Colin Gautrey

Igniting Your Ambition

by

"If you were really talented, you wouldn't need to be here, and you wouldn't need us." This is how I opened the first event of a group of our company's brightest and best, joining our top talent development programme. To say my colleagues on the organising team were shocked was an understatement. Not to mention the jolt it gave the audience. Not what they were expecting. Although this was many years ago, the principle still resonates with me. My belief is that really talented people are extremely good at developing themselves. They are highly motivated, have a good Read More

Six Essential Requirements of an Influencing Strategy

by

When it comes to becoming influential, you need to go through a number of steps. Firstly, it will pay huge dividends if you get crystal clear on what you are aiming to influence. This includes moving from a hard goal, to a soft goal, and then backing it up with evidence criteria. With that clear, it become much easier to identify who the key stakeholders are – those who have the power and interest to help or hinder your progress. Without doing this, most people seem to focus on the stakeholders who Read More

Influencing Strategy Guidelines and Examples

by

Article restricted for participants on our online training programmes. When developing your influencing strategy, especially when you are considering your analysis on a stakeholder map, I recommend that you ensure it addresses all of the following guidelines: Read More

Dismantling Power Bases: Proceed with Caution

by

No, this is not a second coming of Niccolò Machiavelli. It is just that sometimes it is prudent to take action to remove powerful opposition – for all the right reasons. When this is on the agenda with coaching clients, what we are doing is evolving a clear strategy and plan of action to substantially shift power towards them. This means that others will lose a significant amount of power when my client succeeds. Which means, the stakes are high. If you think this is something you should do, bear in mind the main pros and cons. Read More

When to be More or Less Diplomatic

by

When you have to engage with someone, and you have a difficult message to deliver, a decision needs to be made about how direct and assertive you can be. Put another way, you need to decide how tactful and diplomatic you have to be to avoid causing offense. Unfortunately, this decision is often an automatic one based on our own personal preferences. Direct and assertive people like people to be very direct when speaking. That is how their world operates. However, others are more sensitive and like to work with a great degree of harmony. That is Read More

How to Gather More Political Intelligence

by

In Mastering the Politics, I talk a great deal about the need to develop greater political insight or intelligence. This is absolutely vital if you are to avoid "shooting in the dark" with your attempts to influence others. Of course, there is always an element of guesswork involved in any act to influence, and in a way, that is part of the fun of it. Yet at the same time, guesswork is leaving you exposed. So, it makes sense to develop the habit of increasing your knowledge on Read More

Terms and Conditions

ALL CONTENT PROVIDED ON THIS SITE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY. YOU REMAIN FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ACTION YOU TAKE.

View Terms and Conditions

Footprint

We help professionals in organisations such as:

Accenture | AXA | Bank of America | Barclays | Citigroup | Clifford Chance | Credit Suisse | EDF | Ernst & Young | Fiat Chrysler | Fujitsu | GE | Goldman Sachs | GSK | IBM | Lloyds Bank | NHS | O2 | Orange | Pfizer | SAP | Shell | Tesco | UBS | Unilever | Zurich