Earlier today I was engaging with a connection on LinkedIn. We were discussing his reaction to my recent article Fire Fire! Controlling the Unseen Threat to Organisational Survival. An important point he made is that in any organisation, stress is inevitable. Read More

On a recent workshop with the National Health Service, a director approached me to say how pleased he was to be able to attend – because he had recently discovered my approach to stakeholder mapping and had used it with the board. Later in the day he confessed that it had not worked as well as he had expected, and now he understood why. During the workshop we had practiced using the whole Stakeholder Influence Process, including the mapping, and now he understood some of the nuances that he had not understood before trying to use it with his colleagues. Read More

Taking trust and integrity to a new level, last week I interviewed a fascinating expert by the name of Dr. Joop Remmé. He has extensive experience in large organisations, leadership and what works, and certainly what can go wrong and why. So much so that he also lectures on the topic of anti-corruption as a visiting Professor. So, he knows what he is talking about, and we had a fascinating discussion. As you know, my focus is influence, so aside from the philosophical dimension, I bore down on what people can do to influence decision-making when they think a "bad" decision is about to be made. Read More

Many people have a problem with self-promotion - i.e. promoting their own skills, capability and experience. They believe their results should speak for themselves. The harsh reality is that while results do speak for themselves, that is only useful if people are listening. One of my clients has been a change manager for over 20 years. Huge capability, great track-record, and as soon as you engage with him, it is clear he knows his business. What he lacks, by his own admission, is impact. Gently spoken, good listener and reflective thinker - not someone to shout about things, especially his own capability. Yet we need to increase his impact so he can achieve his career goals. Read More

Without doubt, the word "politics" stirs the emotions. But, is your emotional reaction getting in the way of being able to deal effectively with the politics that are swirling around you? That's what is happening for one of my coaching clients at the moment. She is a very strong and principled woman. As a senior level HR professional she has a great deal of experience to fall back on, yet one thing that has thus far eluded her, is being able to handle the politics. Her values include loyalty ad fairness. These values are so strong that when she experiences anything that runs counter to them, she has a very deep and very strong emotional reaction. As we went deeper, one of the things I encouraged her to consider is: Read More

During a call today with one of my coaches, something happened for me that I think is really important to share. We were working on my goal. The ultimate destination I am shooting for. During the call, we threw around the ideas, tested the assumptions but most importantly got much clearer about what I am aiming to achieve, my destination. And what hit me, again, is just how powerful it is to get this clarity, and how practical the benefits are. For instance: Read More

During a call today I was sharing some ideas on trust building with a client, so I thought I would share some ideas and resources with you on this topic. Because, unless you have trust in a relationship, your ability to influence will be severely restricted. Why? If they don't trust you, they will seek verification from others, will check out the facts more carefully and will generally proceed with far more caution, especially if you are asking them for a big decision. There are three really important factors to bear in mind: Read More

Introduction

Minimal Preparation

As mentioned in the video:

• Please think about your work and the challenges you face. Ask yourself, what do you need to influence over the next 3-6 months that if you are successful, will make a major difference to the work you are doing. For instance, this could be a decision to remove a major roadblock, securing additional resources, suspension of a work stream, etc.
• If you have time, please watch the interview I did with Diane Dromgold, who commissioned me to write A Project Manager’s Guide to Influence. She has some very clear views on how the role of project manager is changing, and needs to change. This will help to stimulate our conversations during the workshop.

Recently I sat down with Jennifer McClure on The Impact Makers Podcast where we had a conversation about the importance of power, influence, and politics in the corporate world. It was a stimulating conversation and we especially dove into the importance of understanding how to not only survive politics, but thrive with politics.

Some of my favourite parts of the episode are:

Read More

Chris is a senior-level change consultant. He is extremely good at his job, and with diligent networking has recently landed a fantastic opportunity to work on a team implementing change across Europe. Already he has made good inroads and has begun to exert influence because he has started to build strong relationships. He can see much more potential, but there’s a problem. What if he oversteps the mark and makes the guy who hired him feel threatened? What if he outshines the boss, and becomes viewed as an enemy? He is totally dedicated to the cause, for the good of the client, and is determined to do everything he can to ensure that the change works. Yet at the same time, he cannot afford to become a casualty, and his boss seems to have a very personal agenda in flight. Read More