I conducted a workshop two weeks ago in which a participant mentioned that some of the other participants in the room were not from “mature organizations.” He went on to explain that their organizations were still somewhat small. I countered that it’s often an illusion to assess the maturity of an organization based on it …
Professional Development/
Consulting & Freelancing
Technical and Interpersonal Skills: Consulting Success Skills
Peter Block, in his seminal consulting book, Flawless Consulting, writes, “There is a set of skills that is an essential part of consulting over and above technical expertise and interpersonal skills – and these are consulting skills” (Jossey-Bass, 2000, p. 6). Yet, the myth continues that technical and people skills are sufficient for successful consulting. …
Peter Block, in his book, Flawless Consulting, suggests that certain goals and assumptions always be primary for consultants, that is, for individuals working to help people, but not having authority over those people. He suggests the following goals and assumptions. Primary Working Goals of Consultants 1. Establish a collaborative relationship with your clients As a …
There are strong feelings that consulting, facilitating, coaching, and training are very different consultants’ roles. I believe that a good consultant should be able to use any of the roles for different purposes. Here are some guidelines for what roles to use and when. When You Might Resort to Facilitating Collaborative organizational consulting is about …
Watch the following situation occur in conversations among consultants. Many consultants place extreme value on people’s feelings, beliefs and perceptions. That’s their natural “lens” on organizations. Many of them are from fields of psychology, human resources and coaching. In my experience, they often conclude their clients have problems primarily with, for example, interpersonal conflicts, emotional …
In Part 1, we reviewed myths 1-5. In this Part 2, we review myths 6-10 Management Consulting Myths. 6. Myth That All Consultants See the Same Problem the Same Way Each consultant brings his or her own particular view, or “lens,” through which they view organizations. Also, each has his or her particular biases and …
In Part 1, we’ll review myths 1-5. In the upcoming Part 2, we’ll review myths 6-10. #1. The Myth of the “One-Way Expert” Consultant It is not uncommon that clients work from the assumption that there are consulting “experts” who can visit a client and promptly tell the client exactly what problems exist within the …
There are a lot of resources to help people think about whether to go into consulting and also about how to market a consulting business. However, there are very few resources about actually doing consulting — about how to work with clients to: Identify and understand a) the true causes of problems or b) how …
