Consulting Practice Advice

A competent strategy consultant is a “Master of Four,” mastering four critical skills and combining them in a balanced, integrated process. Being a good strategy consultant isn’t easy. You have to combine a variety of different roles, balance them, and be able to smoothly switch between them while working with a client. The work of a strategy consultant can be described along two dimensions. The first is Content vs. People. On the one hand, you have to focus on content; on the strategy and plans that need to be developed. You also need to focus on people, because those are responsible for developing and implementing the strategy. The second dimension is Ask vs. Tell. On the one hand, a strategy consultant needs to ask a lot of questions, to help people clarify their thinking and get ideas, issues and insights on the table. A competent strategy consultant also brings in their strategy expertise to guide the client confidently through the process. Based on these two dimensions, we can identify four key roles and skills of the competent strategy consultant: Facilitator Strategy requires a competent facilitator who can guide a client through the process by asking the right questions at the right time. As a facilitator they know the steps to take, how to trigger people to contribute, and can integrate and summarize what is being said. Strategist More than merely a process facilitator, a competent strategy consultant is able to take the lead in designing and formulating strategies. Based on the inputs received through facilitation, they can identify patterns, draw conclusions and formulate strategies. Coach Strategy implies change, and change has a profound effect on people. For effective strategy and implementation, the strategy consultant should be able to carefully listen and relate to people, and coach them throughout their own individual journey. Educator A competent strategy consultant facilitates learning. By working with people from the client in a systematic and transparent way, these people learn and develop competences through learning-by-doing. Not just individually, but also as a team and organization.  Masters of Four are strategy consultants that master all four competences. Perhaps not at an equal level, as each individual has their unique strengths and weaknesses. But, all four skills need to be developed at a basic level at least. Are you a Master of Four? Is your consultant a Master of Four? If you want to become one, have a look at the Certified Strategy & Implementation Consulting (CSIC) program on strategy.inc. Our February cohort is sold out, but in September we will start with a new cohort. You can share your interest via our contact or registration form. → Join my community and subscribe to my Soulful Strategy newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/e_ytzAgU #strategyconsulting #changemanagement #coachingskills

The analysis was brilliant. The recommendations sound. Yet nothing changed. In our final part, we explore how consultants navigate the human dimension which is where the real barriers are. Parts 1 & 2 explored creating clarity and driving change. This third dimension builds trust across the organization. The final three functions: 1. The Relationship Bridge → Connecting stakeholders around shared objectives →  Facilitating cross-functional understanding → Navigating politics to enable decisions The truth is, organizations are complex human systems with competing agendas and perspectives. Average consultants rely on data alone. Elite ones recognize that change is fundamentally human. They bring people together by: → Facilitating stakeholder alignment forums → Bridging technical and business perspectives → Addressing unspoken barriers to progress → Building coalitions that sustain momentum The best consultants know that the executive, middle manager, and frontline employee all see different realities. Rather than picking sides, they build bridges of understanding between these worlds. 2. The Context Translator → Adapting best practices to local realities → Translating frameworks into specific solutions → Accounting for culture and structure Average consultants apply off-the-shelf frameworks, but generic solutions fail at adapting to the context and ground realities. Exceptional consultants don't just recommend what worked elsewhere, they adapt successful patterns to fit your unique context. They achieve this through: → Identifying which principles transfer across contexts → Adapting to organizational culture and capabilities → Knowing when to challenge vs. accept constraints → Balancing aspiration with practicality The difference between good and great consulting lies here: transforming general insights into your organization's distinct advantage. 3. The Integrity Anchor → Maintaining unwavering commitment to facts → Delivering truth regardless of consequences → Protecting confidentiality & ensuring ethical conduct In environments with competing agendas, the consultant must be the voice of integrity, the truth teller and confidant. Without this foundation, no amount of analytical brilliance or execution skill matters. This manifests in: → Speaking truth to power when others won't → Presenting data accurately, even when uncomfortable → Navigating politics while maintaining independence → Balancing candor with respect Average consultants tell you what you want to hear. Elite consultants tell you what you need to know, even when it's uncomfortable. We covered three dimensions in this series. They all build upon each other: → Clarity without change: useless insights → Change without trust: superficial compliance → Trust without clarity and change: a comfortable relationship The deepest value of consulting isn't transactional advice; it's enabling enduring self-reliance.

The single most counterintuitive thing I've learned in my 4 years as a founder? When you're drowning in work... Take time off. (I know, sounds nuts) When you've got: → 100 fires to put out. → 50 decisions waiting. → Everyone needs you NOW. Your brain screams: "I can't leave! Everything will fall apart!" BUT → Warren Buffett makes 3 good decisions a year. → Bill Gates takes a whole week off to sit in the woods and think about Microsoft's future. Meanwhile... I'm making 50 micro-decisions a day and struggling to justify a day off. Until last week. I forced myself to take some PTO. For the first few days, I had moments of guilt.  And checked Slack 47 times... obviously. Then something crazy happened. Those fires? My team put them out without me. The urgent decisions? They made them without me too. And I had space to think. → Not about today's problems.  → But about next year's opportunities.  → And the vision for the year after that. Here's what no one tells you: You can't see the forest when you're constantly putting out fires in the trees. The ONLY way to think strategically? Emergency eject yourself from the tactical. → Your calendar will never magically clear itself. → Your inbox will never hit zero. → The fires will never stop. But if you want to build something truly sustainable and long-term... You need to step back. The business doesn't need you in it every second. It needs you above it, seeing what others can't. Take the damn time off !! 

Your board wants 20% growth next year. Your team hears that number and their souls leave their bodies. 20%??? After they just killed themselves to hit this year's number? Todd Caponi , during this past week's Revenue Manager Lab at Sales Assembly, broke down a formula that should hopefully result in folks who are faced with goals like this exhaling a huge sigh of relief. The Results Formula: Revenue = (Qualified Opportunities × Deal Size × Win Rate) ÷ Cycle Length. Now here's where it gets interesting. Improve each metric by just 5%: - 5% more qualified opportunities (literally one more per rep). - 5% higher deal sizes ($2K on a $40K deal). - 5% better win rate (win one more deal you'd normally lose). - 5% faster cycle time (close 3 days faster). Result: 22% revenue growth. Don't believe Todd? Run it through whatever spreadsheet you want. Change the variables. Use different baseline numbers. ALWAYS comes out to 22%. Try 10% improvements across all four? You get 46% growth. But here's a mistake many leaders make: They pick one metric and try to double it. "We need MORE PIPELINE!" So they hire more SDRs, blast more emails, book more meetings. Pipeline goes up 50%. Revenue goes up 8%. Why? Because they flooded the zone with bullshit opportunities that destroyed their win rate and extended their cycle time. The magic is in the compound effect of tiny optimizations. A 5% improvement is nothing: - One better discovery call per month. - One less discount given. - One deal closed three days faster. - One bigger upsell identified. Stack those improvements. Compound them. Watch what happens. Your team doesn't need to raise their hand another foot higher. They need to raise it one inch higher in four places. Stop asking for heroics. Start asking for tweaks. The math is undefeated.

If writing is all you do as a freelancer, your days are numbered. I HATE saying that. I know it makes me look like an alarmist. But I’m just reading the tea leaves. And they're spelling out a clear message: AI is rapidly transforming our profession in ways we can't ignore. The mechanical aspects of writing -- crafting sentences, organizing paragraphs, developing a consistent tone -- these are all becoming something AI can do remarkably well. And it’s getting better at it by the week! Which means you're going to have to offer something else to stay relevant and valuable. This isn't about AI replacing us. It's about AI changing our role from writers to “conductors.” Think about it. In a world where AI can generate first drafts in seconds (which, again, are getting better by the week), your biggest value isn't in the act of writing. It's in knowing which words matter. In figuring out which story to tell (and how to tell it). In the strategic thinking that happens before anyone hits a keyboard. In the creative partnership you offer clients beyond just executing their requests. The writers who will thrive in this new landscape are those who can: 👉🏼 Step upstream in the process 👉🏼 Guide clients through the fog of their own thinking 👉🏼 Identify gaps in messaging 👉🏼 Spot inconsistencies in positioning 👉🏼 Recognize untapped opportunities others miss 👉🏼 Bring new ideas to the table 👉🏼 Help them solve ancillary problems These skills were always valuable. But they’re now essential. I recently heard from a freelancer whose client asked them to step into more of a strategist role because it was clear they did "so much more than just copy." Another one just told me that she’s now doing much more idea development and quality assurance and less writing, because of her domain expertise in nutrition science, which is very specialized. This is exactly the transition we all need to make. The good news is that most of us are already thinking strategically when we work with clients. We notice problems. We see solutions. We have insights. We just haven't been speaking up or charging for this expertise. Now is the time to start. Because in the AI era, the freelance writer who only writes is a terminal position. But the marketing expert who can think, guide, and conduct will continue to thrive. The choice is yours. Fight the tide... or ride the wave to higher ground.  

11 Smart Ways To Say “No” To Your Boss (Without risking your career) Saying "no" to your boss can feel intimidating, says my friend Mike Leber. I've been told no. I had to say no. But how do we navigate it? It’s crucial for protecting your well-being and long-term success. Here are 11 savvy ways to stay in control: 1. Highlight Overload ↳ Make clear that your plate is full. ↳ “I’m at capacity, but I can focus on what’s most urgent.” 2. Unrelated Tasks ↳ Politely decline tasks that don’t align with your role. ↳ “This isn’t in my role—let’s discuss how I can add value.” 3. Request Support ↳ Ask for extra resources to handle the task efficiently. ↳ “Could we bring in extra help to get this done right?” 4. Communicate Honestly ↳ Be transparent about your limits. ↳ “If I take this on now, it won’t get the attention it needs.” 5. Offer Solutions ↳ Propose alternative approaches to get the work done. ↳ "How about we try [solution] to keep things moving?” 6. Reprioritize Tasks ↳ Ask for guidance on which task to prioritize. ↳ “Which project should be my top priority right now?” 7. Frequent Overtime ↳ Push back when overtime becomes the norm. ↳ “I’m happy to help sometimes, but too much overtime is affecting my balance.” 8. After-Hours Work ↳ Set clear boundaries when it comes to your personal time. ↳ “I’ll tackle this first thing tomorrow—tonight I have plans.” 9. Ask for Prioritization ↳ Get your boss involved in reprioritizing tasks. ↳ “What can I shift around to focus on this new task?” 10. Be Upfront About Capacity ↳ State your current limits to set expectations. ↳ “I’m at my limit, but I’m available once I finish my current work.” 11. Protect Quality ↳ Explain how more work could impact the quality of your output. ↳ “I want to ensure quality—adding more now could compromise that.” Saying no isn't about resistance. It’s about protecting the quality of your work and staying true to your values. How do you say NO to your boss without burning bridges? Share your experiences in the comments below! ⬇️ ♻️ Found this helpful? Repost it to help others! ➕ And follow Helene Guillaume Pabis for more.

In 1950s America, my mother Rosalie was told she couldn’t become a physician because “medicine wasn’t a place for women.” She never forgot that. (She became a nuclear physicist instead.) Seventy years later, I’m married to a woman physician. I have three sisters who are physicians. And our daughter is already imagining a future in medicine. Their experiences shape every conversation I have about women in medicine. Here’s what the data show: • Patients treated by female physicians have lower mortality rates — one large U.S. study found a 30-day mortality rate of 8.15% for female patients treated by female doctors vs 8.38% for those treated by male doctors. • A meta-analysis of more than 13 million patients found that care by female physicians was associated with an odds ratio of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.93–0.97) for mortality — roughly a 5% relative reduction. Yet despite this superior performance, the daily barriers women in medicine face persist, often unrecognized and unaddressed. On this week’s Unfiltered episode, my wife Dr. Julie Fisher spoke candidly with host Dr. Robert Pearl, M.D. about the pressures women physicians still face — being expected to be more nurturing, more accommodating, more likable — and how those very expectations often don’t translate into authority, leadership, or equitable advancement. If we want a more equitable and effective medical culture, this is a conversation worth hearing. 🎧 Listen: https://lnkd.in/e59-bc6k #HealthcareOnLinkedIn #FixingHealthcare #WomenInMedicine #Leadership #EquityInHealthcare #JustOneHeart

A strategy consultant came to us with 22 years of experience and exactly zero inbound leads from LinkedIn. She had 1,400 connections. She posted occasionally. She described her profile as "fine." But nothing was converting. No messages from prospects. No conversations started. No calls booked. We rebuilt her system in 5 days. Day 1-2: Rewrote her headline and About section to speak to one specific buyer. CFOs in mid-market manufacturing companies navigating post-acquisition integration. Day 3: Built a content rhythm around 2 posts per week, each tied to a real operational problem her buyers face. Day 4-5: Installed the daily lead sequence — 20 minutes per day of targeted outreach and follow-up using our 3-touch framework. Within 6 weeks she had 11 new qualified conversations. By week 10, she closed her first engagement at $35k. A prospect who found her through a post and then received a follow-up message. No ads. No agency. No automation tools. Just a system that compounds. The gap between "LinkedIn does not work for consultants" and "LinkedIn fills my pipeline" is almost always infrastructure, not effort. Save this if you are building your LinkedIn system this quarter. #ExpertProject #LinkedInLeads #ConsultingGrowth #SalesSystem

In business and life, the best outcomes go to the best negotiators. Most people think negotiation is about winning. It's actually about understanding. What separates good deals from great ones? It's not aggression. It's not manipulation. It's not who talks loudest. It comes down to mastering the human side of the exchange. Here's the path that works: 1. Prepare Like You Mean It Research goes beyond Google. Understand their pressures, their goals, their challenges. Knowledge becomes helpful when used with care. 2. Open With Real Connection Forget the power plays. Start with curiosity and respect. The tone you set in the first 5 minutes shapes everything that follows. 3. Explore What's Underneath People fight for positions. But they negotiate for reasons. "I need a better price" might really mean "My boss needs to see I'm adding value." Find the why behind the what. 4. Trade Value, Create Value The best deals aren't zero-sum. Look for ways both sides can win. Sometimes what costs you little means everything to them. 5. Close With Total Clarity Handshakes aren't contracts. Document what you agreed to. Confirm next steps before you leave. Ambiguity kills more deals than disagreement. The biggest mistake I see leaders make? They negotiate like it's combat. But the best outcomes come from collaboration. When you're across the table, remember: 👂 Listen more than you speak ❓ Ask "Help me understand..." when stuck ⏸️ Take breaks when emotions rise 👟 Know your walk-away point before you sit down Your style matters too. Sometimes you need to compete. Sometimes you need to accommodate. The magic is knowing when to shift. Success isn’t given. It’s negotiated. But how you negotiate determines whether you build bridges or burn them. Choose wisely. 📌 Save this for your next negotiation. ♻️ Repost if this helps you (or someone on your team) negotiate. 👉 Follow Desiree Gruber for more tools on storytelling, leadership, and brand building.

Around 6 months ago, Reformed IT joined IT Nation Evolve. I attend quarterly peer group meetings where I'm basically in a room with around 10 of our "competitors", talking openly about how our businesses are doing. Everything is an open book, the people in the room have full detailed accounts information and we talk about personal subjects too, like how our home and family life is going. I've noticed a divide recently in the MSP business community. Some people, and dare I add, the most successful, are open to sharing and collaborating with others in the industry. However, there also seems to be a group of business owners that feel like they know everything there is to know and that other perspectives, experience and ideas are irrelevant. That was very much my mentality, 15 years ago. Back then, in my previous business, I was guarded about what I shared with others and I would often dismiss other ideas and perspectives. On reflection, that stifled my personal and our business growth. Right now, I embrace being around others who have achieved the levels of success I'm striving to achieve. I've seen on plenty of occasions where people say you shouldn't compare yourself to others. I say that's rubbish. There are often limiting beliefs and artificial ceilings we place on ourselves. For me, the best way to overcome those is actually to benchmark and compare yourself to others. Quite often something seems impossible until someone does it. Imagine what the fastest 100m time would be now if nobody ever raced? If anyone is reading this thinking that this type of community and peer group is something they want to get involved with, reach out to Dan Scott. I'll hopefully see you at a future meeting and I'd love to hear your ideas and insights. #msp #itnation #evolve #peergroups