Opinion Leaders: Who Are They and How are They Developed

Opinion Leaders: Who Are They and How are They developed?

Welcome back to my blog!  This week’s topic will focus on Opinion Leaders.  Let’s define who or what an opinion leader is: An opinion leader is one who sifts through ideas and information in order to provide guidance to the public.  The people that business leaders turn to or look for guidance to as things change according to a particular industry.  They are agents of change who more than likely are active, savvy media users.  According to the Washington Post, “Opinion Leaders shape business and industries, influence study and debate, spread ideas, expand the conversation and affect policy decisions”.    

Have you ever thought how and why some people have the influence that they have?  What makes these individuals highly sought after for their opinions? Is it because they are good sales people, or have they been trained and groomed to highly influential? Or, perhaps do they just believe passionately in everything they promote?   But what makes a person so valuable? What qualities does a person possess to make them this esteemed opinion leader?    These are all questions that come to mind when I think about how an opinion leader becomes who they are.  Simon Sinek said it best when he said “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”.  He says that you inspire organizations on how they think, act and communicate from the inside out, not the outside in. Meaning that people buy into your purpose, your cause and your beliefs.  These things are major factors in becoming an influential person. All and all there must be a certain level of integrity, trust, and reliability in a person to even begin to be seen by its peers as an opinion leader.

Because this study is so interesting to me, I asked some of my co-workers what characteristics or qualities they thought an opinion leader should possess?  It was very interesting to hear them respond with such qualities like the following: have strong charisma, they must be forward thinkers, visionaries, have people skills, be persuasive, be risk takers, like to talk, be self-confident and in general be innovative people. Another important quality of an opinion leader is they must have a lot of exposure to different things.  The more you are exposed to the better and wider the range of choices you have or broader view you have to the worldwide.   

Looking back over time, I have always been intrigued by individuals who have this skill or this innate influential trait and ability to lead and influence a group of people. I ask the question, are these people born with the ability or is something that is learned and cultivated over a period of time? Some say this ability you are born with and others believe that it can be a learned behavior.  I personally believe that this is something that can be learned.

There are different types of opinion leaders in various business and industries.    Let’s examine some examples of opinion leaders like pastors, mayors, governors, other elected officials, principals, president’s and others.  Thinking back on the position that each of these individuals hold, what did they have to influence the people? In my opinion it is so hard to actually put this ability into words.  I feel that you can’t describe it but you know it when it’s in your presence.  Before entering into a class on Media and Leadership, I didn’t actually know that this group of people were referred to as “opinion leaders”.  I referred to them as leaders in general and as I think about the definition of opinion leaders what better category to describe them.  I value being connected to this type of individual, not because of materialistic reasons, fame or fortune but because of their ability to inspire change and cause action.  Not all people know or even care about inspiring others to make a change and be present in life decisions. Being an influential member of society should be a goal for the average person.   An opinion leader reaches a mass number of audiences and has a major impact on decision making.

In an article I once read it stated that one reason organizations or other entities have such an issue with getting people to listen to them is because the audience doesn’t believe in them. We should remember this as we strive to be leaders.

Are you an opinion leader? How do you get good people to listen to you?