152 ◾ Odyssey—The Business of Consulting
Step 4: Select the best solution
It is important to identify the one best solution that inevitably
emerges. This is not to say that all other ideas are cast aside. They can
be organized on an ideas board under different themes and retained for
future reference.
Step 5: Implement decisions
The key question is, What action is to be taken? This allows the
leader to set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and
time-bounded) goals. Remember that while creativity is the start, real
innovation lies in implementation, which is the effective result.
Step 6: Assign responsibility for the outcome
When working with a client, you must ensure that someone takes
overall responsibility for the implementation of the action steps/plans.
Do not assume or expect that everyone will just execute the actions
outlined. No matter how enthusiastic they are or how much they prom-
ise, unless you get actual commitment, nothing will happen. This is
why the name or names of individuals should always be written into
the plan. One person who commits their name to the outcome is bet-
ter than twenty enthusiastic group members. As a consultant, keeping
clients committed to their “promises to themselves” can be one of your
most valuable contributions.
Step 7: Agree reporting and feedback procedure
“What gets measured, gets done” is a solid management principle.
Agreement on a reporting and feedback procedure is a critical factor in
locking in the individuals responsible for taking action. It is also vital
for the upkeep of motivation among group members who contributed
to the earlier part of the process. Clarify how outcomes will be commu-
nicated back to the main group and set out a schedule showing when
this will take place. Without this step in the process, cynicism will
infect all future creative thinking initiatives.
The Timeless Principle of Belief
The timeless principle of belief simply states that your beliefs determine your
actions and therefore your life outcomes.
The Mind-Set Factor ◾ 153
Beliefs are like filters that screen out information that is inconsistent with
them. You tend to reject information that contradicts what you have already
decided to believe, whether that information is true or false.
During your early years, you were exposed to a multitude of influences
that lead you to accept, as true, certain things that you classify as beliefs.
These belief systems determine your perceptions of both your internal life
and your world view. Some beliefs may have served you well; others may
hinder your future progress.
Because beliefs cause you to think in a particular way, you will some-
times ignore or filter out valuable information. You literally develop a “blind
spot,” or a psychological scotoma to certain realities, opportunities, and
possibilities. For a consultant, it is important to carefully guard against these
blind spots, which may prompt you to jump to the wrong conclusions about
yourself and your clients.
A negative belief system is like a self-imposed brake on your natural
talents and core competencies. Of these negative beliefs, self-limiting beliefs
are among the most damaging. They prevent you from tapping into your
inherent power and from using your inborn talents, values, and attributes.
Self-limiting beliefs stop your behaviors, talents, emotional intelligence, and
attitudes from combining to become strengths and superior competencies.
Here are some examples:
◾ I realize I did fairly well, but I absolutely should have done perfectly on
a task like this, and therefore I really am incompetent.
◾ I know what will happen because of what has happened before.
◾ I do not deserve to be wealthy.
Stereotyping is another example of how the negative side of the belief prin-
ciple is manifested. Stereotyping has many names: labelling, classifying, type-
casting, pigeonholing, and prejudging. It stems from deeply held preconvictions
and in essence, it is about a failure to see individuals and situations for who and
what they are. Do not allow yourself to be stereotyped as “just a consultant.”
Be careful that you do not unwittingly take on the “sins of the father,” or the
impressions left by novice consultants or clients who set the bar low.
You tend to act in a manner consistent with your beliefs, and that is espe-
cially true of beliefs that relate to you. The primary reason a client does not
“go with you” on an assignment—all else being equal—is that they do not
believe you. If you do not believe in yourself, your client will intuit this and
fail to believe you.
154 ◾ Odyssey—The Business of Consulting
Mankind has been testing the principle of belief for more than 2,000 years.
◾ In the Old Testament, it says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
◾ The New Testament says, “According to your faith, be it done unto you.”
◾ Nietzsche wrote, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”
◾ Allen James wrote, “Men do not attract that which they want, but that
which they are.”
◾ Shakespeare wrote, “Nothing is but thinking makes it so.”
Dr. Viktor Frankl spent three years in Auschwitz prison. He sums up the
principle of belief in his book Man’s Search for Meaning as follows: “In the
concentration camp, what remains with you is the last of the human free-
doms—the ability to choose your attitude in a given set of circumstances.”
The Performance Improvement Loop
The performance improvement loop shows how your beliefs trigger your
attitudes and behaviors, which in turn lead to the results you get (Figure 6.7).
These results, good or bad, reinforce what you believe, and so the loop—
either positive or negative—continues.
Your “reality” is filtered through your five senses and your belief system
to deliver your perception. The five senses are also the window to your
sixth sense, your intuition, your inner voice. Your senses interpret, collate,
and act as gatekeeper to your beliefs, while perception is the process of
creating your picture of the world around you, one which is filtered through
your beliefs.
Results
Outcomes/goals
B
e
H
a
v
e
D
o
e formulation and
structure of your activities
Which reinforce the
negative or p
ositive belief
Behaviors
Tone
Attitudes
Words/nonverbals/tone
Mind-set
Beliefs
Scotomas
Figure 6.7 The performance improvement loop.
The Mind-Set Factor ◾ 155
Three Considerations for Assimilating Experiences
People tend to become prisoners of their experiences. You organize and
interpret information according to what has happened to you in the past.
There are three considerations here:
1. Everything is relative
Your perceptions as a consultant are relative to the situations in
which they occur. When you find yourself in unfamiliar surroundings,
you no longer have the references on which to base your perception.
For example, how expensive is an expensive assignment? To an eco-
nomic buyer with a discretionary budget of $1,000,000 or a manager
with a budget of $20,000? How fast is fast to a CEO with a five-year
growth strategy or an HR manager with a training need next month?
The consultant may project a previous fee setting experience on the
next assignment, making untested assumptions about the client’s needs,
budget, or willingness to engage. Check your perceptions and assump-
tions and treat each case as unique.
2. The tendency to generalize
You have a natural inclination to generalize based on your previous
experiences. You may tend to pinpoint certain features of an upcoming
assignment and then go on to make sweeping generalizations about the
boundaries and limitations of the assignment. Remember, all assign-
ments are different. Do not allow yourself to become complacent and a
victim of generalization.
3. Your personality influences
Your temperament, personal interests, attitudes, and values “flavor” your
perception. So does your lifetime journey, education, and learning.
Your beliefs determine how you interpret or explain things to yourself.
Consider the following example.
A consultant is overheard talking with another consultant. Consultant
one says, “I don’t consult to manufacturing enterprises. They are dirty,
unsafe and the people there leave a lot to be desired.” The second
consultant responds, “Manufacturing consulting makes up 47% of my
revenue. I would rethink your thoughtware on this one.”
Remember that learned frames of mind can be changed and
unlearned. You are free to choose. As a professional consultant, con-
sider these two questions:
156 ◾ Odyssey—The Business of Consulting
a. What are your core beliefs that have served you well to this point in
your consulting career?
b. What are the self-limiting beliefs that may not be helping you
achieve your full potential?
In answering these questions, it is important to have good quality feed-
back from a professional mentor/coach or someone who knows you well.
The Timeless Principle of Expectation
The timeless principle of expectation says that your major assumptions,
hopes, desires, and predominant thoughts tend to become self-fulfilling
prophecies. Your relative levels of optimism and pessimism have a powerful
effect on what you achieve. Setting clear, positive expectations for yourself
and others acts as an organizing principle in how worthwhile things get
done. Having unclear, low, or no expectations inevitably leads to low per-
formance and an unsuccessful outcome. If you do not know where you are
going, any road will lead you there.
As a professional advisor, expectations management is vital to reaching
the top echelons of the consulting business, and all expectations start with
the expectations you have of yourself. In turn, the environment you create
for your clients sets their expectations of the work you will do together.
Sport often provides good metaphors. One team expects to win their
championship as if it were their moral right … another team believes its
destiny is simply to compete and play well. In the majority of cases like this,
both expectations are met.
Your ability to learn how to set and achieve goals is the single most
important means of capitalizing on your expectations. Disciplining your cli-
ents to stick to their commitments through explicit expectations can be the
most valuable gift you can give them.
The two fundamental preconditions to anchor any work on expectation
management are as follows:
1. Trust
Trust is your willingness to be vulnerable to someone else’s actions,
based on your understanding that their actions are important to you.
Do not confuse trust with risk and cooperation. We all know in our
hearts what it means to trust someone, and almost everyone knows
how it feels to have that trust betrayed. Why do you trust one person,
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