Troublesome, battle-hardened people exist in most organisations. These high-ranking individuals wield great power and usually do not have the time, or the patience, to let others know where they are coming from or why they are making the decisions they are making. They represent an extremely tough road-block or obstacle. Unfortunately, they are also usually misunderstood and it is this which Read More

In order to maximise the impact your team can have on the world around it, and to gain greater results, you need to implement a strong brand that can be lived by the whole team, not just you or one or two team members. To begin, you need to do a little analysis. This forms stage one of the team brand development process (take a look at Developing and Influential Team Brand if you haven't already see it). In this article, I outline the next vital steps to implementing Read More

In the Deloitte Global CIO Legacy Report (November 2015), the most important capability for successful CIOs is influencing internal stakeholders. It is also the skill least cited as a strength by the 1200 CIOs who took part in the survey.

• 79% of CIOs said that it was the most important characteristic of a successful CIO.
• Only 55% recognised this as a strength they possessed.

Influencing internal stakeholders out-ranked Read More

Whenever you come into contact with others, be that by email, telephone or in person, you will be making an impression. Trouble is, what impression are you making?

The Personal Branding Idea Read More

During a recent interview I was asked an interesting question:   "Colin, what one thing, above all else, do you want people to learn about influence?"   Having been working in this field for a great many years, there were an awful lot of ways that I could answer this. The subject is huge, and I'm still learning. Which means, I've got plenty of things to choose from. But it didn't take very long, because in fact the answer is pretty central to my whole approach to influence, and why I am different from many others who work in this arena. Read More

You know, the only way you are going to become more influential is if you get moving. Action has to happen in order for things to start changing for you. The list below is intended to stimulate your thinking and lead you to action. Behind all of those is the serious intent that you do something that will help you to become more influential, gain more buy-in from your stakeholders, and start to move quickly towards your goals. As you read each suggestion, make sure Read More

Do you understand the politics around your role? Can you respond confidently when someone makes a move against your interests? No? Well, you're not alone. I'm starting to think that the most significant factor contributing to failing to deliver in a large organisation, is the inability to understand and manage the politics. Lack of leadership skills doesn't come close. A couple of days ago I was talking to Kate. She is an ambitious and talented senior project manager. Hard working and with a reputation for making things happen and getting things done that reaches far across the senior management community in her bank. Despite this track-record, she keeps getting surprises. Project get knocked off course because of the political manoeuvring by powerful people. No amount of technical capability can help her to prepare for these moves. Yet she hasn't got a clue how things are working. Not only is this causing her grief now, she is also beginning to realise it could be career limiting. At a high level, my FOUR key suggestions to overcome this problem were:: Read More