The Mind-Set Factor ◾ 137
Having determined your success pattern, what action could you take that
will enable you to be the best consultant you can be?
The Triple Mind: From Brain Power to Mind Power
Brain power and mind power are not the same. If your brain is your house,
your mind is your home. Your brain is structured to be functional; it fulfils
much the same function as the hardware in a computer. Innovative research
is being conducted on brain power, notably by Dr. Ron Bonnstetter and
Dr.Bill Bonnstetter at Target Training International in Phoenix, Arizona.
It is your mind that expands and creates your wisdom and potential, allow-
ing your talents and inherent possibilities to flourish. The mind serves as your
software. It is your psychological powerhouse. To understand the mind, it is best
described as having three distinct divisions, each with its own separate function:
◾ The conscious mind
◾ The subconscious mind
◾ The superconscious mind
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
1234
“Success is a journey”
How is your journey?
“Success is setting and achieving
your definite objectives”
Have you clear written objectives?
“To become everything you are
capable of becoming”
How far along this road are you?
“To thine own self be true”
How true to yourself and
your talents are you?
“A s much as 85% of your success will
come from your relationships”
What is the caliber of your work and
personal relationships?
“Just do it” is the Nike slogan.
How action oriented are you, really, on
the critical issues?
5
Figure 6.3 Success factor grid.
138 ◾ Odyssey—The Business of Consulting
The metaphor of the golf ball, the basketball, and the balloon helps to
illustrate the size and significance of all three parts of the mind. Your con-
scious mind (golf ball size) works directly with your brain and is much
smaller than the (basketball size) subconscious mind. The superconscious
mind (balloon size) is massive compared with the other two but remains
underutilized by all but a tiny minority of people (Figure 6.4). Let us explore
this important framework in the context of consulting.
The Four Dimensions of the Competent Consultant
The four classic dimensions of the competent consultant emerge almost
seamlessly within the triple mind (Figure 6.5):
◾ The physical dimension represented by the hand and the five senses is
the conscious mind.
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Hand
Head
Heart
Soul
Figure 6.5 The four dimensions of the human being.
Appreciation
Action
Conscious
mind
Superconscious
mind
Subconscious
mind
PMA×7
Awareness
Attention
Alertness
Acceptance
Approval
Figure 6.4 Superconsciousness.
The Mind-Set Factor ◾ 139
◾ The intellectual dimension represented by the head is the thinking
subconscious.
◾ The emotional dimension represented by the heart straddles the bound-
ary between all three minds, the superconscious.
◾ The spiritual or soul dimension is represented by the eye because “the
eyes are the windows to your soul.”
The conscious mind is objective, sensible, discerning, systemic, and extrin-
sic in how it functions. As your five senses receive data from the thousands of
interactions you have with the world every day, the conscious mind clinically
analyzes, compares, and decides on a course of action. These are automatic
responses in most cases and account for an estimated 10% of your thinking.
The conscious mind can only concentrate on relatively few thoughts at a time.
The subconscious mind is your software storage system. Every experi-
ence, memory, and influence is stored in your subconscious databank. It
reacts to inputs and instructions from the conscious mind. Its programming
and retrieval systems, therefore, are only as good as the input. The computer
formula “garbage in, garbage out” holds particularly true.
The superconscious mind is concerned with attaining higher and higher
levels of consciousness through present moment awareness (PMA). PMA to
the power of seven (also called PMA×7) is the process of being hypercon-
scious, more alert, and more attentive than the normal conscious state.
Full consciousness or super consciousness means being more connected,
more centered, more enlightened, and more “in the zone” or “in the now.” It
is this capacity—for you to be fully present and completely in the now—that
separates the amateur consultant from the professional consultant more than
any other factor. Pure consciousness is almost a state of “no mind” where
you detach or disidentify from the constant chatter—“the monkeys of the
mind”—that dominates so many people’s thinking.
PMA×7 gives you the option of turning off your own subconscious think-
ing and tuning into your client and the present moment with more con-
scious and superconscious awareness. It extends beyond mindfulness and
involves the following:
1. Awareness—being fully present and aware of the present moment
2. Attention—to what is being articulated and everything else
3. Alertness—being alert to the total situation and circumstances
4. Acceptance—not judging the person or jumping to solutions
140 ◾ Odyssey—The Business of Consulting
5. Approval—recognizing who they are with unconditional care
6. Appreciation—being empathetic and understanding
7. Action—purposeful action is the way forward; nothing happens without action
Trustworthiness Defined
The trust relationship you develop and build with the client is based on
the client’s emotional appreciation or disapproval of your presence, skills,
and behavior. The client will choose early in the process whether or not to
entrust you with their thoughts, feelings, ideas, and problems.
Ten Ways to Create Entrusting Relationships with Your Client
1. Earn the right to offer advice
2. Build incremental candor, professional intimacy, and risk taking
3. Partner rationally (thinking) and emotionally (feeling)
4. Listen actively, intentionally and with PMA, using visual/vocal nudges
5. Use a wide repertoire of questions; use silence effectively
6. Use appropriate humor (avoid sensitive topics)
7. Show your passion for the topic, subject, and role
8. Illustrate and create pictures. Do not talk at or to people
9. Be able to say, assertively, “I don’t know”
10. Control and manage your emotions
Ten Ways to Create Distrusting Relationships with Your Client
1. Talking and telling stories about yourself
2. Having all the answers and giving them too quickly
3. Talking more than asking (selfishness)
4. Interrupting the client
5. Needing to be right or intelligent; giving qualifications or name
dropping
6. Jumping to conclusions or solutions
7. Ignoring emotional cues and focusing only on rational thinking
8. Depersonalizing the interaction
9. Taking credit for client ideas, solutions
10. Assuming and judging
The Mind-Set Factor ◾ 141
Positive Psychology—Managing
YourPotential and Possibilities
The majority of professional practice firms seek to build positive perspec-
tives for individual clients and client organizations. However, for that to hap-
pen, to help the client achieve their purpose, it is imperative that you, the
consultant/advisor, set out to achieve your own potential.
Psychology is the science of the natural functions, processes, behaviors,
and characteristics of the human mind. Since World War II, much psychol-
ogy was focused on “what is wrong with people” rather than a “what is
right with people.” The whole psychology industry had been built around
engaging with the downside of human behaviors.
Positive psychology, pioneered by Dr. Martin Seligman and others, has
grown more popular over the last decade. It presents a new vision of psy-
chology. The positive psychological perspective looks for the potential in
people. It explores how people can flourish and developtheir talents rather
than simply functioning and letting life pass them by.
Traditional psychology focuses on “specific action tendencies” or why nega-
tive emotions (the “fight or flight” response for example) prompt people to act
in a certain way. Positive psychology focuses on the effects of positive emotions
on behavior patterns. These positive emotions have the potential to change how
you think and fuel learning and self-transformation. Personal and professional
resources, networks, knowledge, and talents are then broadened to help you man-
age, grow, and thrive. Positive psychologists call it the “broaden-and-build” theory.
Positive psychology anchors, emotional intelligence, and self-image go
hand-in-hand with achieving superior and consistent management compe-
tency levels. Positive emotions are vital for consultants in establishing rap-
port with clients. Research from the Gallup organization shows that client
satisfaction (a judgment) does not always translate into high fees, but emo-
tional bonding (a positive feeling) actually creates loyalty and generates
increased fees. Being “recognized as a human being” rather than as a trans-
action is the primary motivation for peer-level respect and loyalty.
For experts in general, the difference between knowing about posi-
tive psychology and translating it into one’s personal and professional life
remains the challenge. The Odyssey consultant embarks on a conscious
journey to enhance their positive psychology and tune up the natural talents
that contribute to their unique music. One of the great tragedies of life is
that most people go to their graves with their music still in them.
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