Gautrey Unleashed

Mapping Your Stakeholders

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Having a list of stakeholders is a good start; but to get a sense of the priorities, you need to understand their position relative to your Influencing Goal and to each other. That way you can begin to see the bigger picture and develop a clear strategy to accelerate towards your goal. Using the Stakeholder Influence Map (below), the general idea is that you plot the name of each (impactful) stakeholder based on where you think they are in terms of Read More

What’s Missing from Your Relationships at Work?

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During a closing coaching call with a senior project manager the other day we were reviewing how he had transformed his performance. He had made substantial progress on all of the traits of a professional influencer, but still something was missing. His SVP had congratulated him on the change, especially on his political awareness and analysis, but he thought my client should do something to improve his relationships with other senior executives. He couldn’t be specific, he just said vaguely that they needed to be better. As we discussed the problem it was clear that he had built levels of trust with his stakeholders (well, all bar one, but that's another story). He was adding significant value, engaging frequently and cultivating two-way problem-solving. In fact, many of his stakeholder were now beating a path to his door to seek his input. So, what was the SVP talking about? Finally, we hit upon the Read More

Nine Traits of a Professional Influencer

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What proportion of your job is about influencing others? Probably quite a bit. What proportion of your time is spent influencing others? Probably not enough. If influence is a major part of your job and you are not doing enough of it, why is that? Chances are quite high that is due to one of the following:
  • You don't have the time.
  • You forget you need to do it.
  • You cannot reach the people you need to influence.
  • You're not very good at it.
All bar one of these are excuses as far as I am concerned. Once you know the value influence can bring, you will find the time, remember to do it, and discover ways to reach those you need to reach. As with so many challenging activities, motivation is key. The last one can still trip you up though, so you have to work hard to get really good at influencing people. As part of the transformation I take clients through, I like to get them to explore what success looks and feels like. In addition to asking them to describe role-model influencers, I share with them the traits I have noticed in those who have attained an exceptional level of influencing skill. While you are reading these, give yourself an honest score Read More

Colin Gautrey on Influential Leadership

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skillsoft Colin Gautrey has now joined an elite group of experts on influence featured in the Skillsoft range of corporate training videos. These experts include Dr. Robert Cialdini (Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion), Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer (Managing with Power) and Dr. Allan R. Cohen (Influence without Authority). The short video below contains highlights of Colin talking about Influential Leadership.
Read More

I’m Right, You’re Wrong: Influence Undercurrents

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There is a particularly unhelpful undercurrent flowing beneath the surface of many influencing attempts. Over the last few weeks I have spoken to many people. It is part of my research into the challenges that are holding people back from success. In many of them, I am getting the feeling that they hold the opinion that the person they wish to influence is wrong. For example, Jane. She wanted to know how to influence her boss, Lukas. She wanted him to support a particular project she was desperate to get off the ground. Jane took me through the rational argument. It was a no-brainer, "Why doesn't he get it? It's obvious we should do it!" As we talked I could feel Read More

Ethical Influence: Our Code of Conduct

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Everything you will read on this website is based on the author’s fervent wish that you will adopt an ethical approach to influence. This involves:

  1. Always helping people to make balanced and informed decisions.
  2. Ensuring pitches include the drawbacks as well as the benefits.
  3. Being clear and open with people about your own interests.
  4. Aiming for people wanting to do what you want them to do.
  5. Never misleading people into doing something that you know will harm them.

Deviating from these ideals remains your choice and your responsibility. Gravitating towards these ideals will help you to prosper with a clear conscience.

 

Colin Gautrey

Provocative Coach/Mentor | Specialism: Impact and Influence

 

Ready to take the next step? Discover how personalised coaching can ignite your full potential and accelerate your success. When you’re ready, let’s talk about how we can work together to turn your vision into a reality.


 

The Gautrey Unleashed Blog

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Remote / Virtual Influence

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These days, more and more people need to be able to influence people remotely, or virtually. Because of the geographical spread of many teams, this is an remote influence is an increasingly important skill to acquire. For instance, how Read More

Responding to Unrealistic Demands

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We've all been there. You get a call (or more likely an email) requesting that you do something immediately, or within an impossibly short space of time. Alternatively, they may be asking for something that you simply do not have the resources to be able to deliver. Many times, these requests feel more like orders — people demanding that you do things without giving a thought to what else you have on your plate. In these situations, it is all too easy to react emotionally — especially if the definition of "unrealistic" is stretched to the extreme. Your plans for the day are thrown off course, other people may be let down, and those people may be your loved ones. No surprise that you may feel angry or frustrated by the lack of consideration shown by the person making the demand. If you're struggling to respond to Read More

A Political Perspective for Project Managers

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In the opening chapter of my new book, A Project Manager's Guide to Influence, I suggest that the purpose of a project is to:

"Alter the structure and balance of power within an organisation, often under the guise of legitimate activity."

To be honest, I don't much mind if this is true or not. The purpose of saying it is to stimulate new thinking and new ideas. It reminds me of Po, an Edward de Bono creative thinking process. Po is a word de Bono created to signal a provocation — a statement that should be imagined to be true. If it is true, what then? If you are running a project and finding things difficult, pause for a moment and consider Read More

How to Make Your Agenda Powerful

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While running a webinar for Warwick Business School in 2016, something quite unexpected happened.  This particular event ran quite soon after the publication of Influential Leadership: A Leader's Guide to Influence. It was the first opportunity that I had had to ask a large group of people to identify the sources of power they were currently using. As they placed their marks on my virtual slide, something very interesting emerged. Hardly any of them indicated Agenda as a source of power they used. This helped me to realise that the Power of Agenda is a massive opportunity for those who want to grow and develop their career, regardless of their level of experience and seniority. Let me back up a little. When writing Influential Leadership, I put a great deal of energy into researching and analysing what makes people Read More

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