Chief Influencer®

Amanda Cage has spent three decades working alongside frontline workers, from hog processing plants in North Carolina to Head Start classrooms in Boston to construction sites where women were breaking barriers in the building trades. Today, as President and CEO of Shift Work Forward, she leads a national network of over 30 communities working to redesign how workforce systems operate so that economic opportunity reaches everyone, not just those who already have access.

Her conversation with Anthony explores a question that cuts across every industry: Is individual influence enough to create lasting change, or does real influence require something collective? Amanda makes a compelling case that collective influence produces better solutions because it forces leaders to persuade, listen, and refine ideas through genuine pushback. She challenges leaders to check their ego, use language that respects the people closest to the problem, and stop designing solutions for communities without including them in the process.

Amanda also shares what she learned leading Shift Work Forward through a major rebrand, including why the process is always harder, more expensive, and more emotional than you expect, and why it forces an organization to answer the most fundamental question: Who are you?

Takeaways:
  • Build influence through movements, not personalities. Individual leaders come and go, but a committed base of people sustains change over time.
  • Collective decision-making produces better ideas because it forces you to persuade, defend, and refine your thinking through real pushback.
  • Check your ego before trying to lead. Your experience is often not the experience of the people you are trying to help.
  • Use language that respects your audience. Jargon and acronyms signal membership in a club, but they lock people out of the conversation.
  • Disruption is not destiny. History shows that who is at the table during times of change determines the outcome, not the technology itself.
  • A rebrand is soul-searching. It costs more than you expect in money, time, and emotional energy, but it forces you to define who you really are.

Quote of the Show:
  • "What's important to me at this stage is thinking about how we create the next generation of influencers? How do we create the next generation of talent to be influencers? And how do we create a group of people who are listening, who have access to, or who have experience, or who have a broader perspective because of the kind of experiences they were allowed to have?"

Links:

Creators and Guests

Host
Anthony Shop
Anthony Shop believes in the power of people-centered branding and marketing to create a bright future. He chairs the National Digital Roundtable, the premier convener of digital innovators, leaders and policy shapers. Anthony also is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Social Driver, a digital services firm that helps companies and non-profits establish winning strategies with social media, websites, creative, and advertising. An enthusiastic presenter and teacher, he has led executive-level training for Amazon, PepsiCo, NASA, The British Embassy and the Bipartisan Policy Center. He has been recognized as an “OUTstanding LGBT Role Model” by The Financial Times, “40 Under 40” by The Washington Business Journal, and Business Leader of the Year by the DC Chamber of Commerce. A former newspaper reporter, Anthony was the first new media professional elected to the National Press Club’s Board of Governors. He currently serves on the boards of Leadership Greater Washington and LearnServe International. He earned his MBA from The George Washington University School of Business, where he teaches as an adjunct lecturer.
Guest
Amanda Cage
CEO, Shift Work Forward (formerly the National Fund)
Producer
Amanda Goyette

What is Chief Influencer®?

Washington is the Center of Influence - in the U.S. and arguably the world. Chief Influencer® spotlights leaders who have figured out how to break through in today’s fragmented and noisy world. Social Driver teamed up with The George Washington University College of Professional Studies and The Communications Board to recognize these leaders as Chief Influencers and highlight how they inspire and influence others.