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Tag: Consulting

The Independent Consultant as Equilateralist (Part 2)

phone, mobile, telephone

It is money that makes money. A corporation has a lower tax rate than an individual. Earn a profit, give the government a relatively small cut, and then put the profits to work earning more money. “Crafty Consultants, Inc.” has built up $40,000 in retained earnings over the past few years.

The Anatomy of Ideas Behind a Successful Consulting Firm

  by Homer J. Hagedorn The Making of a Master Consultant How is it that a management consultant can make any contribution at all? Would- be consultants have much the same upbringing and life experiences as their clients. They and their clients are educated at the same schools and colleges. It may be impossible (and […]

Look Who I Am

How does a management consultant explain what he or she does to the uninitiated?

Anxiety- The Consultant’s Unwelcome Companion

As Sigmund Freud discerned about 75 years ago, certain situations in life create fearlike reactions and dis­comfort for no “logical” reason. Starting from earliest childhood, each person develops a unique sus­ceptibility to this discomfort, which is known as anxiety. It is easy to see the dynamic in extreme cases. We all know people who are […]

The Practical Philosophy of Ethics

Management Consulting is a profession, the members of which render independent advice and assistance to clients in accordance with moral and ethical standards and on the basis of competence in the processes and decisions of general and functional management in private, non-profit and public enterprises.

Profile of the Consultant Entrepreneur

Starting a new business is an extraordinary act, carried out despite claims of high failure rates for startups, discouragement by friends and family, and high uncertainty. The conventional wisdom concerning failures of business startups commonly quotes failure rates ranging from 65% by the third year to 90% in the first year.1 How then does anyone dare to start a new business?

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JMC Becomes C2M

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The Independent Consultant as Equilateralist (Part 1)

Long term, most independent con­sultants and heads of smaller firms will subsist at best and starve at worst. The tragedy lies in the relative ease with which both these sorry states can be replaced by success. It’s a matter of orientation, and many independent con­sultants have the wrong one. They do not see themselves as businesspeople. They see themselves as management consul­tants, organization development (OD) consultants, as system integrators, as Web or e-business consultants, or as almost anything except businesspeople running a small business, bent on earning a profit.

When There’s a Will

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The Independent Consultant as Equilateralist (Part 3)

This is the last of a three-part series proposing the need for independent consultants to be as well-grounded in business management as they are in their technical specialities and consulting skills. Part 1 set forth the notion of a successful independent consultant as an “equilateralist”—blending and balancing technical, consulting, and business skills. Part 2 introduced the first four of eight commandments that form the foundation for our own businesses as independent consultants. This article presents the second set of commandments. 

What is a Trusted Advisor

What is a Trusted Advisor – Maister, Green, Galford Article adapted from the book “the trusted advisor” None of us starts out as a trusted advisor, but this is a status we all aspire to Register below to access our Premium Articles Or Sign in Below

When to Call in The Coach

How does one know when an organization or an individual needs help? One of the biggest problems that many organizations face today is the fact that adults can’t or don’t want to ask for help. Let’s face it: Asking for help can be hard. Many folks feel that doing so is a sign of weakness […]

Consulting and You

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What I’ve Learned in the Mentoring Profession

For many years, people have sent me e-mail and letters and called me for help in the consulting and speaking professions. The inquiries have been from neophytes as well as highly successful solo practitioners and founders of firms and were occasioned by my books in the field. About five years ago, I realized that my zeal […]

The Next New Wave – Consultant-Coach

The Next New Wave – Consultant-Coach  Picture sourced from Pedro Pinto Today, perhaps more than ever before, outside resources are being engaged to help organizations cope with downsizing, mergers, reengineering, savvy consumers, and heightened competition. Worries about recruitment and retention of key people, meeting employee and customer needs, and keeping up with the rapid rate […]

Consulting in Canada

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Mark Twain Said It

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E-Business Take 2

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From B2B to…

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The Goals Grid

All consultants find themselves helping clients get clear about their goals. This article focuses on a practical tool for helping develop goal clarity: the Goals Grid. Register below to access our Premium Articles Or Sign in Below

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Involve the CEO

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Lessons from a Buyout

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The Forces That Launched Management Consulting Are Still at Work

After graduating from the law and business schools at Harvard, I joined a large corpo­rate law firm in Cleveland in June, 1930. As the Great Depression deep­ened, I became involved in the legal side of corporate bond defaults and worked with many bondholders’ com­mittees. The committees, which were made up largely of the investment bankers […]