Top 50 | Gautrey Unleashed

Street Fighter or Visionary: What’s Your Political MO?

May 28, 2020 by Colin Gautrey

Analysing the customary manner in which a stakeholder approaches organisational politics can give you insights into how they may respond to any move you make, and how you can adjust your own approach to be more effective with them.

Reflecting this back on your own Modus Operandi can also provide early warning of flash points between you and the stakeholder, or indeed, between them an other stakeholders.

All of which will enable you to be more effective at engaging and influencing in Read More

Fire! Fire! Controlling the Unseen Threat to Organisational Survival

September 21, 2018 by Colin Gautrey

Within many organisations, there is a fire burning, out of control, and out of sight. Those who can see it are impotent to do anything. They watch with growing despair, or simply jump ship. The threats to organisational success today are big, very big. Technology, AI, competition, Brexit, regulation, trade barriers, wars. It’s a long list. But don’t be fooled. Read More

The Influential Executive: Nine Critical Capabilities

August 6, 2018 by Colin Gautrey

To get to the top you have to be good at your job. You also have to be extremely good at influence, especially if you work in a competitive environment where egos, personal agendas and politics are rife. Over the last 15 years I have helped hundreds of senior people make it to the top in large organisations. They have risen above the norm, moved faster than average, and developed an unusual sense of security. Here are the nine capabilities that enabled them to distinguish themselves, and become extraordinarily successful – and they are not what you will learn in business school, or on the majority of leadership development programmes. Read More

The Politics of Performance Reviews

June 18, 2018 by Colin Gautrey

Vijay wanted to talk urgently because of his upcoming performance review. He was getting pretty anxious and wound up about it, not least because the CEO would be attending, as he does for all senior level reviews. So far, none had gone well. In fact, most people had been torn apart. This CEO has form. Here’s a summary of the situation Vijay shared with me at the beginning of our call last Wednesday evening. Read More

Political Capital: Igniting Cognitive Readiness and Strategic Agility

May 28, 2018 by Colin Gautrey

Cognitive Readiness is one of the hottest topics uncovered by the Trends in Executive Development Report (2016)[1]. Why? Probably because they also found that the persistent development priority is the “ability to create a vision and engage people around it.” In the survey, 31.5% believed this to be the competency most lacking in next generation leaders. Read More

How to Transform a Technical Career

January 4, 2018 by Colin Gautrey

It seems that there is a growing tendency for technical careers to stall. Worse than that, as they start to falter, the typical responses tend to make matters worse. One individual I spoke with had noticed his career slowing down over the last 3-4 years. His level of influence declining, despite being one of the best in his field, and working at a global level in one of the big consultancies. His attachment to his expertise is now becoming a career limiter and he needs to move away from the notion that his results will speak for themselves. Another, Ana, came to me at the beginning of December. She felt she was drifting. Unsure what to do. In summary: Read More

“It’s a bit political” Walking into Danger

December 3, 2017 by Colin Gautrey

When a new assignment, project or job carries the caveat – it’s a bit political – be very careful. Costas came on our third call and immediately I could tell that he had news. We had been doing some preliminary work to reposition him with the global IT leadership team, and to start thinking differently. To date, he has built his brand on hard delivery of tough/big projects, but lately has found this out of favour. “Good news, I’ve been offered a new project based in Seoul. It’s will take 50% of my time and is a major challenge. The boss has said it’s a bit political, and I’ve been sold in to save it.” “Fantastic, tell me more.” I’d love to say it was down to me but, I think that this had been brewing for a little while, and I just came along at the right time to help Costas land it. Costas went on to say that he has been asked to go in and fix Read More

Five Suggestions Before You Resign

October 2, 2017 by Colin Gautrey

An interesting call last Friday, the summary of which you may find useful. Maria has been subscribed to the Influence Blog for several years after seeing me present at Warwick Business School. She finally decided to schedule a call to discuss a challenge that has been bothering her for a while. Afterwards, she described it as “the best discussion she’d had in years. Finally, someone who really understood what she was going through.” And, I think there are some important points that may help you if you are in a similar position to Maria. In a moment, I’ll share with you the suggestions I gave her, which will help her to avoid resignation. First, here are the bare bones of her story: Read More

The Ethics of Influence: Five Rules to Live By

August 8, 2017 by Colin Gautrey

There is a problem. If I show you how to become influential, what does that mean for the people you influence? What will you do with that power? Will you use it to influence good things, or will you use it to fulfil your selfish ambitions? If you become so much more powerful, does that mean all those around you will be dominated? For me, this is a tough one to answer, because I don’t know you very well. I can equip you with all the ideas, frameworks and practical action, but I still don’t know what you will do with it. The ethical question is a reasonable challenge to anyone working in my field ― showing Read More

Command and Control: Alive and Kicking

January 14, 2017 by Colin Gautrey

Some writers on leadership like to imagine that the ancient leadership style of command and control is obsolete and disappearing fast. Does it feel like that to you? It is certainly less prevalent than it may have been in the 70s and 80s, but it remains pretty vigorous — at least judging by the volume of examples I hear of each month. And perhaps it should be too. Command and control still has a place in leadership and it always will — provided it is done in the right way. Alive and kicking it is and you should be taking the latter word metaphorically rather than literally! Below I will share with you three scenarios where I believe command and control is absolutely the right style to adopt. And to help me avoid becoming the friend and mentor to mini-despots the world over, please make sure and also read the criteria for appropriate use of command and control at the end of this article! Read More

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