There are three main parts of humans that can drive us towards success. Those are the personality, our passions, and our specific purpose in life. When one of these three is missing, then what we deem as success is not really so.

As an entrepreneur it is important to remember that God gave us the personality, the passions and the purpose. Now while all of these things can be molded by environment; they can also be re-molded by the power of God.

Take a look at your personality!

Why?

Because God expects you to be YOU from the beginning to the end! To be like anyone else is a slap in the face of God.

Too many times as business owners we try to emulate someone else, forgetting who we are. The fact is that you can never be anyone else but YOU! As much as you try to get around it or fake the reality of who you are, it can only be hidden for so long until you find that it can all come to a screeching halt!

Your personality is a key part of your business because in allowing it shine through your target market can find out what your business is all about. With personality in your business, folks will know more about you as well. Today’s market is not yesterday’s market. People want to know who you are more so than they want to know what you do!

Here is what a few of my Twitter Buddies had to say on personality:

Andrea from femaleswithamission.com

Scott from fatlossquickie.com

Patrysha from coffeetimemarketing.com

Can you see the value of being you when it comes to running your business?

To top that off, if you mix in your passion and your purpose then you have a business that is truly successful. It is not about 6 or 7 figures. Ok well the money is a nice addition. However remember that money should never be the ruling force in the life.

It is about authentic connection and the reality of who you really are. That is what matters in business…

Being authentically YOU and keeping it real while you conduct business.

I read a lot about personality and how it ties in with my life so that I can determine how to use with business. I highly recommend that you read a book on personality and one that I love is Personality Plus: How to Understand Others by Understanding Yourself. I wrote about the book in parts 1 and 2 of the very first Book Club discussion here on Life and Business Integration.

Look for two parts to this series about your personality, your passion, and your purpose and be sure to weigh in on the discussion.

We have been discussing the Power of Influence here at Life and Business Integration and if you have not read the other post, you can read Part 1 and Part 2 to see what this series has been about. This post is the final installment of the series and I hope that for you it was as good to read as it was for me to write.

Today I want to cover a couple of more points about influencing like Christ.

Being authoritative as opposed to authoritarian does not mean you lose the power of influence that you may already have. It also doesn’t mean you should lack confidence when you speak. It simply means that you are tactful and genuine with your approach – not a stuck-up tyrant. The difference is that you speak with confidence rather than arrogance.

This is what Christ did when he spoke with others. He approached the Sadducees and Pharisees with confidence; He spoke to Satan in the desert with confidence; He shared the Gospel with confidence. Yet, with all the Power He had, He never had an authoritarian approach.

There was always a peace about whatever He spoke of. His personality, passion, and purpose all shined through but He never once pushed it or forced it on anyone. He was tactful, diplomatic, and most of all non-judgmental.

If you want to be an influence in your business, you’ll want to lead by example and speak with an encouraging, yet confident tone. In doing so, becoming a powerful influence can prove to be a beneficial and successful experience.

What do you think about influencing like Christ? Is there some relevance to it for you? Why or why not?

When it comes to having a successful business, knowing how to influence others is great asset to attain. However, as a faith-filled Believer it is important that we understand that influence is not manipulation or deceit. Influence for the Believer should be persuasion with love and service at the forefront of our objective. As Christ was the Great Influence so we should strive to be the same.

In order to get a clear understanding about influence, it may be necessary to know what the term truly means.

Influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something.

Influence is one of the most motivating factors in decision making. When you have a major decision to make, what are the influences that drive you to a final decision?

It’s normal to base any big decisions you make on how it will affect your loved ones. In essence, you could say that those closest to you have a lot of influence on the decisions you make in life.

So, how do you become influential so you can produce your desired effects on the actions, behaviors and opinions of others?

Over the next few days we will cover this topic.  By learning and applying a few simple strategies, we can learn how to become more like Christ and influence in love and service.

Let’s look at the first strategy now.

Lead by Example

The best way to influence someone is in your own behavior. This can go both ways – good or bad. If you want to influence someone to be positive and do well, you’ll need to be a living example of the behavior you expect.

In your business, be someone that others would want to model. That means you should strive to be timely in what you do, work diligently, and avoid getting into the issues that cause gossiping and back biting.

Jesus understood the power of being an example. This is why He choose to live as His Father expected Him to. Remember that He was God’s Son but He was also a man with the freedom to choose. His choice was to be the example of God’s expectation of His children, be obedient and follow through with God’s plan.

People are lead by example and will likely do whatever others around them are doing. If you’re a leader, then you’re the example they’ll follow. Remember, you can exert influence over others by becoming a proactive example to model.

Be the example of influencing with love and service.

In part two of the series we will discuss communication.

I would love to hear your thoughts as we move through this series on influence. You can help by taking the poll in the sidebar, commenting, sharing your tips on influence in business, or tweeting about the series.

Looking forward to sharing more with you about influencing in business like Christ.