Gautrey Unleashed

Search Results for: bully

Leaders: Bullies by Nature or Nurture?

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Many of the behaviours exhibited by leaders can easily be classified as bullying behaviours, especially when many of them converge to form the essence of a leader’s style. In a recent article, I cited 31 behaviours which could be viewed as legitimate yet prone to being misconstrued. Of the more innocent you have…
  • Demanding things at short notice.
  • Telling people what to do and how to do it.
  • Cancelling meetings at short notice.
  • Closely monitoring work ― micromanaging.
  • Asking people to do things without giving them a reason why.
Do you know any leaders who do these things? Of course you do. Now, what if you add a few less innocent ones into the mix? Read More

Choosing Your Stakeholder Engagement Tactics

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There has been a great deal of research done over the last few decades on influence, which has yielded some fascinating insights into how to engage with your stakeholders. Dr. Cecilia Falbe and her colleagues compiled and researched a range of distinct tactics which are commonly used in the workplace. They then set about considering the likelihood of the tactic being successful. The great thing about their work is that it provides a quick checklist of different approaches you could use, so that you can decide which one fits your purpose best. Provided you are aware of the likely consequences, you can Read More

Developing Tact and Diplomacy

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At its heart, tact and diplomacy is the skill of being sensitive to the feelings and opinions of other people. Those who possess it in great quantity are naturally able to sense what is really going on in the minds of others, and then respond with a certain delicacy of feeling that influences many people extremely well. The downside is that too much tact and diplomacy can irritate rather than influence other people. Two of my most popular articles on tact and diplomacy illustrate the problem well. Decoding and Resolving Personality Conflicts explains how personality clashes occur and what to do about them.This can go much further, and in Are You a Bully? Are You Sure You Aren't? I cite 21 common behaviours that may land you in trouble, deep trouble. Putting all of this into context, tact and diplomacy is one of four dimensions of influence we identified when creating the Gautrey Influence Profile back in 2005. Each of these is important to overall influencing capability. When we are using the profile to coach individuals to become more effective, we aim to help them to be able to balance the dimensions and to flex their style according to the situation. The decision you make about the level of tact and diplomacy to use should be based on the person you are seeking to influence. Your capability to respond accordingly requires not only awareness, but also the skill to be able to adapt your behaviour. Read More

Challenging Formidable Characters

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Some senior people have a reputation for demolishing people in big meetings. Not only do they have strong opinions about the task in hand, they also exercise considerable skill in destroying any challenges to their opinions. Or so it seems. This approach is often accompanied by a brusque style, blunt to the point of rudeness, and they have very high levels of determination. If you operate at middle to senior levels in any large organisation, you know who I’m talking about! Challenging these people can be Read More

Influencing Outside of Work

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My specialism is power and influence in the workplace, and I know that all of the tools and techniques I use can apply well in all types of organisation. This week, on a workshop, two of my delegates demonstrated this to great effect! Niral is having problems with an overbearing (bullying) mother-in-law. Their life together is being dominated by her controlling ways and it is starting to have a very damaging effect on them — even though they don't live with their mother! By getting more specific about her influencing objective Niral was able to quickly see that her mother-in-law was an adversary and her husband was hovering in the grey zone between opponent and ally. Niral quickly realised that she had been directing her focus and energy in the wrong direction. Instead, she needed to get her husband on side. She left re-energised and re-motivated by her new influencing campaign! Read More

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