Jon Levy is the Founder and Host of Influencers, a private community made up of over 2,000 industry leaders including Nobel laureates, Olympians, celebrities, executives, royalty, and so much more. He is a behavioral scientist best known for his work in influence, networking, and adventure. He specializes in applying the latest scientific research on human behavior to transform the ways companies approach marketing, sales, consumer engagement, product design, and influencer program development.
Jon spent years researching the science of adventure, which led him to publish his first book, The 2 AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure. In his second book, You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence, Jon demonstrates the importance of human connection, trust, and community to accomplish what is most important.
In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran is joined by Jon Levy, an author and the Founder and Host of Influencers, to talk about the power of influence and Jon’s latest book, You’re Invited. They also talk about creating connections, building trust, and the value of developing a sense of belonging. Stay tuned.
Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Hear:
- The inspiration behind Jon Levy’s second book — and his reasons for choosing the title “You’re Invited”
- How Jon has been building and maintaining connections during COVID-19
- Jon’s advice on networking and building experiences
- What are the benefits of organizing influencer dinners?
- How to build trust after making connections with people
- The value of developing a sense of belonging or a community
- The peers Jon respects and those he acknowledges for his achievements
- Where to learn more about Jon Levy and get his books
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
- Jon Levy’s website
- Jon Levy on LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
- You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence by Jon Levy
- The 2 AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure by Jon Levy
- “How to Throw An Influencers Dinner” with Jon Levy
- The Influencers Dinner
- How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Salesforce
- Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success by Shane Snow
- Dream Teams: Working Together Without Falling Apart by Shane Snow
- Shane Snow on LinkedIn
Sponsor: Rise25
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Cofounders Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran credit podcasting as the best thing they have ever done for their businesses. Podcasting connected them with the founders/CEOs of P90x, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, Rx Bars, YPO, EO, Lending Tree, Freshdesk, and many more.
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Episode Transcript
Intro 0:14
Welcome to the revolution, the Smart Business Revolution Podcast where we ask today’s most successful entrepreneurs to share the tools and strategies they use to build relationships and connections to grow their revenue. Now, your host for the revolution, John Corcoran.
John Corcoran 0:40
Hey, John Corcoran here. And it’s such a pleasure to host this show every week. You know, I get to talk with smart CEOs, founders, entrepreneurs, authors, from all kinds of different organizations, including YPO, EO, Activision Blizzard, LendingTree, Netflix, go take a look at my archives. There’s so many great conversations there. I’m also the Co-founder Rise25, where we help connect b2b business owners to their ideal prospects. And you know, today we’re gonna be talking about the subject of influence. How do you create it? How do you have it? How do you build it, and my expert, my guest is an absolute expert in this subject matter. His name is Jon Levy. He is the author of the new book, You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence. He’s also the Founder of a private community called Influencers, going to have over 2000 industry leaders, including Nobel laureates, Olympians, celebrities, executives, royalty, and so much more. His previous book was called The 2 AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure. Go take a look at my archives. And you’ll see an interview I did a number of years back when he came out with that book.
Of course, this episode is brought to you by Rise25, where we help you, the b2b business owner, to get clients, referrals, and strategic partnerships with done-for-you podcasts and content marketing. If you have any questions, shoot us an email [email protected] or check out our website at rise25media.com. Jon, such a pleasure to be back with you here again. I’m so excited for this new book for you. And tell me about you. You’ve put out a book before, you know, kind of clearly a glutton for punishment, having done it before, but what inspired you to go through the ordeal again, and why this specific topic lit a fire under you that said you had to write this book?
Jon Levy 2:31
It’s so funny you say this. So, you know, I’m a behavioral scientist, I do research on influencing decision making. And one of the things that I found completely crazy, as I’ve been looking at research, is that in 1985, the average American had three friends just about besides family, by 2004, we were down to about two. Now, that’s before social media, like all these social pressures before the pandemic, which means that we’ve probably lost even more of our social ties. And what concerns This is that when you look at the greatest predictors of business success, right, you can track company stock value, employee sick days and profitability to the level of oxytocin in people’s blood streams, meaning how close they feel are connected. Similarly, the greatest predictor of human longevity is not eating lots of kale and doing a kombucha cleanse or something like that. It’s number two strong social ties. And number one, is social integration, feeling like we’re part of a community. And it turns out that literally across any metric that really matters, belonging is probably the most important thing we can experience. That’s true if it’s for people in their social friendships. But also, if you look at the companies that are really extraordinary, they’re the ones that make you feel connected to them, the ones that integrate themselves on an emotional level to your lifestyle. And so, as I was researching influence, I realized that our influence, our ability to create an impact on people, or on the things that matter does, really breaks down to three things. It’s who we’re connected to. Because if we’re not connected to somebody in some way, we can’t really affect them. That’s how much they trust us. Because if somebody doesn’t trust you, they’re not going to want to do business with you. And the sense of community or belonging that you share. And so if I could become an expert on those things, or if you can become an expert on those things, your only limitation is to figure out what to do with that influence. And so, I wanted to write this book because I felt that it was important for us to understand how to develop deep and meaningful relationships. And that’s where influence comes from. I’d love relationships.
John Corcoran 4:58
I love the title. “You’re invited“. I think that speaks to your approach, you’re invited?
Jon Levy 5:07
Because it is, anyone can say it. And also it makes me feel good.
John Corcoran 5:12
I read that book, I read that and I said, Oh, I’m invited, right. And I think what a lot of people don’t realize is that, even if you’ve achieved a level of status or achievement in your career, that still has power with people. So talk a little bit about why you chose that title.
Jon Levy 5:30
So an invite has this very strange behavioral structure that works like this. If I extend an invitation, I’m putting myself essentially in a vulnerable state. I’m saying, I would like your presence, I respect you, I appreciate you. The moment somebody accepts that invitation, they’re completing what’s called a vulnerability loop. They’re saying, I actually really want to spend time with you. It’s going from a request from me to a request from you, the moment that you accept, you’re saying, affirmatively, I care about this. And in that moment, a relationship elevates and increases trust. There’s this funny thing that people expect that trust precedes vulnerability. But if you really want to be trusted, it’s actually the other way around. It’s called a vulnerability. I put out a signal of vulnerability, like, you hear me say, I’m overwhelmed. If you make fun of me, or ignore me, trust will be reduced. But if you acknowledge it, and say, Jon, I guess both of us are named Jon. But if you say, Levy, it seems I’ve been overwhelmed. All week, too, I know how you feel. Now both of us have demonstrated that we’re vulnerable. And we can trust each other at this higher level of vulnerability. An invitation is actually a vulnerability, it is an opportunity for me to express a desire for your presence. And then for you to fulfill that you’re interested in engaging with me. And that’s what I think is really wonderful. First of all, you don’t need any money to have an invitation, right? Like, it doesn’t matter how rich or poor you are, any of the famous or whatever. It’s not like you need a Bentley, in order to have an invitation. invitation is fundamentally the simplest form of desire for connection between people. And here’s what’s interesting. When you put out a podcast, you’re actually putting out an invitation. You’re saying, Hey, I have something here that I think you’re going to like, that I think is valuable to the world. If you listen to it, you’re completing that loop. And so I wish I could say I came up with a title, but it was my publisher. And I thought it’s really lovely.