Seeking to understand before jumping to solutions

Imagine if leaders got excited about asking great questions instead of simply telling people what to do.

That shift alone can unlock better thinking, stronger engagement, and deeper trust.

4. Speak Well of Others in Front of Others

This next one is small, but incredibly powerful.

Speak well of others in front of others.

There will always be times when a team member is struggling and you need to gather input or discuss a situation. That happens occasionally.

But if leaders constantly vent about people behind their backs, trust disappears quickly.

Think about it from the employee’s perspective.

If a leader complains about someone else to you, what are you thinking?

Probably something like:

“If they’re talking about them like that… they’re probably talking about me the same way.”

Complaining behind someone’s back is lazy leadership.

If there’s a real issue, have the courage to address it directly and respectfully with that person.

But in meetings, emails, and conversations, make a habit of recognizing people and speaking well of them.

That builds massive trust.

5. Be Willing to Apologize

This last one applies to leadership, parenting, and marriage.

It’s also a skill that’s incredibly underused.

Leaders often feel like they have to appear perfect. They think apologizing shows weakness.

But the opposite is true.

We’re all human.

Sometimes we get stressed. Sometimes we overreact. Sometimes we don’t listen first and jump to conclusions.

When that happens, the best thing you can do is come back and say:

“I apologize. I was stressed yesterday and didn’t really seek your perspective first. Can we restart this conversation?”

That kind of humility builds enormous trust.

It doesn’t have to be a long conversation. Just be sincere, acknowledge the mistake, and move forward.

Your team already knows you’re human.

When you admit mistakes quickly and genuinely, it strengthens your credibility instead of weakening it.

Final Thoughts

Trust isn’t built through expertise or positional power alone.

It’s built through consistent leadership behaviors:

• Communicating openly

• Keeping your commitments

• Listening with curiosity

• Speaking well of others

• Apologizing when you’re wrong

When leaders do these things consistently, they build the kind of trust that allows teams to improve, adapt, and achieve meaningful results.