Colin Gautrey | Gautrey Unleashed

How to Develop Genuine Gravitas

November 6, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

Can you spot a fake? When it comes to gravitas, I believe that anyone with a reasonable amount of experience can easily detect when someone is pretending. They may not be able to explain why, but they will certainly get the feeling that the individual they are considering is not all that they appear to be. Gravitas and presence is a key topic within leadership development circles. Maybe you have been told you need to develop gravitas if you want to get promoted to the higher levels. Certainly, talent spotters and recruiters always have at the back of their mind, "Has this person got the gravitas required of this role?" Read More

Are You Wasting Your Time When You Try to Influence?

October 30, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

I’d put money on it. One of the key reasons why I think this is, is that we seem to be programmed to influence in the way we like to be influenced ― about half of this comes down to what we think makes us powerful. Time for a quick recap on power… Power is the capacity to influence. Influence is an outcome ― people doing, thinking or feeling differently. This capacity can comprise of:

Assets (money, position, knowledge, etc.).
Skills (communication, persuasion, problem solving, etc.).
Tactics (rational argument, inspirational appeals, force, etc.).

For a more detailed explanation, take a look at The Components of Power. Now, just take a moment to consider what assets, skills and tactics make you powerful. If you have previously done our Personal Power Profile, perhaps this is a good time to dig it out Read More

Being Secretive and Hiding Inconvenient Truths

October 22, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

"Whatever you do, don't tell them that!" "But, when they find out, it'll come back to bite us." "We'll worry about that when and if it happens. Now, go get them to agree to our plan." Sound familiar? While this is often seen as an expedient tactic, it is usually short-sighted and creates a multiple of problems upstream. However there are exceptions. My starting position is that to maximise success, you should proactively pursue open and honest communication, even with those who oppose you. This topic arose on a workshop a few weeks ago in a workshop as we were reviewing delegates experience of using my Stakeholder Influence Process (see Chapter 13 of Advocates & Enemies. When we analyse stakeholders, one of the dimensions under consideration is “agreement”. Between the positive and the negative there is what I call the grey zone, or rather those people whom you are unsure about ― you don’t quite know if they have bought into your idea or not. The general strategy is to work with those stakeholders to move them out of the grey zone; even if this is into the negative agreement space ― at least then you know what you have to deal with. However, one delegate suggested that his strategy is Read More

Networking for Exceptionally Busy People

October 15, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

“Hello Colin, what do you want now?” This reaction to my call (many years ago) stopped me in my tracks and taught me a great deal about networking. For instance…

Networking requires give and take ― it is not a selfish pursuit.
If you don’t keep it alive, it will die ― probably quite quickly.
Unless the social connection is present, it will be transactional.
It is very hard to do, especially if you are busy.
Networking yields great benefits over a long period of time.

There is no easy answer to this problem, because at the end of the day it all comes down to you. You have the power to make it happen, or continue to let it drift. But, since we like to help people, here are eleven quick tips to get you moving again… Read More

How to Discover New Ways to Influence Stubborn Stakeholders

October 5, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

If you want to influence a stakeholder who is resistant to your proposal, and you have already tried everything you can think of, try this...

Clarify exactly what you want them to agree to (how you want them to do, think, feel or believe etc.)
Select 5 to 10 people in your network whom you trust and who also know the stakeholder you are seeking to influence. Read More

How to Exert Maximum Influence

September 27, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

“What can I do to take the edge over my talented and ambitious colleagues?” “There are a lot of influential people here, how can I compete with them?” These are just two examples of the sort of questions I get asked regularly by people on my workshops and seminars. All of them wanting to be more successful — and genuinely wanting to deliver good value with integrity in an increasingly competitive internal market. As more people realise that influence is what makes it all happen, the bar is always rising. Here is a quick checklist of things to consider, which in my experience are probably not done, or at least not done well, by 95% of people I work with.

When it comes to a specific influence goal, think about your target and ensure that…

The Problems When You Curry Favour

September 22, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

When someone offers to do you a favour, what do you think? Are you grateful, pleased to have someone willing to lend a hand? Or, are you suspicious, wondering why they would want to help and suspecting they are driven by selfish intent? According to recent research at London Business School, your reaction is likely to be determined by the power relationship between you and the favour giver. If you are more powerful, there is a good chance that you will be suspicious. Less powerful, and you will probably be grateful. Apparently, the context seems to matter little ― work or marital relationships are similarly affected. Read More

The Seven Obstacles to Diplomacy

September 19, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

This post should not be viewed as a list of excuses for being tactless and upsetting people. Rather, it should be seen as a realistic look at the key challenges that we all face when it comes to effective communication with other people. Take a look at the obstacles below and see which ones are most likely to trap you. Then start to brainstorm what you can do to reduce the risk of the obstacle getting in the way of productive and successful relationships at work (or frankly, at home too!). Read More

13 Questions to Ask Your Advocates

September 2, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

Getting someone in your network to the position of Advocate can take quite a bit of hard work. Building the relationship, creating trust and demonstrating value can take months, if not years. Of course, that presupposes premeditated action — it is more likely that you just landed there by chance. And doesn’t it feel great noticing how an individual promotes “brand you” to everyone they meet? Finding out through others that “so and so” has been telling everyone how fast you deliver, or how quickly you cut through the trivia and get down to business. Even more rewarding is when they are heard to be recommending you for inclusion on exciting new projects. Because it is more likely that you happened upon your Advocates by chance, you might like to do a little re-evaluation to make sure you have the right people doing the job for you. To get your thinking off to a quick start, here are a few interview-type questions you could (but probably never will) ask of a potential Advocate… Read More

In Defence of Being Nice

August 24, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

If you are one of the many people who get told that they are too nice, hold on a minute. Just because your line manager or mentor has said this to you doesn’t mean you should change. Why?

Nice works. Not in all situations I grant you, but there is a lot to be said for the benefits of being nice, particularly in the longer term (check out The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler). Read More

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