Gautrey Unleashed

Leaving an Impression

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From the statements you developed in the last article (if you didn't I would strongly advise you do this now, click here), it is now necessary to simplify them so that you can return your focus to getting the work done. These statements will continue to sit behind everything that you do however, you don’t need to keep these at the forefront of your mind — merely review on a regular basis. What is more important now is that you find a way to keep the essence of them in your mind as often as possible. To do this, I want you to:
  1. Reflect on what thoughts you’d like to enter the minds of important people in your organisation when they think of you.
  2. Imagine Read More

Defining Your Distinction

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For a reputation to be really useful it has to be distinctive in the environment where it needs to do its work. This raises a vital question, what do you want your reputation to be? What reputation will precede you and create useful expectations in the minds of your stakeholders? In the last article in this series you were asked to focus on the competition so that you could gain an awareness of what reputations there are around your organisation, and what those people are doing to promote their reputation. Now you need to turn Read More

Analysing Stakeholders

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On the stakeholder map you need to consider each individual and their position on the map relative to two axis… Relationship…
  • Trust. To what extent do they trust you and do you trust them?
  • Openness. How much are they willing to disclose sensitive information?
  • Frequency. How often do you engage with them?
Agreement…
  • Benefit. How much will they gain (or lose) when you succeed?
  • Agreement. The extent to which they agree or disagree with what you aim to achieve.
  • Activity. How much are they doing Read More

Seven Sources of Power

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For my book, Influential Leadership, I have reflected deeply on the subject of power sources and developed a new way of thinking about power. The aim is to make power more readily understood so that it can become more useful to managers and leaders with busy lives.

Credibility: The power derived from your professional standing and expertise.

Credibility is the reliance awarded to someone based on trust and perceived expertise on the topic being considered. When making decisions, most people get input from others and they have to decide how much reliance to place on that input. Information from highly credible sources are more likely to be accepted at face value and not challenged, questioned or verified with another source. If someone doesn't think Read More

How to Be Understood

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A couple of weeks ago I was at a conference where one of the key challenges the delegates were facing in their organisations was not being understood. They were struggling with gaining buy-in from their senior colleagues to the contribution that they were making, and they also felt that they could add extra value if given half a chance. “They simply don’t understand us,” was the sentiment from one delegate. Most people have an innate need to feel that they are understood by those around them. When you know that others understand you, you’ll relax a bit and trust a bit more. Because they really understand your position, your attention will shift. Instead of working hard to be understood, you’ll have time to spend on other things. You may start wondering how the other person could help you. Or even, how could you Read More

Developing an Influential Team Brand

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Pause a moment. When you think of Apple, what comes to mind? How about Samsung, IBM or even Rolex? Whatever comes to mind represents the brand which you perceive them to have. While everyone may have different experiences of these companies, there will also be a huge amount of consistency between individuals’ perceptions. To the organisation concerned, these common impressions represent the brand they have succeeded in creating. They invest huge sums of money to get this right. When people in your organisation think about your team, what thoughts come into their minds? The common impressions they have as a population represent the brand you and your team have created. Your brand impression may be positive or negative (just like for big companies) depending on the common experiences people have when they interact with your team. If there isn’t much commonality it means your internal market is confused and your team has failed to make a distinct impression. A strong positive brand will Read More

Develop Greater Enthusiasm

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In many organisations today, the rational argument and maintaining objectivity is actively encouraged as a way of influencing those who are making decisions. However, don't be fooled — rational persuasion is not as effective as you might think. In reality, most decisions are based on the emotional reactions. The numbers are there to make it look professional. Many times, the rational argument supports the decision, other times, they contradict it. Although most would never admit it, the emotions usually sway the final decision — even if they do Read More

Standing Out from the Crowd

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To build a reputation, you have to stand out from the crowd. Considering those who already stand out in your crowd, or your arena, provides a wealth of role models, of what you could emulate, and what you may need to avoid — some people stand out for all the wrong reasons. It is great to set your sights on being able to move towards becoming a role model in your own right – that could be the destination you will focus on. Before that though, it is worth taking a look at the competition, and the challenge in front of you. You don’t necessarily need to climb the dizzying heights to succeed, only be a great deal better than everyone else around you. Whatever your ambition, the first step will Read More

Influence Processes and Goals

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As with so many things, having a clear and simple process to follow in order to maximise your influence with stakeholders will help you enormously as you strive to become an influential leader. I use my Stakeholder Influence Process to help guide my clients’ thinking and their action when influencing stakeholders (you'll find out more about this in Chapter 7 of Influential Leadership). The process isn’t complicated or profound, yet the output can be astonishing — and simple. The whole point of it is to gain clarity about the real world around what you are aiming to achieve — and then begin to make things happen (you can read  an introduction to the process here). The influence process begins with gaining greater focus on what it is you want to achieve. I have found that influence becomes much easier when you can be clear about what you want (to others and yourself). Sounds Read More

Purposes, Targets and Role Models

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In order to establish a reputation, it really helps to understand what it will take to do this in the place or arena in which you want to land a big impression. The easiest way to gain this insight, and it will differ widely between organisations, is to study those who have already done it. Before you do this, you’ll need to answer another rather important question — who do you want to establish a reputation with? The things which will work and the things which will not work can only be understood if you know Read More

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