[JohnBooty]

"Influence" is a perfectly neutral term.

Martin Luther King Jr. influenced people. Gandhi influenced people. Mozart influenced people. Your favorite teacher influenced you.

[Otterly99]

I think it has taken a rather negative connotation with the development of psychology, marketing and "influencers" which are usually people that try to influence you to buy into something.

[BryanBigs]

One of the main points of human existence is to influence people....in a good way.