Mel Robbins explained how to identify an influential person in a company
Mel Robbins, host of *The Mel Robbins Podcast*, said she learned how to identify the most influential person in a room while working her first job as a waitress at the Red Rooster Tavern in Michigan. According to Fortune, her manager and mentor, Ruth, explained this approach to her.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Robbins recalled that Ruth advised her to look beyond just the person who directly pays the bill. According to the podcaster, in companies, decisions about tips often depend on the assessment of a woman, who may advise her partner to tip the waitress. Therefore, her mentor advised her not to focus on men and to pay special attention to women.
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According to Robbins, a similar principle applies in the corporate environment: the person with the most influence is often not the one with the highest title or the one sitting at the head of the table. She advises paying close attention to those close to executives—the people they listen to and those who manage their schedules. Robbins noted that assistants in companies often wield significant influence, particularly regarding access to meetings and executives’ schedules.
Robbins, a former legal analyst at CNN, has been working as a motivational speaker and bestselling author for over two decades. Fortune also cites the example of Pat Mitchell, former president and CEO of The Paley Center for Media, who emphasized the value of meaningful professional connections and the ability to bring people together. Stephen Bartlett, founder and host of the podcast *The Diary of a CEO*, shared that he hired a candidate with minimal experience, in part because of her polite attitude toward a security guard.
