Getting ahead in Consulting

Someone recently busted my self-made myth that I am new in the Consulting field. The reality is that I have been "consulting" for over 25 years in Engineering, IT, and Business Management. I was always helping others and solving complex problems. I was methodical but took calculated risks with new technologies and novel solutions. I can look back and say that I convinced my then bosses to allow me to run some cool experiments. At the University of Houston’s Learning Support Services, I got them to buy the first-ever Windows NT 3.1 system running in an emulator on Digital’s rackmount server with DEC CPUs. Windows NT was not supposed to run on non-intel CPUs! It was like early 1994.?Oh boy, it was a complicated setup, but the extra horsepower was needed to run the scantron code which provided vital exam stats for the UH professors. And then in 2003 at Getronics, I bought their first ever AlphaServer in a huge rack with 48V DC backplane. In both examples, we had to disassemble the huge racks to get them into the data centers and took many complicated steps to make the systems run. But in the end, the results were glorious!

Don’t get me wrong though. I have not always been successful at implementing cutting-edge, unproven technology (and I don’t do that all the time either). Some of my readers may remember the fiasco of purchasing two huge ProLiant Servers for MXenergy around 2009. These were configured with max CPUs, max RAM, and the fastest available solid-state drives of the time. We were trying to shorten the run time of an overnight Oracle job. The solution failed spectacularly. ?I threw hardware at the problem when I should have asked my DBA team to dig into the job and optimize it. We finally did exactly that and reduced the run time from 9 hours to less than 20 mins.

The point I am trying to make here is that over the years, I have accumulated a lot of wins and losses while trying to solve difficult problems. I have learned useful and sometimes, painful lessons. As a result, I am now much better at what I do. ?Going back in memory lane, here are some of the tips I extracted that should help anyone who is trying to become an expert consultant.

1. Be really good at what you do - Oxford dictionary defines a consultant as “a person who knows a lot about a particular subject and is employed to give advice about it to other people”. To be an expert, you will mix research, career experience, and consulting practice to develop frameworks for analyzing complex issues and produce workable solutions. Continuous education and learning is the key to becoming a great consultant. You should interact and learn from industry experts through networking or other means (webinars, seminars, blogs, vlogs, whitepapers, etc.).
2. Be a generalist – Not all problems are in a single dimension/domain – while you may still require to be an expert in some fields, quite often you will need a multi-disciplinary approach and thinking out of [SME] box. Broaden your knowledge in adjacent fields. Learn how your clients’ businesses work. Learn about their competition and what they might be doing to solve similar problems.?
3. Be a good communicator – Your clients will expect you to articulate your advice in clear, concise, and empathetic terms. You must be an expert in both oral and written presentations and be able to listen well. You cannot help your client if you don’t have the patience and skill to listen to them first. Don’t miss an opportunity to write a blog, whitepaper, or present to an audience.
4. Grow your network and build your brand – As a consultant, the need to make meaningful online and offline connections is very important. Make it a priority and reach out to interesting people. Don’t forget to connect with people outside of your industry to broaden your knowledge. Networking is a long-term investment, and you will reap what you sow. Show your contacts genuine interest, get to know them, support them, and allow them to get to know you. Give trust first.
5. Be a conceptual and creative thinker but plant yourself in practical reality – Learn various scientific methods to solve problems. It's ok to experiment but do that within tolerance and budget. Think out of the box and be practical. Take calculated and intelligent risks. I read somewhere here on LinkedIn “Be brave enough to suck at something new”.
6. Be good at asking questions – Asking good questions and actively listening to the answers is sometimes the only key to successfully executing a project. Intelligent questions show your understanding of the problem and industry skills. It’s OK to ask for clarification. Don’t be annoying or ask questions to merely show off your knowledge.
7. Be good at saying NO – You cannot always help your client. Learn how to say NO in a positive way. Lead with empathy and be transparent. It is polite to explain why you are saying no but be direct and firm. And if possible, provide alternate options or connect them with someone who might be able to help. Make them feel heard and that you are saying no to their request and not to them. When you learn to say “no”?to some opportunities or projects,?you will be able to say “yes” to many others that are a better match with your skills and experience.?
8. Be confident – You must be confident about your skills and expertise. Repetition and knowledge build confidence. It is OK to say that you don’t know the answer and that you will get back to them after some research. This is much better than sounding fake losing composure.
9. Be resourceful – As a consultant, you will be asked to solve new and complex problems. No one is expecting you to be all-knowing. It’s your resourcefulness that will allow you to craft a solution. You should be ready and willing to ask for help, both internally and from industry experts in your network. Chances are that someone might have solved a similar problem, or they may be able to help you think creatively.
10. Get in the trenches – What has helped me the most as a consultant is that I am not afraid to get my hands dirty. Strategy is easy, but execution is the real deal- it is where the true customer value resides. This is the only way I can demonstrate that I am not a mere theorist but a hands-on expert who is prepared to roll up sleeves and do the hard work.
11. Know your clients and show that you care – Showing a genuine interest in your clients’ business, their success, and intimately understanding their problems goes a long way towards building credibility and becoming their trusted advisor.?Show them solutions and potential when they are seeing only problems and obstacles.
12. Know your value proposition — Understanding what the customer values the most and the emotions that drive them, you should be able to craft your unique value proposition for each client. Know what you are really good at and how you can create value for them. Be prepared to recite your elevator pitch to those who are not your customers yet.
13. Be reliable – A good consultant will do exactly what they said they were going to do and when they were going to do it. This is the most important thing you can do to build trust and credibility with your clients. Never make promises that you cannot keep. Be honest about your capabilities and don’t oversell yourself.
14. Do a lot of giving – Give, give and give more! Giving can be in many forms. You can share your research, an interesting article you think might be helpful to your client, and some occasional consulting time. This will make your client feel serviced, rather than sold. You must give energy, attention, and focus to your client engagements.?“If someone asks me for a drink, I get it for them, open the bottle and bring them a glass, ice and a napkin.”
15. Don’t always agree with your client — It's ok to agree with your clients to create unity and trust but not always. Tell the client as it is, even if it means exposing their shortcomings. Clients love courageous consultants who can stand up to them.

Monologue – I saved the all-important #16 for my monologue. As a confident expert in my industry, I sometimes struggle to show humility. I understand that there is a fine line between being confident and boastful or arrogant. I am constantly reminding myself that I am there to service my clients and make them shine rather than showing off my own knowledge.

As for the other traits I listed above, I will not score A+ there either. Heck, I will be happy with a B+. But I promise you that I am working on improving myself. I will never be perfect, but it puts a smirk on my face thinking about achieving near perfection someday. I know. I am good.

So, go ahead. Challenge yourself and be the best consultant in town! And don't forget to tell us in the comments what has worked for you and what, if anything, you are still struggling with. Maybe someone will give a useful tip or two!

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