What's your secret to staying ahead in a fast-paced industry?

1. Attitude of Mind 2.Agile & willing to unlearn and relearn 3. Constant search for knowledge & new skills 4. Stay in touch with latest technology and know how 5.Expand network outside working environment

Knowing your niche and constantly improving it is one of the best ways to deliver quality work to clients. We need to keep ourselves up to date with news, articles, and reports continuously because things are changing constantly.

Stakeholder Relationship: One of the best ways to staying ahead is to understand what your stakeholders truly want and what would they thrive in. Think like a Doctor and think long-term. Once Stakeholders trust you, they share and open up with real insights without bias, this helps in building great strategies. Having regular connects is the 'key' to great relationships.

1. Understand your sector well. 2. Do a SWOT analysis 3. Iterate a concept solution 4. Ask why would anyone believe you and execute your solution 5. Remember: A prophet is never accepted in his own turf.

Recognizing "know your niche" is vital for success. Identify expertise, unique value, target market. Focus on clients and career, gaining a competitive edge, and direction. Embrace specialization, deliver value, and achieve lasting growth.

Embrace Learning sits on a broad spectrum of learning. One specific area which I always advocate is developing a journal of prior learning. Reflective learning is very powerful. There are fundamentally 4 areas of deep learning in reflections: 1. What have I learned? 2. What have I unlearned? 3. Upon hindsight, could I have thought, acts felt differently? 4. Moving forward, if I were to encounter a similar situation or persons, what would I NOW do differently and why?

Counterpoint - be careful of faddish bandwagons. I went back to 1970-80s facilitation resources recently, and they contained better team coaching techniques than many contemporary ideas shared on linkedin. Embrace learning, but also hold and apply the already known - or you'll be equally left behind as the consultant who just churns trends

Learn something every day. Read books, listen to podcasts, participate in discussion groups on innovative topics, take courses on LinkedIn Learning and other platforms. Then reflect. Reflect on what you've learned and how you can put it into use. Try the things you learn for your own business or your clients.

The question posed "How to stay ahead in a fast-paced industry". I think this could be broken down into a two buckets; 1) Customers - Using your field sales and market research to report on developments with customers, industry, market conditions and government is essential to validate and possibly tweak strategy leveraging best practices observed. Would help to leap frog them. 2) Technology - This is an overwhelming task. Don't be distracted by the "shiny penny" - let your strategy drive the use of technology that best fits the task. Challenge agencies to network with external experts in emerging technology to keep campaigns current. Additional Challenge: 1) and 2) while staying in line with compliance and company capabilities.

DUAL PERCEPTION OF REALITY SEEMS TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO UNITY PERCEPTION OF REALITY. This has the consequence that the MAIN TOPIC of the CONSULTING INDUSTRY becomes the IDENTIFICATION AND CHANGE of beliefs that block or limit INTUITION because unity is based on it.

We commercialize new and disruptive innovation by helping them accelerate entry to key markets and opportunities. Key for us is we listen to understand priorities and interests and, by request, introduce management teams where mutual interest exists. We help operationalize partnerships both small and large for our partners including deal support required for the development of major, strategic partnerships.

Technology has a vast range of applications in the consulting industry such as: Large volumes of research data can be processed much faster pace. Automate repetitive tasks within the company. Real-time data analysis. Reduction in errors and human biases

Technology is massively important in all fields these days. However, it needs to be recognized that implementing a new system is rarely a solution in itself. From experience, what a client often calls "bad system" is more often than not poor discipline (i.e. people are not using the system as it was set up to be used). Implementing a new one will not solve that problem, but rather cost a lot of money and effort. E.g. analysis is hard because staff do not enter all the necessary master data. Automating the analysis through RPA will not fix that problem. That being said. Technology can solve many problems, but almost exclusively when used along side other measures.

Currently - with the Generative-AI boom - lots of things that we know can change its shape. Like, the cards are going to be dealt once again, and it is really difficult to predict how the next 10 years is going to look like. The pace is only going to increase. Taking this into consideration, always try to be informed about the technology and rather try to be creator, than only consumer. To set the standards, you must create. You should be on top (on this really unforgivable, global market of corporations). :)

Examples for tech tools for consultants can be CRM, email marketing software, Canva, Chat GPT and the specific scripts which are useful for you. Generative AI can really save time for the consultant and become a competitive advantage for him/her

Be like water, this quote from Bruce Lee, martial artist. Being adaptable means you are not afraid to fail or lose. You are ready to learn from your failures. Be prepare experiment, if you don’t try never you are going win. Develop resiliency. Be good at managing risks.

As a consultant, you are a trailblazer for industries, impacting both your customers and non-customers. That's why you must always be on the lookout for the new (people, processes, technology). But never lose sight of the individuality of your current customers. This implies that a consultant needs to reinvent themselves continually in order to enhance their clients based on their own knowledge and experience. And remember, nothing becomes outdated faster than yesterday's news

In this current dispersion, as management system consultant, we cannot over emphasis on agility and adaptability. Having an agile mindset helps you to adapt a growth and learner's mindset. You are able to easily adopt to new perspectives and different ways of doing things. You see collaborative opportunities even in the face of competition; and readily adjusts to take on unpredictable situations amidst the dynamic world of work.

Be like water, this quote from Bruce Lee, martial artist. Being adaptable means you are not afraid to fail or lose. You are ready to learn from your failures. Be prepare experiment, if you don’t try never you are going win. Develop resiliency. Be good at managing risks.

In my experience, content is more valuable if it is communicated in a way that is addressing the customer needs. Figuring out what the customer want and adapt your messages and approaches is key.

The transactional work is replicable, and anyone can do that, including technology and automation. The relational work is what differentiate your value to your clients and your networks. Building relationships is not just about who you know, but the ability to add value to people you know. It's not a quip pro quo, but with earnest best intentions. If you are sincere and authentic, the benefits will come back to you.

Talk with your Clients, ask about their pains, offer then solutions. Focus on educating. Always look for people smarter than you are - build relationships, learn from them and ultimately try to employ them. You should (almost) always employ people that are able to solve more complex problems in more excellent way. It is not a place for egotism. Besides of employment relationship, look for Partnerships & Alliances. Then look for alignement and mutual interest. Partnerships are the future. Not formal networks are just your colleagues and friends from the industry. Try to have a good relationships, but in the same time stay competitive (in an elegant manner if possible).

Having a large network of people you’re unlikely to serve offers no value, and is a waste of time. I use a system within Linkedin that works extremely well, and AI to help find the perfect partners. Understand who your perfect client or partner are then work diligently towards forming relationships. Only when you have earned this trust should business be discussed. Build and maintain strong and trusted relationships, in and out of work, and you will earn real success.

Building relationships is rarely an activity on its own. Sure, networking events have their place, but mainly relationships are built through delivery of good work. People you have worked with that know you are a trustworthy person who worked hard to deliver good work. They will either want to work with you again or will be happy to provide you with a referral or reference. From my experience, people that work too hard on their relationships can come across as to sales-oriented and not genuine.

When you are a point guard capable of moving disruptive projects forward you recognize the need for people/resources that move projects forward. Trust based relationships, formed over long periods of time, are flexible and they can be scaled up and extended relatively easily. Collaborating with experts in varied spaces allows for good projects to be delivered on time while satisfying scope.

Invest in yourself is equivalent to investing in Mutual funds / Share market. The consistent you're with a long-term vision, you'll reap in future as position and salary. One thing I've found useful: a. Certification b. Find a Coach in which domain you want learn / grow c.Reasearch on the tools and learn (for e.g.: Power BI, Tableau, MS Excel, Google analytics..) which are evergreen and suits for any domain. d.Case studies: Today internet is abundant of case studies where you can filter and get much insight on specific area e.LinkedIn: a professional network which helps you find and enhance your professional network and articles where you can learn f.Speak the language where you're investing (in terms of learning, personal, professional)

I invest in my learning a lot. Daily I give 20 minutes to read and learn a course that can help in my career and the projects I am doing.

Investment of time wisely is key in the consulting industry, as the deadlines are there for each project. As a sherpa, we need to ensure that the team works only on weekdays that too within the office timings and get the projects done. This way, they get a balanced way of living and taking out time in the evenings for a gym or walks or pursue their passions and live a happy and healthy life.

Well rounded experts usually reach that status after running ragged in an attempt to excel in several areas. Becoming an expert and learning to hire experts in areas where you are only very good, takes practice. Freeing up your calendar, while others perform their tasks, is not always easy but it becomes comfortable.

Showing genuine interest and care, being relatable through story-telling and bringing added value (preferably before or after the actual consulting gig at no cost). Added value is what sets you apart. For instance, a new law gets passed after the consultancy is over, but you share the info and perhaps one of your own insights. You should come across as in-house, regardless of the fact your services are outsourced.

“Right time, right place.” Having served over 30 clients (two-thirds of which are/were in the Fortune Global 500) over a span of ten years in two consulting firms - McKinsey and Everest - across nine countries (mainly the U.S., Canada, and India), and reporting to over thirty different bosses, I can attest to the fact that consulting is fast-paced. But, speed is not the deciding factor in career progression - it’s “par for the course”. The key to promotions is to be at “the right time, and the right place”. If you are “in the weeds”, no one will notice you when the right opportunity comes along.

There is something else to consider that falls in between all of these: Use platforms like LinkedIn and X to follow industry or topic leaders. Follow their posts, interact with them, see who else knows their stuff and follow and interact with them. Very quickly you will be a part of a topical web that will very quickly help you scale your knowledge AND relationships. Instead of mindlessly scrolling, be intentional about how you use these powerful platforms.

To stay ahead in the fast-paced education sector, prioritize continuous learning by staying informed about new trends and developments in the field. Actively listen to stakeholders' feedback and engage in reflective reading to gather valuable insights. Utilize data analysis to make informed decisions, and establish a trustworthy network for collaboration and strategic planning to stay ahead of the curve.

I've observed that professionals sometimes prioritize demonstrating quick results over innovation and quality, which can lead to shortcomings in those areas. It's crucial to foster innovation and generate new ideas to tackle challenges. I believe that innovation and quality will act as differentiating factor in the quest for speed