Tech — Work — Ramblings

by Mike Kalvas

202109121516 Circle of influence

A metaphorical circle posited by Stephen Covey in his book 202106221713 Seven habits of highly effective people.1

The circle of influence is a superset of the 202109121518 Circle of control and a subset of the 202109121517 Circle of concern. It sits between things that we can control directly and things that we can only be concerned about without affecting. This is the realm of indirect influence and highly effective people.

Highly effective people understand that the things they can control by themselves are limited and that to be highly effective, we need to use the 202109121530 Maturity of interdependence to increase our ability to influence things around us.

Interdependent and highly effective people also know the value of increasing their circle of influence by embodying the habits 202106241529 Be proactive, 202106241527 Think win-win, 202106241526 Seek first to understand, then to be understood, and 202106241525 Synergize.

Mastering indirect influence and interdependence are required skills for becoming a great leader.

  1. Covey, S. R. (2004). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Restoring the character ethic (Rev. ed.). Free Press. ↩