Gautrey Unleashed

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Positive Influence for Women Summary

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Over nearly fifteen years, since deciding to specialise in helping people to become more influential, one of the most frequent questions I’ve been asked on the conference stage and in the conversations following a presentation is…

“How do men and women differ when it comes to influence?”

To be honest, this is usually asked by women. Women seem to be very curious about this topic and my research over the last few years has revealed why they ask this, and what the differences actually are.

The Differences Between Men and Women

Of course there are always exceptions but much of the data I have accumulated demonstrates striking differences in:
  • Networking.
  • Influencing Styles.
  • Perceptions of Power.
  • Use (and Abuse) of Power.
  • Influencing Tactics.

Exploring How Women and Men Influence

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Understanding Your Reputational Context

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Strong reputations are made possible because of the circumstances prevailing in their arena. They are rarely made in situations where everything is calm and running smoothly. In fact, the most opportunistic time to make a name for yourself is when the conditions are at their most difficult. Regardless of the state of the arena, organisation or group where you are aiming to establish your reputation, you need to understand the bigger picture in which you are playing a part. Then you can notice the potential impact of your moves and finally adjust your action to maximise your progress. One of the key areas of activity that understanding your context will prepare you for is the building of networks of supporters, allies and advocates. Here is a simple process to Read More

Critical Influencing Skills

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So many people these days are saying that they need to improve their influencing skills. Many organisations are also saying they want to develop the influencing capability of their talented managers and leaders. But, what exactly are these influencing skills which need to be developed? Although it may sound a little obvious, unless you fully understand the skills you need to acquire, it is going to be pretty difficult to know how to develop them. I asked myself this question quite a few years ago and in the end, completed a full dissertation to understand the exact skills which you need to Read More

Balancing Your Network Building

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The last few articles in this series have been aiming to stretch you understanding of what is going on around you (in your Leadership Arena), and more importantly, who the key people are that could have an impact on what you are trying to achieve. To continue your learning and also to protect your career and work, it is vitally important to invest time in building up good relationships with a broad range of people. However, you are unlikely to have the time or opportunity to build relationships with all of them because of the complexity and quantity. This means you have to Read More

Assessing Your Network: Nine Factor Analysis

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To begin with, it’s a race for the numbers. If you have no network, how can you have any friends? This is true on Social Media and offline. Unless you have people to talk to you are not going to be able to develop quality relationships. Unfortunately, the rise of social networks makes the numbers a little more tempting. Their visibility and apparent social-proof has a noticeable effect on behaviour. For a while at least, it becomes a number chasing exercise. This is great to begin with, but at some stage it is vital to return the focus to building quality relationships, either on or offline. So, what does quality mean in network relationships? In workshops when I ask this question I usually get a rather subjective response. Only with persistence do people start to break it down and find clarity. If you can make an objective assessment of your current relationships you can make decisions about where you need to focus on building more quality. It also gives you some simple ideas on how to develop them too. For example, you might objectify the quality by Read More

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

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

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