Consultants do many things – the top of them is documenting the client’s challenges. It is common for prospects to come to the consultant for a solution when what they need is something else. Great consultants, therefore, put more effort into diagnosing the client’s challenges. Today, even traditional healers call themselves consultants. Banks have customer consultants. And big consulting firms to have consultants. So, what is the difference between the consulting Engineer on a multi-billion World Bank project and the village consultant who does his trade in a very small grass-thatched house? Consultants change the condition of their clients for…
The secrets of winning consultants
Project execution is important. But making a sell is the most critical skill when it comes to professional advisory services providers like engineers, lawyers, accountants, doctors to mention but three. True, getting a job is not easy. And for that reason, many people would rather find a government job and chill. It is safer that way. Right? Not always so. Some folks are used to the “driver of my life” slogan that they love it in the private sector. You have to continuously put in your all – 100% daily, to progress. What a better way to live life than…
Decide to be happy
Your life is like a road. It has corners, hills, and bumps, and flat straight stretches. All you need is clarity of the destination. During the journey, you may experience difficulties. A flat tyre. A sudden animal that crosses the road. Roadblocks. Flooded stretch or just serious traffic police who may pull you aside for routine checkup of your compliance with the traffic rules. No one stays on the road! You must do your best to get to your destination, albeit late. The secret, therefore, is on not stopping. To arrive, you must continue moving at whatever cost. Life mirrors…
Exercise, eat well, laugh, and checkup for good health
The common saying in the medical parlance is everyone is mad, but the degree varies. Or everyone has some illness, the severity varies. Anytime you do a full medical checkup, you are likely to find something going the wrong way! If you are reading this blog, and understanding it means your madness level is still at a very low. You are sane but not 100% sane. There is no such thing as 100% sanity. Now if your madness is at 10%, you have 90% sanity. If your madness is at 20%, you have 80% sanity. The insanity starts to show…
Where else has this worked? Technocrat’s common question
If you are a consultant who is not afraid of knocking on doors, you have probably had to deal with technocrats who ask questions like: “where else has this worked?” Such people are allergic to new thinking. They are comfortable with the status quo. With old ways of doing things. With tools and solutions that are already working elsewhere. In the past, I dreaded such a question. The nature of our work as a strategy, cybersecurity, and risk management consultants, means that the majority of the projects, if not all, we are not allowed to disclose that we provided the…
Have you done a culture audit?
What is your current culture? What is your defined culture? What is your desired culture? When you do a culture audit or assessment, you realize that more needs to be done. Usually, the culture gap helps explore interventions to create the desired culture. It starts with a culture audit- an exercise we recommend is to be done every two years considering the sensitivity of the people factor. In these tough times, staff attitude and enthusiasm play a key role in winning. Do you sometimes get concerned that some of your team members are dragging their feet instead of sprinting when…
