Colin Gautrey | Gautrey Unleashed

Building Trust Beyond the Obvious

May 22, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

Over recent months we have been engaged in debates about trust on many platforms. This has convinced me even more of the benefits of focusing on building trust in relationships. On workshops, I often ask the question, "How can you build greater trust in your relationships?" The response is usually fairly predictable and comes down to doing what you say you're going to do, telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth — and several similar ideas. Yet, I think we can go beyond this. Here are a few ideas... Read More

Nine Stakeholders You Can’t Afford to Ignore

May 15, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

People tend to focus on stakeholders who are nearest, best known, or most liked, rather than the ones they should be engaging with. Remember, a stakeholder is someone who has a stake in your success, either positive or negative. Because of this, in Advocates & Enemies I ask people to become familiar with how power works in their organisation, so they can identify the right stakeholders. In addition, to stimulate the hunt for the right people, I also outline a range of groups where people can look for them — such as customers, suppliers, etc. It is the final two categories where the surprises and opportunities can come from. People who you never realised could help or hinder and may not be connected to your work at all. Such as... Read More

The Fallacy of Rational Argument: Influencing Mistake No. 4

May 1, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

Time and time again we meet people on our workshops that have spent lots of time and energy building their business case. They have stacked up the numbers and convinced themselves that it works. The numbers speak for themselves — it’s a no-brainer. But somehow they just don’t quite cut it. There is nothing wrong with getting the numbers right, but expecting them to do all the work is often a recipe for problems. Cecilia Falbe and her colleagues studied this and found that reliance on rational persuasion, at best, achieves compliance rather than commitment. To get commitment, or rather enthusiastic buy-in, you need to combine the numbers with what they called an inspirational appeal. These appeals talk directly to the target’s emotions. They resonate with their values and get them excited. The combination approach according to Falbe, and also in our experience, makes for a highly effective strategy when influencing people. It seems that numbers are not very exciting. Only when the numbers connect to the emotions do things get interesting. Read More

Power Vacuums and Unstable Systems

April 19, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

In 2008, I wrote about Power Vacuums in Political Dilemmas at Work which I defined as...

"Your boss has moved on and a successor has yet to be appointed. Suddenly nobody is quite sure what to do."

Except this isn't quite true, is it? People who are adept at navigating the politics of the organisation will know exactly what to do. The dilemma is only a dilemma if you don't know what to do. This simple and common event offers a fascinating example of how the organisational power structures live and breathe and understanding this dynamic can certainly be a career saver. Read More

Are You Powerful Enough?

April 5, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

Mention this five-letter word — power — and there is often a deep emotional reaction. If so, it is usually negative. In the absence of a strong reaction, most people are neutral or simply curious — rarely are they enthusiastic. The reaction depends on the individual's experience and, with negative reactions, their battle scars. Those who have been on the unfortunate end of abusive power tend to shun the very idea of acquiring power. Which is a shame. Those who have seen all the good that can arise because of power are naturally curious and open to explore some more. They will stop short of the vigorous pursuit of power because that is probably not something they want to be caught doing — a little socially unacceptable perhaps?

Power is the capability to get people to act, think or feel differently.

How to Learn about Influence

April 4, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

If you want to learn about influence, you could go on a course or get some coaching. Or, you could just do it yourself. All you need is a little structure, motivation and resourcefulness. By way of structure…

Pause: Stop a moment and think. Who/what is influencing you? Who/what influences others? How are you trying to influence? What do others do when they try to influence?
Plan: What seems to work and with whom? What doesn't work? Why? What could you do differently? What will you do? You might like to add a little reading and talking here too.
Play: Have a go at doing something different. Play safely and see what happens. Enjoy becoming more flexible in your influencing approach.

Trust and Integrity Made Simple

March 28, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

Trust and integrity are two intertwined concepts that usually crop up when I start talking about influence. Although interconnected, they are different, and a clear understanding of them can help you to build influence more quickly. However, despite the temptation to dive into a philosophical debate, you can simplify these greatly and then get moving again with your influence. Trust is the degree to which you can predict someone or something. When it comes to people, what you are assessing is how well you can predict what they will do or, how they will react, to a given situation. Will they do what they say they will do? Will they keep your secrets? Will they tell you the truth? Read More

Pausing to Influence Faster

March 26, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

I coined the phrase “pause to go faster” while running workshops several years ago for a particularly fast-paced organisation. There seemed to be no stopping them. They pick up an idea and they're off the starting blocks before you know what has happened. The culture is one which admires those who get to action fast. However, at times, there is also a desperate need to pause and reflect. Then, in all probability, you will move even faster than before. This is definitely the case when it comes to influence. Unless you pause to think about how you are approaching an influence attempt, you'll probably just do what you've always done. That may work; but then again, it might not. Read More

What Are You Hiding?

March 16, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

Sometimes, you may have the irresistible urge to hide your views, opinions and feelings from others. However, communication is far more complex than simply the words you use. Your inner thoughts and feelings can leak out in so many ways. You may be able to put on a good show, but often, other people can simply smell that something is wrong. As human beings, we are extremely well equipped to detect these subtle clues — albeit much of this is subconscious. The phrase “I smell a rat” springs to mind. Despite this, attempting a cover-up is often a very attractive option, particularly if you are meeting with formidable characters, or those who you think would be upset by your true thoughts. And yes, sometimes it is prudent to do this, but you need to take care because of the risk of your real attitude being detected. If you say one thing and the other person thinks you may be thinking or feeling something different, one could say that they have caught you being untruthful. That could have a big impact on the extent to which trust survives within your relationship. And, if you want to be more influential, trust is essential — well, if you want enduring influence it is! Whenever you notice the temptation to cover-up looming, consider... Read More

The Power of Three

March 13, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

One of the joys of being a practitioner of the practical is the delight of seeing a simple idea land in seconds and make a positive impact on behaviour. It happened again today while running a workshop for a group of highly experienced professionals who were exploring the subject of influence — and it came within the first 20 minutes and it will last well beyond this day in all of our minds. It is not new, nor a revelation — just a helpful device to tune your communication and increase your influence. It comes down to three simple points... Read More

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