Gautrey Unleashed

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

Trying to Impress the Boss? Don’t Try Too Hard

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The trouble with bosses is that they can have such a massive effect on your life. They can decide to promote you or fire you. To a great extent, your future is in their hands. Making a good impression becomes vital. Shine in their eyes and you will rise. They will favour you with the best development opportunities, your performance reviews will be a foregone conclusion and as for pay? Well, they will do what they can. A bad impression with the boss, well, where are you going Read More

The Practice of Stakeholder Management

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If you need to get things done, you need to get your stakeholders on your side. In my recent book, Influential Leadership: A Leader's Guide to Getting Things Done I shared a process I have been  evolving over the last ten years. Here is a short video, taken during a recent workshop, that considers the more practical aspects of using this process to engage with your stakeholders. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EXz7Xj9NNk There is a great deal more Read More

Seven Ways to Build Extraordinary Trust

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If you want to become more successful at selling, make sure that your customer trusts you. It doesn't matter what you are selling (product, service or idea), or who you are selling to (client, colleague or spouse). The more trust you engender, the more likely they will buy. There is no need to waste your time here with lengthy rationale. Just consider the last time you bought something from someone you distrusted. My bet is that you'll find it quite hard to think of an example. Much easier is to think of a time when you bought something from someone you did trust. How did you feel about the transaction? What difference does it make to you that you trusted the individual (or company)? Rather than debate how you might be able to Read More

How to Manage a Crisis

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Once upon a time, I suggested to my MD that if he didn’t give me a crisis, I would make one. Never afraid of a crisis and confident in my ability to manage, effectively what I was saying was that I was bored and wanted some excitement. He duly obliged and I didn’t have to create any problem. Fortunately, at that time I had the benefit of lots of experience in managing difficult situations, so I was pretty confident I could handle what he threw at me ― and I did. We all have to start somewhere, so here are a few thoughts about what I have learned about managing people during times of crisis. BEFORE you do any of this, make sure Read More

Building Purpose by Creating Visions

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Having an inspired vision of the future, perhaps surprisingly, is not essential, but it really does help. Being a leader, a true leader, is all about helping people to reach towards the future, which is why it helps so much if you can create a vision. If you cannot do that, it's still okay, provided you can set and guide the team strategically. Assuming you are here to stretch yourself beyond your current limits, here's a simple process to use to create your leadership vision.

Problems

Being realistic, most good visions  Read More

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