mover and shaker

plural movers and shakers

1. figurativelyplural normallySomeone who has power and influence in a field or activity; one who accomplishes tasks, who gets things done.

   He really is a mover and a shaker in those circles.

   3 more examples

   The sales team sought to talk to the movers and shakers within an organization, rather than to their underlings.

   Being loyal to the people you work for is also an important initial step on your road to becoming a mover and shaker.

   2005, Dave Yoho, Have a Great Year Every Year: A Four Point Program for Maximizing Your Performance, OakHill Press, page 175

   People such as William James and the Stephensons (with whom he collaborated) may have been the movers and shakers of the early railways, but there was other, less exalted bods who constructed all the paraphernalia - including stations.

   2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and Facts behind railway plaques: Reading (1840)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 56

   Synonyms: instigator, straw that stirs the drink