Philip E. Agre, Department of Information Studies (UCLA), has updated his 2001 essay "How to Be a Leader in Your Field: A Guide for Students in Professional Schools" and reinforces that anyone can have impact in their chosen field. In summary, these steps are:

1. Pick an issue.
   
2. Having chosen your issue, start a project to study it.
   
3. Find relevant people and talk to them.
   
4. Pull together what you've heard.
   
5. Circulate the result.
   
6. Build on your work.

Become inspired here: http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/leader.html