David A. Fields Consulting Group What is the DNA of a successful, independent consultant; the personal building blocks of a rewarding, lucrative career leading a practice with roughly 1-100 employees?
This is not an idle thought-exercise. I frequently field questions about the consulting profession from mid-career executives “in transition.”** Even professionals who have already hung up a shingle or accepted a senior position at a small firm wonder whether they are well suited for independent consulting. Particularly if their performance has been flagging as of late.
Rather than offering an off-the cuff answer, I set out to make a list of important attributes. Five minutes and 46 attributes later, I realized the brainstorming approach would not yield a satisfying answer. Therefore, I made a list of the most successful independent consultants I personally know. (Fortunately, the nature of my practice enabled me to draw from a large pool.) Then I cataloged my impression of what has allowed each of them to flourish.
There’s no uniform profile or precise mold every outstanding consultant conforms to. My list included individuals who ranged from nerdy to suave, inspiringly humble to shockingly arrogant, and consensus-builders to autocrats. However, there are definite commonalities among those who have ascended to the top of our profession.
Below are the attributes I saw most frequently in my analysis; the characteristics that describe you now or could in the future if you commit to embracing them:
Please join in the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comment section. What attributes would you add to the list?
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David, I feel that these are the core, thank you.I like your inclusion of “model” under Curious, as I feel it is the tool that explains your approach, and helps the client “make sense of the world” (and to yourelf too!) and must be constantly challenged by the results we get. I would add Flexible, to add a client focus to your list, to add what R Mallory contributed. The ability to help a client depends on understanding where he/she is coming from, and tailoring your explanations and approach to their personal as well as their organization’s needs. Their personality style, situation, the company culture, and client comfort level may limit what solutions are realistic.
You’ve hit on a tension that trips up many practitioners, Jon. On the one hand, a model is an invaluable tool for fine-tuning and explaining our offering. On the other hand, paradigms that are too rigid adapt poorly to each prospect’s unique situation.
Consultants who learn to develop models that communicate clearly while retaining flexibility are well received by clients. Keep in mind, though, this is not something you simply read about and master. From what I’ve seen, it takes guidance and practice. Thank you for bringing your insight to the conversation.
David, both a convergent and divergent thinker. I.E. the ability see opportunities accelerate in momentum as multiple forces converge to create change. Also the ability to see forces are moving away from your client. If you can’t help theme sense the formation of the vacuum they will not escape the gravitational pull of irrelevance.
Nice addition, Terry. As with Jon’s comment, you’re pointing out dialectical skills the best consultants master. One way to summarize this is simply the ability to push back, no matter which way the client is currently heading. Thank you for injecting this advanced concept into the dialogue.
Stick with me … this is not a short answer. Many years ago I read a trilogy by the French author Antoine St. Exupery titled “Wind, Sand and Stars.” The author was a French reconnaissance pilot during World War II and provided several of his thoughts while flying over enemy lines at night. One of his most significant gifts was his statement, “Love is a process of looking outward together.”
The point: When you and your consulting prospect or Client can look outward together… both seeing and understanding a common agenda, needs and goals…. you will provide a better prescription and solution and the Client will be onboard with you! Ask… don’t tell… watch and listen. Remember… “Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice!” Listen and learn then LOOK OUTWARD TOGETHER! Your Clients will love you for it!
Look outward together, indeed! For most consultants the salient reminder is, “It’s about the clients, not you.” But your point, care of St. Exupery is well made. It’s actually about the partnership between them (clients) and us, and what we can achieve looking outward together. Thanks for the introduction to an author I didn’t know and for the wonderful contribution to the discussion.
David, you probably knew A. de Saint-Exupéry as the author of “The Little Prince”, a classic for the young of all ages. The most famous quote from that book, related to the one Tristram mentioned, is: “You only see well with your heart.” – again, emphasizing emotional intelligence.
Bonus points for the literary reference, Franziska! Consultants–especially those of us who are quantitatively oriented–are prone to believe that our primary product is a “hard” deliverable. In truth, our buyers are making an emotional decision when they hire us and we owe them an emotionally satisfying return on their investment.
Hi David. I always enjoy these articles.. I would add an insistence and dedication to research oriented solutions. Sometimes the client comes via the CEO interaction which only provides surface info. Digging deeper into the organization, getting closer to core employees unearths the real origins to the challenges the CEO only now recognizes. I have had reason to alter and sometimes expand on many an offering because of my “bottom-up” research based approach.
That’s a good point, Jeff. I might shift it slightly to “insistence and dedication to solutions the client needs.” Your experience mirrors mine–folks are swift to draw conclusions on the flimsiest of evidence. A more robust investigation can solve persistent problems and save many missteps. That said, I’ve also run into organizations straight-jacketed by data and analysis. They didn’t need research; they needed freedom from research and “permission” to get in action.
Exploring the roads less traveled by our clients is definitely one way we can add value. Thank you for adding such a valuable insight to the conversation.
I want to reinforce what Tom Borg said a few months ago about staying current, and perhaps this fits under “Curious.” When I’ve been very busy, I feel like I’m always giving to my clients and not replenishing my needs, causing a certain resentment (even though i’t’s paying the bills). One way of making this a win-win situation is that I now make sure that I allocate at least one hour a day reading about my industry through many different digests. In this way I replenish my brain and tool belt so that I’m not only keeping current for my clients, but rejuvenating myself and creating a win-win situation. Even when very busy, I try to use times such as breaks and meal times to read. It sparks creative juices and keeps my passion going when that residual energy gets close to being spent. Attending disparate conferences, even when not about my core business, helps me to think in different ways that regenerate me.