David A. Fields Consulting Group One of the huge perks of independent consulting is that you can operate from anywhere.
Even if you’re steering a sizable boutique, it’s fairly easy to jaunt off to Italy or India or Indiana for a month. (Says the firm owner who just returned from a month in Peru and is planning trips to Greece and Bhutan.)
The indisputably best location for you has nothing to do with geography, though. It’s a place called Genius Heights.
Ideally, your consulting firm lives at the intersection of your team’s innate genius and a burning, market need.
As your firm’s leader, your own innate genius is particularly important.
You’re pretty good at most tasks. Analyzing data, creating presentations, dunking donuts. Not fantabulous, but you’re not terrible.
When you tackle those activities you’re living in Mediocre Meadows—a nondescript land where nothing of note happens.
Of course, there are some tasks you just shouldn’t volunteer for because they’re not your cup of tequila. Reviewing legal documents or debugging Claude integrations or reasoning with teenagers.
Engaging in that stuff is a trip to Bozo Valley.
Finally, you can highlight a few activities where your talent soars far above average mortals. Every hour in this zone captivates you because you’re doing what you love and what comes naturally to you.
You produce insane amounts of value for your firm and your clients at these times you’re operating up at Genius Heights.
Fortunately, everyone’s topology is different. Where you’re a bozo, someone else is a genius. (Hence, life is constantly a circus… or something like that.)
You can build a successful consulting firm while residing in all three talent locations.
For instance, if you launched a consulting practice, you wore myriad hats at the start. Precious few tasks demanded your wizardry, while many required unfamiliar talents.
Capability-wise, you were all over the map.
However, here’s the important bit for the future of your firm:
To personally thrive and grow and live in delight, your consulting firm should be designed to serve your innate genius.
The very best, most rewarding firms enable their leaders to spend less time in Mediocre Meadows and Bozo Valley and more time dwelling at the peak of Genius Heights.
Sounds groovy, but is it possible? Or is it a pipedream like self-cleaning dishes?
It’s possible.
In fact, I can quickly regale you with three, real-life examples of consulting firm leaders whose home base is in Genius Heights:
Richie
Richie’s innate genius is analytics.
On a scale from 1-100, he’s a 100 at analytics.
After nurturing his consulting firm to over $15 million, he hired a CEO, COO and consultants who enjoy business development, then he scuttled back into the engine room to conduct analytics for his clients.
Most of Richie’s clients think he’s just an analyst and don’t even know he owns the company!
Kate
Kate’s innate genius combines networking and high-level vision.
She’s written two New York Times bestsellers and her networking skills are off the charts. (She typically connects with 30-40 people per day!)
Her eight-figure consulting firm is structured to put her in networking situations and then to deliver on the compelling visions she paints for clients. Perfect!
Javier
Javier, a partner in a boutique consulting firm, rocks at managing and developing people.
The staff at his firm adore him and he received the highest manager ratings, by far, of any firm leader we’ve evaluated.
Javier’s firm is structured so that Javier acts as COO and interacts very little with clients. His innate genius has produced a happy, energetic consultancy that is growing by leaps and bounds.
You can build your consulting firm around your innate genius too.
Remember, your innate genius is not stuff you’re good at and it’s not what you do for your clients.
Your innate genius is a narrow capability (e.g. analytics, connecting, or people development) that you’re WAY better at than the average mortal and that you LOVE using..
What would consume your hours if you cruised most of your day around Genius Heights?
What would you give up?
Who/what do you need to bring in house to transfer out of Bozo Valley and Mediocre Meadows?
For today, let’s start here: What’s your innate genius?
Brag a bit and let the rest of us know.
Text and images are © 2026 David A. Fields, all rights reserved.
David,
It’s clear to me that my innate genius is knowing whose newsletters to read! All the best.
That was very funny, Doc. You have real innate geniuses though. That much I know!