5.4 Understanding your sphere of influence
As a changemaker you set out to influence the world around you. You may be trying to change the policies and practices of a government or business; strengthen the voice of your community; change hearts, minds and actions of policy makers; or pioneer or promote new solutions. You will perhaps be doing so with other people and allies as collective action is more influential than individual action.
In most cases, whether a restricted context or not, you will only ever have partial influence of what you are trying to achieve. The sphere of influence framework [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] is a useful tool to help you determine what is and what is not within your power to influence.
You can consider activities and processes that are within the sphere of control to be areas which you, or your group/organisation, have complete control over and where the outcomes and changes observed will be largely down to your own actions.
The sphere of influence is the area where things are not completely in your – or your group/organisation’s – control but you do have some power or influence to help bring about a change. It can be quite large in some contexts and on some issues, and it can be very small in others where people’s voices and actions are tightly constrained.
The sphere of concern or interest, on the other hand, focuses on areas of change that you – or your group/organisation – have no control over, but do have a deep concern with or interest in. This sphere often covers actions taken by others or the results of wider trends and events in the world.
This tool can help you focus your activities on where you can make a tangible difference making it more likely that the change you deliver will have some effect on both your sphere of influence and your sphere of concern, however small. It can also help ensure you understand the context for being a changemaker where you are. Where you are, what issue you are working on and your realistic sphere of influence may affect your ability to associate, organise and act, whether formally or informally, individually or collectively.
Remember that change is often incremental. Although your overall goal may involve a widescale transformation, using the sphere of influence framework should help you map out more of a step-by-step approach and identify what is more directly in your control and influence.
5.3 What is influencing?
