Flawless Consulting, 4th Edition

CHAPTER 4Flawless Consulting

CONSULTING CAN SEEM VAGUE and overly complicated when, in fact, it is possible to consult flawlessly and to do so quite simply. The way to keep it simple is to focus on only two dimensions of consulting. Ask yourself two questions whenever you are with a client:

1. Am I being authentic with this person now?
2. Am I completing the business of the consulting phase I am in?

Being Authentic

Authentic behavior with a client means you put into words what you are experiencing with the client as you work. This is the most powerful thing you can do to build client commitment and have the leverage you are looking for.

There is a tendency for us to look for ways of being clever with a client. We agonize over ways of presenting our ideas, of phrasing the project so that it will appeal. Many times I have been with a client and found myself straining to figure out what will convince them that I am everything they are looking for. Projections of bottom‐line savings are made, solutions for sticky employee problems are proposed, confirmations that the client has been doing everything humanly possible are suggested with a nod and a smile.

It is a mistake to assume that clients make decisions to begin projects and use consultants based on purely rational reasons. More often than not, the client's primary question is: “Is this person someone I can trust? Is this someone I can trust not to hurt me, not to con me—someone who can both help solve the organizational or technical ...