Colin Gautrey | Gautrey Unleashed

Tough Challenges at Work

March 19, 2014 by Colin Gautrey

Organisations vary considerably in their culture and what is tough to one may be easy to another. For instance, I recall a headmaster bemoaning how hard and tough it was in his school. After spending a little time there, to me it seemed to pale by comparison to the corporate culture I was more familiar with. And that in turn was a cosy place compared to some city firms. The point is that it is less about the comparisons between organisations and more about Read More

How to Build Your Reputation

March 19, 2014 by Colin Gautrey

Building your reputation is hard work, it takes time and commitment, but will certainly be worth it. If you have a reputation for being a tough negotiator, you will influence the other party before you even meet them. Your reputation will precede you. They will be expecting a hard time, they will be working harder on their strategy and even harder on their alternatives. They may even be expecting to get a poor deal and this may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. They will certainly be more stressed and their performance might nosedive the moment they meet your cool, expressionless face — or worse, that charismatic (or enigmatic) smile. Yes, your reputation may influence them to bring their heavy hitters to meet you head on. Brilliant, another opportunity to strut your stuff and boost your credibility. At the other end of the spectrum, a reputation for being kind, considerate and trustworthy will bring many people knocking on your door. Your intelligence about what is really going on in the organisation will give you significant advantages not available to the hard-nosed people around you. You don’t have to agree with everyone, but your approachability will keep you in the loop. More importantly, it Read More

Deconstructing Self-Confidence

March 18, 2014 by Colin Gautrey

A topic which comes up time and again in workshops is that of confidence, or rather, lack of it. If you fail to demonstrate your confidence when attempting to influence others, it is likely that you will fail. Why should someone agree with you when they notice the tell-tale signs of your lack of confidence? Perhaps you’re not telling the truth or hiding something. Maybe you don’t believe they should be saying yes to your request. And, you know these lack of confidence signs too. You can probably spot someone who lacks self-confidence a mile off. However, noticing when you are displaying these clues is much harder, partly because at the time when you lack confidence you will be stressed and thinking about a million other things. Fidgeting, hesitating, over-talking, avoiding eye contact and many other signals can all suggest Read More

Exploring Your Influencing Performance

March 18, 2014 by Colin Gautrey

Regardless of the reason why you believe that you find it difficult to influence, an important step in overcoming the challenge is to explore it in detail. What you need to do is to take a hard look at what you are experiencing, what the causes might be and then you can begin to develop solutions which will work in the short term as well as in the long term. Although geared towards your general level of skill, the questions below can also be focused on a specific influencing situation which you need to unblock. As you answer the questions, be totally Read More

Five Step Approach to Influence

March 16, 2014 by Colin Gautrey

What process do you adopt when you prepare to influence others? Have you even thought about it as a process? While writing my latest book, I pulled the threads together and produced this five-step process that has a high level of common sense while also touching on many of the key topics specific to influence.

Step #1: Clarity

Become precise about what you want them to do, say or think. What action do you want them to take? You may not communicate it directly, but you need to be clear in your own mind what outcome you are seeking to achieve. Too often people go into influencing situations with Read More

How to be Influenced by Others

March 12, 2014 by Colin Gautrey

Over the last four years on this blog I have written a great deal about how to influence others, but I have never written about how to respond when other people try to influence you, apart from how to handle the negative politics. The point is that as you become more influential yourself, and more successful, more people will be beating down your door to influence you. How are you going to respond? The simple and usually the most practical response is to get around to them in your own good time. As an influential person you are very busy, so leave them to work harder at it. This approach also helps to set the hurdle higher and force them to display tenacity, demonstrating that they think it is really important. Tempting though this may be, it introduces risks. If their direct approach doesn’t seem to be working, they may Read More

The Psychological Path of an Influencing Goal

December 16, 2013 by Colin Gautrey

To maximise your progress, recognise that your mind is likely to transform its beliefs about your goal as you continue to work towards it. Once you can see the path, you can take action to accelerate your progress along it. Here's the pathway... Read More

How Credible Is Your Expertise?

December 13, 2013 by Colin Gautrey

I've lost count of the number of times someone has told me that they are an expert. Expertise is an extremely potent source of power and influence, especially when it is in high demand and comes from a credible source. Little wonder that everyone wants to be an expert. Credibility is an internal system of judgement we apply to a source of information which helps us to assess its quality and reliability. We will take more notice of a source which appears credible. The criteria for credibility will vary from person to person based on their experience of the subject matter and of life in general. So you need to think carefully about how you are establishing your credibility ― and this is as important to people working inside large organisations as it is to external consultants. When I am coaching someone in this area, I like to stretch and challenge. If someone says they are an expert, I like to see how they answer questions Read More

Realisation of Influencing Goals

December 11, 2013 by Colin Gautrey

Once you begin to clarify your influencing goal, your mind may start to play tricks on you. One bright day you felt positive and inspired to reach for the stars. On these days, you feel totally empowered ― anything seems possible, nothing can get in your way, you are invincible. Feeling inspired, you lay down your goals with positive expectations. Next day, things look a little darker. Doubts have started to creep in. The old well-worn dialogue gets to work inside your head. What on earth were you thinking? How can you possibly achieve the goal you laid out only yesterday? If you are not careful, these Read More

How to Be Charming

December 3, 2013 by Colin Gautrey

Rivalling gravitas, charm (or charisma) is the most cited personal characteristic which contributes to effective influence. As people describe what charm is, they often appear to swoon as they mentally step back into an experience of being charmed ― experiencing once again the almost magical effect it had on them. Clearly, charm is a very potent capability to have within your skillset. Yes, it is a skill. Most presume that charismatic people were born that way and that people are either charming or not. If you think that way, you will be missing a golden opportunity to become more influential. Skills can be developed. Charm can be developed. You can become more charming ― if you really want to. Here’s how to start…

Recognise that Read More

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