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This article is from Globaltrends - I selected it because I thought they did an excellent job of examining the emerging influence landscape, some of its potential implications, how businesses can leverage this information and raised some thought-provoking questions to ponder as we move forward.......

Influence is Power

Essentially influence is about power, the ability to shift the actions, attitudes and behaviors of others, to be a compelling force leading the way towards a goal, an aspiration or a way of living or working.

Jan Gordon comment:

Curators of content, news and information who provide insights and context will play an important role in shaping the future of influence.

Here are a few highlights: 

Identifying who are the shapers and influencers is just the start of mapping the influence landscape. 

*In today's world knowledge and skill are never enough--unless you possess the influence to make the world take notice.

There are three other key elements to understand:

• the organizations and communities, which interact with the shapers and influencers to determine the rules of engagement
• the networks, channels and aggregators through which influence travels  
• the individuals and their roles who are shaped by influence

Making Sense of the Influence Landscape: Implications for Business

Understanding the landscape of influence and its shifting power structures is critical for businesses today and will become more so in future. 

Businesses that actively understand and manage influence have tremendous opportunities

Here are an example:
 
Tap into the value of entire networks, rather than that of individuals alone, e.g. pricing products or services according to an individual’s influence power, to maximize potential network value versus individual value.

What’s Next?

The influence landscape is dynamic.  The one certainty is that it will continue to shift more rapidly, raising the question of what’s next? 

How will power bases shift if we learn to manage the landscape and its underlying technologies better? 

Who will be the next generation of shapers and influencers – and how do we connect with them?

Selected by Jan Gordon for Curatti covering "Curation, Social Business and Beyond"

Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/1fwR2iF]