88 ◾ Odyssey—The Business of Consulting
add value to the assignment. They stay within the boundaries of what they
know, what they can do, and the results they are able to deliver. They call
on other consultants with the requisite knowledge, skills, and experience to
augment the assignment as required.
Perspective 4: Consulting Is Always Temporary
At its simplest, consulting is about entering into the client organization,
carrying out an assignment, and getting out. Despite the harshness of the
definition, it does accurately capture the reality that consulting should have a
clearly identifiable end. This is a reality that insecure consultants frequently
disregard, fearing the loss of guaranteed remuneration. They latch onto a
client company and find reasons not to let go. They forget that professional
service is assignment driven. By their very nature, assignments have three
stages: a beginning, a middle, and an end. The consultant must define each
of these stages and make an honorable exit.
Perspective 5: The Purpose of Consulting
We outlined how Odyssey views the role of the consultant in a profes-
sional context in Perspective 3. This perspective explores the Odyssey
purpose of consulting and how it shapes the approach to client assign-
ments. Odyssey aims to capture the underlying motives of assisting and
advising that permeate all of the definitions of consulting we have met
sofar.
Odyssey defines the purpose of consulting as follows:
Management consulting is a professional and business advisory service
that assists clients to achieve their strategic objectives by
◾ Helping solve management and business problems and challenges
◾ Identifying and taking advantage of new opportunities
◾ Embracing talent management and “the learning organization”
◾ Assisting and advising on the implementation of change
◾ Creating tangible and intangible value for the organization
The primary purpose of Odyssey consulting lies in helping clients articu-
late and achieve their major purpose, their “magnificent obsession,” along
with their vision, mission, values, and critical strategic imperative(s). The
Odyssey consultant’s purpose is to bring objective focus, clarity, and capac-
ity through the Odyssey Arrow.
Applying a Client-Centered Value Strategy ◾ 89
Perspective 6: How Do Consultants Intervene?
Here, we delve deeper into consulting to explore the flexible nature of the
discipline and to examine the ten options that are available to consultants
intervening in client organizations.
Information Gathering
Information is the raw material of all knowledge-based industries.
One of the most basic interventions a consultant makes in a client
organization is data gathering. They study and gather information, col-
late it, and use it to deepen their understanding of the organization and
its needs. As an independent third party, the consultant is able to dis-
sect, discern, summarize, and report on this information in an objective
manner.
Specialist Services Provider
The consultant is frequently a specialist services provider, sent in to
perform a particular task or manage a project, carry out a hiring assign-
ment, perform project appraisal, review systems or manufacturing speci-
fications, or to provide independent third party advice.
Networking Management
The consultant often has the capacity to move laterally and verti-
cally within a client organization. You might begin with the CEO
and obtain a referral to human resources, or you might begin at a
lower level in the organization and progress to the CEO’s office.
Invariably, this mobility gives the opportunity to connect with many
individuals and teams in the organization, creating additional revenue
opportunities.
Sounding Board/Mentor
The consultant often acts as a sounding board for management or,
moving up the ladder, for the board of directors. Results-based solutions
and change opportunities are identified and explored with the client,
regardless of what position they occupy within the hierarchy. This role
might dovetail with that of the mentor or executive coach.
Research and Diagnosis
Closely related to the information gathering intervention, research and
diagnosis is a good starting point for the consultant to engage a client
90 ◾ Odyssey—The Business of Consulting
organization. It is important that the consultant has an appropriate level of
research skill, certification, and tools to initiate and implement diagnostics
and surveys. The consultant’s validated research findings and objectiv-
ity provide the independence that is necessary to identify the sources of
problems and determine solutions to those problems while building value.
Implementing Proposals
An external consultant perspective can also be beneficial to the suc-
cessful implementation of proposals with a client. Again, the consultant
brings independence and a fresh perspective and is untainted by the
legacy issues that can otherwise make change implementation problem-
atic in the client organization.
Developing Systems and Methodologies
In developing new systems and methodologies, the consultant brings
their experience of other projects to bear with the current client.
Whether it is the formulation of a performance management system, a
process control system, or assisting in creating an onboarding process,
this is one of the most common interventions managed by a consultant.
The Change Agent
As an Odyssey consultant, it is vitally important to understand the
anatomy of change and have a working knowledge of change strategy.
Consultants deployed as change agents need a clear understanding of
the ways in which change affects an organization and its employees.
Human Performance Improvement
This is all about the analysis and assessment of people and processes,
the identification of performance gaps, and the formulation of interven-
tions to close identifiable gaps, along with the creation of systems and
processes to sustain performance and productivity.
Executive Coaching
A consultant will often enter the organization as an executive coach,
invited to provide senior management with one-on-one guidance and
backup to assist them to be more effective in fulfilling their roles. It is
in this capacity that the Odyssey consultant has the greatest opportunity
to progress to Trusted Advisor status. Coaching leads to consulting, and
consulting leads to coaching.
Applying a Client-Centered Value Strategy ◾ 91
Odyssey in Action I
Mel Nelson, President & CEO, ExecutiveManagementSystems,
Fargo, North Dakota
Letting the Client Lead the Way
I did an EB on June 19. I had a pretty good audience, made up of business
owners and CEOs. Afterwards, I had a chance to sit with one of these men
over lunch. I knew we had a connection instantly. Building the relationship
is such a key part of this process, and you do it right off the bat, right from
the Executive Briefing, long before you have the first meeting.
I’ve always maintained that if you don’t have chemistry with someone,
you can tell very quickly. One of the things that we need to do as Master
Practitioners is have a high-speed taxiway, an off ramp, where a plane can
get off the main runway quickly. That off ramp is the way we de-select
unsuitable clients. If the client is never going to leave the ground, it’s impor-
tant to abort early and get off the runway. They are wasting our time when
we need to get other payloads into the air.
I shared the four levels of consulting model with this client—the
Good Soldier, the Competent Warrior, the Trusted Advisor and the Master
Practitioner—and I could tell that we were developing a solid rapport, that
he would remain on the runway, preparing for takeoff.
I think of the Value Creation Pyramid in terms of results-based, talent-
driven consulting. The first level of that pyramid is peer level respect and
trust, and this is the key.
From that EB, which took place on June 19, through September 2—
Labor Day weekend—we had no contact, but I had made up my mind
that I was going to follow up with this individual. I ran into him that
weekend, and I mentioned a particular area of need that he had identified
during our earlier conversation. I suggested he come to another briefing
that I thought he might find interesting. He said, “Great, but let’s talk next
week.”
So we talked that Tuesday. As far as I was concerned, I was taking things
slowly, talking through the issues, building rapport, creating trust, and devel-
oping a relationship. I was still in the same zone of the pyramid. Then, all of
a sudden, he said, “Are you interested in a business proposition?”
He just went right to the heart of it. As far as he was concerned, trust had
been established, and peer level respect was there. It was the client—not
92 ◾ Odyssey—The Business of Consulting
me—who prompted the move to the next level, the takeoff. No need for the
high-speed off-ramp.
The second level of this inverted pyramid is collaboration—creating the
critical Mindset. That’s where we got on board with the M1 meeting.
Afterwards, I prepared the M1r letter, which was about twelve pages long,
detailing both his thinking and the value I could bring to the table. He told
me that he spent 45 minutes reading that letter. When do you get an execu-
tive to spend 45 minutes reading a piece of correspondence?
One of the things that is so powerful in this whole Odyssey Arrow pro-
cess is when you give them back their words and their thinking. It’s like
holding up a mirror to them. They’re seeing elements of their complexion
that they’ve never seen before. They’re going places they’ve never gone
before because you’ve built that trust.
Now, the third level of this pyramid is the proposition, defining the
engagement. You’ve built the critical Mindset, now you’re defining the
engagement. Because of the trust that’s been built up, this becomes a very
powerful part of the discussion.
Within five weeks of that Labor Day encounter, I was meeting with him
and his leadership team in Phoenix for a day-long BMR. I’ve got a three
hour meeting with him scheduled next week where we’re going to do a
deep dive into the concepts that came out of that BMR.
Even though we’re still at a relatively early stage of the Odyssey Arrow, I
know that this is going to be a significant engagement. I am confident that
it’s going to run between five and seven years and that it will be on multiple
levels. It will happen, and it will happen not only because of the breadth of
services that I can bring to the table, but by the fact that trust and peer level
respect have been established.
Odyssey in Action II
Jean Ann Larson, Managing Partner, JeanAnnLarson
& Associates, Dallas, Texas
Building a New Consulting Business
I came from the healthcare industry and worked internally as a consultant
in the leadership and talent management space. After thirty years, I decided
to go out on my own. Like so many new consultants, I knew my stuff, but
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.