The New Business of Consulting

10 Exude Professionalism

If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.

Thomas Edison

Sarah stared at the raindrops trickling down her windshield, not trusting herself to drive yet. Wow, she hadn’t seen this one coming. Her job had been eliminated. Eliminated! As if the work was going to go away. The merger had occurred almost a year ago, and many employees were let go soon after. She thought her job was safe. Then again, if she was absolutely honest, there were little signs: her move to a different office, being removed from the Thursday morning planning meeting, changed assignments. Yeah, there were signs, and she had a gut feeling for a while.

She was 54 and had planned to stay with this company until she retired. She’d dedicated her life to it. Now what? Well, there was her severance pay. That would get her through a few months. Wait! What’s that blue envelope on the dash? That’s right, Derrick, her friend from HR, had been waiting at her cubicle and helped her pack up her things. Of course, there wasn’t much to pack, since the company had gone to the open seating arrangement. He must have known this was going to happen. Well, of course he did; he’s in HR.

Sarah opened the envelope and saw a quickly scribbled note saying, “I’ll miss bumping into you in the breakroom. I have an idea. Call me at home tonight.” Behind the card were pages he’d copied out of a book, “Competencies to Boost Your Consulting Success” from The New Business of ...