Colin Gautrey

Learning to Appreciate and Value Battle-Hardened Stakeholders

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Sometimes, from the very beginning of a workshop, it is evident that the delegates have a common problem with a big powerful stakeholder. As we start to delve into their influencing objectives, “his” name keeps being mentioned. Round the table with the power cards ― there he is again. Who is this guy to be such a problem for everyone around the table? Why is he being so difficult and making everyone’s life a misery? On a recent occasion when this happened, one thing I noticed was that his name was being used as a code for “don’t even try to influence”. It was also apparent that there was a great deal of bad feeling in the room towards this character ― even the mere mention of his name. Well actually, for a long time, they wouldn’t even mention his name, somewhat akin to the fear held by elves mentioning the name of the dark lord in Middle-Earth. Something needed to be done. 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 makes them particularly difficult to handle. If you (or your team) are plagued by one of these characters, here is a simple Read More

Mapping Your Stakeholders

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Having a list of stakeholders is a good start; but to get a sense of the priorities, you need to understand their position relative to your Influencing Goal and to each other. That way you can begin to see the bigger picture and develop a clear strategy to accelerate towards your goal. Using the Stakeholder Influence Map (below), the general idea is that you plot the name of each (impactful) stakeholder based on where you think they are in terms of Read More

Proactive Stakeholder Management

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A stakeholder is any individual, team or organisation which has an interest or stake in what you are doing. Thinking about the work you are involved in, who benefits from what you do? These are stakeholders who have a positive interest in what you are doing. The term stakeholder management refers to taking a proactive and strategic approach to making sure that these stakeholders are "bought in" to the benefit you can bring to them, and support you in achieving your objective. As part of the process, you also need to recognise that not everyone will benefit from what you are doing. These people are also stakeholders even though they hold a negative interest in what you 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

Your Attitude towards Influencing Stakeholders

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If you wish to be an influential leader, you need to start thinking seriously about how you influence stakeholders. These are the people who have something to gain, or to lose, from your work as a leader. When you think about influencing stakeholders, what thoughts come to mind? Do you think about it as an unwelcome extra task — on top of everything else you need to do? Perhaps you consider it to be something you shouldn’t need to do. After all, you Read More

Are You Gambling on Agreement?

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Like me, I am sure you have been in a meeting presenting your ideas and seeking agreement to proceed. Gaining buy-in is a key job requirement of middle to senior-level people. If people say no, I am sure you have plenty of ideas about what to do next ― especially if you have been reading my work for a while. But, what do you do if they say yes? Most people will gratefully accept that little word and swing into implementation mode, or patiently wait for them to do what they have just agreed to do. Put another way, they will take a gamble that yes meant yes and not no or maybe. I know that you know yes often doesn’t mean yes. Is that what you do? Initially, the relief of gaining agreement hides the gamble. Suspicions that they are not quite with you can be squashed out by the fear of losing agreement. Trying to check that they really mean yes is somehow seen as being foolhardy. Worry about Read More

Stakeholder Engagement: The Seven Guiding Principles

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Much has been said about how to do stakeholder management. But it is easy to miss opportunities to accelerate the level of engagement with your stakeholders and make sure they are the right ones too. To help keep you focused on deciding how to engage and whom to engage with, here are seven stakeholder management principles which, if followed, will move you faster towards your goal(s).
  1. A stakeholder is anyone who has an interest in what you are trying to achieve. This interest could be positive or negative. Anyone who is going to win when you win, or lose when you win, is a stakeholder. Even if their loss is simply having to do their job a different way, they could be a very important stakeholder. This makes for a very large group of people.
  2. Focus on the stakeholders who have the Read More

How to Manage Your Stakeholders

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The Stakeholder Influence Process is central to becoming more influential. It is a simple process which will keep you thinking about the things  you need to think about in order that you can accelerate progress towards your goals. It will also help you to face up to the sometimes difficult meetings by providing you with an extra level of confidence - because you've thought it through. Often, just spending an hour on this can provide the insight necessary to achieve your goals. Here are the key steps in the overall process and the links you need to delve deeper while learning how to influence using this approach.

The Process

Below we have each step and the key links which will help you to learn how to use the process. Some of these links lead to other guides which go into more detail., others to further resources to stimulate your thinking. Read More

How to Engage with Your Stakeholders

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The thinking you have done so far in the process is likely to be useless unless you get active. Careful preparation before you engage your stakeholders will increase the probability that you’ll achieve your goal. And this stage is all about preparation. It explores a wide range of different topics related to engaging with stakeholders. Each of these topics could justify a book in its own right, so what I have tried to do is keep it simple and brief. Where I think it useful, I have also referenced other books which can be found in the library. One of the temptations with the Stakeholder Influence Process is to fly into action as soon as you get the first big flash of inspiration. That may well yield the result you want, but please consider pausing just a moment longer to make a clear decision about how you wish to tackle each Read More

Understanding Conflicting Agendas

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Unless you understand someone else’s position, ambitions and problems, your influence attempts could be much more difficult. When others don’t want to cooperate or are working against you, “conflicting agendas” are often cited as the cause. This seems to signal a barrier to success, an explanation of why you can’t get the things done – or is it just an excuse? A more helpful attitude is that it is simply a question of different priorities. This opens up the possibility that the difference could be negotiated to achieve a win-win situation, while also removing Read More

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