From Ethical to Eternal: How My View of Influence Evolved

On many podcasts, I’ve been asked, “What’s one of your biggest takeaways after writing Influenced from Above: Where Faith and Influence Meet?”

After finishing the book, I realized something surprising. For years, PEOPLE stood for Powerful Everyday Opportunities to Persuade that are Lasting and Ethical. But now, I see it can also stand for Loving and Eternal to convey something deeper.

Ethical influence has always been central to my work. In fact, it was Stanford’s use of the word manipulation in an ad for Dr. Robert Cialdini’s work that ultimately led me to meet him—and changed the course of my career and life.

Being ethical is critical. Yet rules alone can have a subtle shortcoming. Human nature being what it is, when we define the line, many of us want to see how close we can get to it. But imagine instead if our motivation was love—if we sought to stay as far away from that line as possible because we genuinely cared about others’ well-being. That’s a much stronger foundation for influence.

In Influenced from Above, I explore how faith and influence work together—how Dr. Cialdini’s principles are supported by timeless biblical truths. That perspective led me to rethink PEOPLE through a new lens: Powerful Everyday Opportunities to Persuade that are Loving and Eternal.

P – Powerful

What I teach isn’t opinion, it’s proven science. It’s grounded in more than nine decades of research by Dr. Cialdini and his fellow social scientists. That’s what makes these principles of influence so powerful.

E – Everyday

As a grandfather, I see influence in its purest form. From the moment my grandson Emmett arrived, he’s been influencing behavior to get his needs met! Throughout our lives, every day, we use influence to meet our needs and help others meet theirs.

O – Opportunities

Opportunities to apply the principles of influence are everywhere, though we often don’t notice them. Once you learn the language of influence, your perspective changes and you start spotting them all around you—at work, at home, and in everyday conversations.

P – Persuade

Persuasion is about changing how people think, feel, or behave—with the goal of inspiring action. After all, you don’t want a prospect to say, “Everything looks good,” but stop there. You want them to say yes and sign the contract.

L – Loving

This goes beyond creating win-win scenarios. Loving influence means putting the other person’s interests ahead of your own. If you love God with all your heart and love your neighbors as yourself, ethics takes care of itself because love will always guide you to do what’s right.

E – Eternal

Eternal takes influence beyond lasting impact. I believe when this life is over, only our souls endure. That means the way we influence others—through love, integrity, and care—can ripple into eternity.

Who and Why

As I reflect on the book and the journey that led to it, I realize my understanding of influence has grown deeper—not just intellectually, but spiritually. Influence isn’t only about what we do; it’s about who we are and why we do it.

Our daughter Abigail was the inspiration for Influenced from Above. When she was growing up, we had very few rules. We tried to teach her right from wrong by modeling trust and love. I’ll never forget when she once told my mom, “I would never do anything to break my parents’ trust.” If that’s the motivation, rules become unnecessary.

The same holds true for influence. When our motivation is love—when we seek what’s best for others—ethics no longer feels like a boundary. It becomes the natural outcome of genuine care.

When our influence is rooted in love, the rules take care of themselves, and our impact may reach far beyond what we can see here and now.

To purchase your copy of Influenced from Above, click here.

Special Bonus!

After you purchase the book, email the title of chapter 2 to BookLaunch@influencepeople.biz and I’ll send you a free copy of The Influencer: Secrets to Success and Happiness as a thank you.

Edited with ChatGPT

Brian Ahearn