Colin Gautrey

How to Develop Political Courage

July 25, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

One of the downsides of having great political instincts and insight is that it increases the need to make political decisions. Once you have worked out what agendas are being hidden and discovered people’s strategies, tactics and games, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to respond? Your next step is likely to make you a political mover — someone who is an actor in the situation rather than just an observer, bystander or pawn in the game. From here on, you Read More

How to Influence Upwards

July 5, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

One of the key challenges facing many leaders today — at all levels — is how to influence people more senior than themselves, including their bosses. You have important work to do, and you need their input, their buy-in and support. If you’re good, this work will create many wins; for you, for them and for the organisation. But, somehow, they don’t manage to find the time to see you. Or, you see them favouring other people’s ideas instead of your own. You have clear logic to what you are suggesting, yet somehow they don’t seem to see it, or are more easily influenced by other people. Worse, they could be agreeing with you, yet somehow not following through. If Influencing Upwards is a challenge for you, the following factors could be contributing to your situation… Read More

How to Upset People without Being Offensive

June 24, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

Let’s face it, sometimes people need shaking up a little. Everyone gets stuck in a rut and needs to be helped out with a little shock treatment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating you running around creating enemies. What I am saying is that sometimes too many people are too cautious about sharing what they really think. Being too tactful risks the accusation that you are not moving fast enough, are hedging your bets or being too timid. In which case, use the list below to find ways to appear slightly less tactful and diplomatic — while avoiding taking it too far and upsetting people! On the other hand, if you are already rather good at upsetting people (perhaps you’ve been told to learn how to be more tactful), use the list as a self-assessment to heighten your awareness and eradicate some of these behaviours! Read More

23 Things You Can Do Today to Increase Your Influence

June 15, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

If you want to become more influential, you must pause — but not for long. Action is essential, but action without thought is stupid. So, let's pause a moment to think about simple ways you can act to increase your influence, 23 things you could do today. Now, I insist that the first two are mandatory, and need to be completed right now. The rest you can cheery pick the most relevant and useful.

Influence Action No. 1

Go and get a coffee and a notebook. Influence takes preparation. Spend 15 minutes thinking about the ideas below and how they could apply to your situation. A little common sense will be required as you translate them into the challenges you face, but a little caffeine should help you stay alert to this.

Influence Action No. 2

Make a firm commitment, to yourself, to identify three actions for influence you can take today, inspired by this list, to become more influential — in the next 15 minutes. With the first two influence actions already completed, let's move on to the main list. As you scan, note down each one that you “could do”. Later, refine them to what you “will do”. Read More

Leading Your Team with the Stakeholder Influence Process

May 30, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

We've already covered how to use the process when managing individuals, now let's talk about how you can leverage it with your whole team. The outline approach below usually yields three key benefits. Firstly, it helps to identify clearly what each individual needs to do to move the team goals forward. Secondly, it helps everyone to share their insights and experience and learn from each other. Finally, it can have a massive impact on the prospects that your team will deliver the results. At your next team meeting... Read More

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.

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