Colin Gautrey

Political Capital: Igniting Cognitive Readiness and Strategic Agility

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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

Six Pillars of Political Mastery

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Like it or not, politics is a key part of your work, especially at middle to high levels in large or complex organisations. There is simply no way of avoiding it. Why? Because your work was created by political ambition. At some point, someone thought it would serve their purpose if they created your role. What that purpose was, and how pure it was might be difficult to see. In all probability, that person also had to overcome opposition to create your role, to win the budget, the approval and also, to maintain it. All of these things require influence, or politics. The words are really the same, as are the actions. The main difference between them is the intent fuelling the action – and the harmful consequences tolerated. So, you are slap bang in the middle of a political world, like it or not. Read More

The CXO Guide to Influence

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Although originally stimulated by the CIO Legacy Report, this guide will be of value to any CXO, or aspirant CXO in need of boosting their capability to influence stakeholders, especially internal stakeholders. Right now, I don't intend to address the critical need for high levels of influencing skills, except to say that the less you have by way of natural sources of power, the more you need to be able to influence.  And by influence, I mean getting genuine buy-in from key powerful stakeholders who can help or hinder your progress. Based on my work with many executives and directors over the last 10 years, there are five key areas you need to focus on. All successful CXOs will score highly on each of these. Read More

Dismantling Power Bases: Proceed with Caution

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No, this is not a second coming of Niccolò Machiavelli. It is just that sometimes it is prudent to take action to remove powerful opposition – for all the right reasons. When this is on the agenda with coaching clients, what we are doing is evolving a clear strategy and plan of action to substantially shift power towards them. This means that others will lose a significant amount of power when my client succeeds. Which means, the stakes are high. If you think this is something you should do, bear in mind the main pros and cons. Read More

Expanding Social Capital and Creating Political Capital

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Having political capital allows you to get things done. Yet it is only possible to have political capital if you have first invested in building a solid foundation of social capital. Interestingly, although many people have this base of social capital, not many develop it into the sort of influence that only political capital can achieve. Given my recent dire Early Warning: A Political Storm is Brewing, it is critical that you take action on this as soon as possible. Below I will explore how these ideas work together and then move swiftly onto sharing some thoughts on how you can bolster your social capital and develop it into the much more valuable political capital.

Social Capital

At its simplest level, social capital is the quantity and quality of your relationships. The potential usefulness of your social capital depends very much on who these relationships are with. You will be right to think that Read More

Developing Tenacity when Facing Opposition

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Everyone should have opposition. It is natural and to be encouraged. If you don't have opposition, you are not trying hard enough, or you are deluded. Developing appropriate tenacity and displaying the right level of resolve may not win the day, but it should earn the respect of those you are attempting to influence. The definition of tenacity that seems most appropriate when it comes to influence in the workplace, is "persistence of purpose". Tenacity is the ability to display commitment to what you believe in. You keep picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and quickly get going again having learned a little more. At its best, tenacity Read More

How to Develop Genuine Gravitas

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Can you spot a fake? When it comes to gravitas, I believe that anyone with a reasonable amount of experience can easily detect when someone is pretending. They may not be able to explain why, but they will certainly get the feeling that the individual they are considering is not all that they appear to be. Gravitas and presence is a key topic within leadership development circles. Maybe you have been told you need to develop gravitas if you want to get promoted to the higher levels. Certainly, talent spotters and recruiters always have at the back of their mind, "Has this person got the gravitas required of this role?" Read More

Adjusting Political Temperature in Your Team

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We use the term ‘political temperature’ to describe the degree to which team members compete with each other or collaborate as a team. Temperatures can range from absolute zero to boiling point — and beyond! Certain temperatures are more suited to a particular organisational setting than others — and getting it wrong can be disastrous. High temperatures exist when individuals are pushing forward their ideas and trying to beat others in the team. Higher temperatures are great when there is an imperative to innovate and change quickly. But watch out, at the extreme this turns into bitter rivalry and unscrupulous behaviour, which may significantly damage organizations and individuals alike. Read More

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