The Consultant’s Growth Path ◾ 7
Team members at the forming stage are getting to know one another
before embarking on a new adventure, a process that is often accompanied
by a certain level of enthusiasm and heightened expectations. The reality of
course is that not everyone sees things the same way; differences in outlook
may often surface. Then comes the storming stage when these differences
become potentially divisive. Team conflicts must be worked out and processed
to get to a point where members are able to accept, process, and understand
one another’s perspectives and contribution. This is the norming stage. Having
achieved this cohesion, the team arrives at a point where it can deliver “excep-
tional collective performance” (ECP): the performing stage. This is a stage
where the consultant is the team leader or facilitator, where roles and objec-
tives are clear, results are achieved, and rewards are shared appropriately.
Think of a football or a hockey team. You are excited to be picked, but
now there’s the drudgery and discipline of preseason training. It is only
when you persevere through this phase that the process of doing what
needs to be done and working together as a team becomes the norm. By
following the discipline of working well together, the team gels and is able
to perform effectively in the game (ECP) and go on to win.
You will also experience the forming, storming, norming, and performing
dynamics on an individual level as you grow your business.
In the knowledge stream, consultants at Levels 1 and 2 concern themselves
primarily with the raw data and information that comprise the kinds of low-
level intervention associated with the Good Soldier and Competent Warrior.
The integration of experience, mind-set, and emotional intelligence gives the
Trusted Advisor the funded wisdom to operate at higher levels, developing
peer-level respect with clients to produce exceptional results. As a Trusted
Advisor and Master Practitioner, you develop strong relationships that enable
the C-level client to partner with you in high value interventions and solutions.
The communication stream follows the same path. At Level 1, the Good
Soldier is concerned with low-level consulting interventions such as report
delivery. There is participation at the second stage where the two-way flow
of information between consultant and client begins. At Level 3, the consul-
tant arrives at a thorough understanding of the client’s objectives through
dialogue and rapport, which generates peer-level respect. At the mastery
stage, the Odyssey consultant is working in partnership with the client on a
long-term basis, in a climate of undisputed trust.
Communications is to a relationship as blood is to the body. Without
either, there is no life. Communication is therefore imperative to the devel-
opment of strong business relationships.