Gautrey Unleashed

Power and Informal Groups

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You can imagine that the level of power owned by an informal group consists of the sum of the personal power of each individual member. As with other ideas, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. However, this power is often latent or impotent. A group will only be able to benefit from its combined power assets if:
  1. The group has an identity recognised by the members.
  2. The key members have some form of organisational agenda or purpose.
  3. They are mobilised to act.

Development Stages

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Exercise: How Power Works in Your Organisation

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It is not sufficient to just read about power, you need to think about it too. How does what you are reading relate to the environment where you work, or you wish to be successful? That is the purpose of this exercise. Naturally, we are assuming that you have already read the references below which provide the background concepts and ideas. Take around 30 minutes and consider the following questions... Read More

Are You Too Nice to Get Ahead?

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Many people rising through the ranks gain their success and promotion by getting the best out of others. Motivating, encouraging and, well, being nice. They consider the goals and dreams of others and find ways of harmonising their own goals with others' so they can get a great result for everyone. However, it is not unusual at elevated levels for them to be told by their boss, "You're too nice". Many of the nice guys I've coached who have had this levelled at them (and there have been quite a few) find it hard to come to terms with this feedback. To accept Read More

Developing the Right Networks

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Network Map Having a strong and vibrant network brings access to resources, political intelligence, friendly support and, frankly, enjoyable and rewarding relationships. In many ways, success is likely to be short-lived if you have not got the support of a network around you. The actual activity of networking is really about using your social skills to make new connections, contacts and friends. It is about moving these new relationships from the initial connection (either through work or at an event) into a more rewarding longer-term personal relationship. Many books have been written on the subject. These mainly focus on the interpersonal activities and how to find opportunities to build connections. What most of them miss is Read More

Exercise: Helping You to Build Trust More Effectively

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If you have read the other articles here about trust, you should have a pretty good grasp now of what trust is, how it works, and how things can go wrong. Now it is time to make sure you are integrating this into your own world. This exercise is intended to challenge you to become more aware of trust in your work, and also, perhaps most importantly of all, move you towards building greater levels of trust in your relationships. Read More

Extra Thoughts on Building Trust in a New Relationship

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If you want to build trust, take care of these seven dangers which could hinder or even destroy your attempts to develop trust in a relationship. To get the most from this, we are assuming that you have already read Building Trust in a New Relationship and also the simple Trust Building Example.
  1. Trusting Too Soon. If you place a great deal more trust in someone than they would reasonably expect, they are highly likely to close up and trust you less. This is particularly so if they come from the “distrust until they have to” end of the spectrum. The bigger the gap, the bigger the discord. Would you trust someone who gushes forth their innermost thoughts within five minutes of meeting you? If you have a tendency to do this ― don’t! Do whatever you can to hold yourself back.
  2. Read More

Trust Building Example

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In Building Trust in a New Relationship, we talked about four steps of trust building.. At a high level, that’s how it works. What we consider here is an example of how this might work and, more importantly, illustrating the trail of thoughts which might go through the minds of those involved.

Step 1: Trust Orientation

Imagine what it would be like if two people started a relationship coming from either end of the spectrum ― one person trusting too much (let’s call him Sanjay), and the other too little (Sally). Sanjay will enter the relationship full of optimism and positive expectation, looking for the clues that prove he is right ― Sally is someone who is highly trustable. On the other hand, Sally will enter with a large amount of suspicion, perhaps fuelled by the core value that “most people are out to get you, it’s a dog-eat-dog world”. It also happens Read More

Building Trust in a New Relationship

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The importance of trust in building long-term relationships should be evident to all. A few months back, I suggested a few ways of Building Trust Beyond the Obvious and here I want to step back a little and explore how trust begins when we meet someone for the first time. Understanding the process by which trust emerges can enhance the possibility that you will get it moving a little quicker ― trust doesn’t have to take a lifetime to build. Assuming you have already read Trust and Integrity Made Simple, you will understand that both parties will have mutual feelings of trust, and that these levels may vary. The best relationships have broadly equal feeling of trust on both sides. Any serious imbalance is going to cause problems, sooner or later. Read More

Key Principles of the Influence Profile

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The Gautrey Influence Profile is highly effective at helping people to learn how they prefer to influence. This awareness leads to decisions about when and how to adapt their behaviour to suit a particular stakeholder. It helps them to learn how to become more effective at influence. Although the main purpose of this article is to help trainers, coaches and managers to prepare for helping others to understand these concepts, it will also be of interest to anyone who has done or is thinking about doing the Influence Profile. Read More

How to Be a Powerful Leader without Alienating People

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Once you get into a position of power, being powerful can be a joy and a short-term career highlight ― and no, I am not referring to Mr Entwistle at the BBC, tempting though it may be. Instead, I’m talking about you and what could happen if you are not careful. I can promise you there will be no surprises here, because you have probably seen it happen before with other powerful leaders. However, as you rise in power, it is all too easy to forget this list. So, treat this as a handy reminder as you start to stride down the corridors of power.
  1. Abusing your power. Namely, forcing or manipulating people to do something that they don’t want to do or, if they had full knowledge, probably shouldn’t do. Instead, focus on gaining buy-in, or at least acceptance with full disclosure.
  2. Throwing your Read More

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