Colin Gautrey | Gautrey Unleashed

What You See Is What You Get vs. Tact

July 7, 2011 by Colin Gautrey

Have you ever been told you need to be more tactful, stop wearing your heart on your sleeve or be a little more careful displaying your emotions? If so, you’re not alone. It needs to be addressed carefully, partly because it is usually perceived as being a prerequisite for senior management. I will admit that many may wonder if this is true when they look at their own senior management, but let’s stick with best practice, okay? Read More

Networking: Missing a Trick?

June 27, 2011 by Colin Gautrey

Networking is a critical aspect of influencing skill. In our workshops, we find all manner of excuses thrown up, but having a vibrant network is vital to success in the long term (and the short term). Yet despite all the noise on the subject, in the press, in training programmes and on the bookshelves, I think something is missing — the focus on motivating people to want to do it! Research (from our Influencing Skills 360°) shows that people think the individuals they are scoring are pretty relaxed and effective at networking events. They even believe that those people are quite strategic about the way they do things. However, self-rating shows a different story. Most people feel uncomfortable, ineffective and that being strategic is almost a non-starter. Indeed, these items show the biggest perceptual difference out of all 42 skills we assess! Read More

Why Is Influencing So Difficult Today?

June 25, 2011 by Colin Gautrey

In my ongoing drive to find more practical ways to help people become more influential, I would like to ask your opinion. Why do you think it is so hard for people to get the influence that they want/need? What is happening in the workplace, the environment or even in leadership practice, that is making influence tough? What are the obstacles and challenges which make influence difficult to achieve? Naturally I have my own ideas, such as the time/workload pressures and the ongoing changes to organisational structures — but what do you think gets in the way of successful influence today? Read More

Seek First to Understand

June 13, 2011 by Colin Gautrey

Time and again we meet clients who are stuck. One recently was experiencing the micro-management of a stakeholder who should have had better things to do. This attention to minutiae and constant interference was leaving my client feeling frustrated, undermined and even at times as if her competency was being called into question. While aware of her need to stay in control of the situation and appear not to be reacting, she also wanted to assert influence in her relationship with her stakeholder — but, to be blunt, she couldn't afford to alienate him! This episode reminded me of the importance of thinking about what is driving people to do what they do. Behind every behaviour we adopt there is a pay-off factor for us. I asked my client — "What is the pay-off to your stakeholder in behaving this way?" She quickly realised that it was probably that he needed to fill his time and appear to be busy at a time when staff cutbacks in his organisation were in full swing. In effect, his attention had moved from his strategic role into something highly operational — possibly back into his comfort zone. With this insight, my client soon came up with a range of influencing options to start getting her relationship back onto the right footing again, without needing to be critical or expose the motivations behind her stakeholder's behaviour. Read More

Organisational Power in a Nutshell

June 7, 2011 by Colin Gautrey

Shareholders ask an executive to use a big bag of money to start a business and make a profit for them. The executive decides their strategy to deliver the expected return and starts to build the organisation. The executive will recruit department heads, give them a share of the money and set them objectives. Each department then gives budgets to managers to play their part in the overall team effort. The original power (shareholder funds) has now been distributed formally and the business is ready for action. This is just Read More

Influencing Outside of Work

April 17, 2011 by Colin Gautrey

My specialism is power and influence in the workplace, and I know that all of the tools and techniques I use can apply well in all types of organisation. This week, on a workshop, two of my delegates demonstrated this to great effect! Niral is having problems with an overbearing (bullying) mother-in-law. Their life together is being dominated by her controlling ways and it is starting to have a very damaging effect on them — even though they don't live with their mother! By getting more specific about her influencing objective Niral was able to quickly see that her mother-in-law was an adversary and her husband was hovering in the grey zone between opponent and ally. Niral quickly realised that she had been directing her focus and energy in the wrong direction. Instead, she needed to get her husband on side. She left re-energised and re-motivated by her new influencing campaign! Read More

Evidence, Intrigue and Fantasy

December 13, 2010 by Colin Gautrey

The corporate lawyer laid out the evidence to me that his boss was planning to fire him. The replacement had been hired already. He'd been pushing into a corner, isolated and sidelined. Despite a long relationship with the boss — the sense of betrayal was taking its toll in many ways. The more he thought about it, the more evidence appeared. Read More

Brand Expectations

November 11, 2010 by Colin Gautrey

During a coaching session today I was taking a client through my approach to personal branding with three words. As is often the case, coming up with suitable words that really make an impact and allow for differentiation was easier said than done. We happened to have a map of career stakeholders up on the flip chart so to get the words flowing I asked him to quickly think of three words for one of these stakeholders. Then another. Then quickly into asking who is the most challenging, the most innovative, rebellious, etc. This really got the ideas flowing. Read More

Domination in the Workplace

October 29, 2010 by Colin Gautrey

Yesterday at the airport, I had an interesting experience of domination which later provided much food for thought — and interesting parallels with workplace domination.. In a queue, the guy behind me was huge. Those who've met me know that I am not exactly small, but this man was massive, at well over six feet and I'd imagine around 30 stone (190 kg). As we stood in line, he used his bulk to begin intimidating me with his physical presence. Quite why I can only guess, but there were many little nudges from his belly, horse play with his tribe of minions and even the occasional breathing down my neck. Read More

What If — So What: The Continuum of Confidence

October 18, 2010 by Colin Gautrey

Our thoughts so often conspire to defeat us, even before we’ve given it a go. Over the last few months I’ve been speaking with many people who have doubts about their performance — particularly when new to their role. The confidence which characterised their old job seems to have been left behind when they moved to the new desk. Sound familiar? When we dig a little deeper, it usually emerges that they based their confidence heavily on their technical capability in the old job and with relationships which had grown over a number of years. Nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that at some point change is going to occur. When you have confidence it usually means Read More

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