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