Tips for Developing Consulting Skills in New Professionals

What I’d tell my younger self on Day 1 of consulting (after 25 years in the game) If I could go back, this is what I’d tell myself on day one. Not to work harder. But to play the game better. Here’s the playbook I wish I had: 1. Take hard projects early and often. Your first years aren’t about being comfortable. They’re about becoming sharp. Don’t waste your learning curve on client management, PMO, or “fluff” work. Don´t chase your passion. There will be plenty of time for that. Do the due diligences, the pricing wars, and the market entries with zero data. Run toward the fire. Get stressed. Fix chaos. And don’t just do one type of project; chase range. You want to build judgment across industries, functions, and geographies. The goal? Live your first 24 months with war stories, scars, and a reputation: “This one figures it out. Under pressure. Every time.” 2. Get close to staffing. Very close. Staffing isn’t admin; it’s power. They control where you go, who you work with, and what you learn. Most juniors ignore them. Big mistake. Keep them updated. Ask what’s coming. Make their life easy, and they’ll protect you when it matters most. I’ve seen careers fast-tracked because someone at staffing quietly said, “You should put her on this one.” 3. Be the one they call when things get messy. You don’t want to be “the expert in margin trees for Chilean telcos.” You want to be the one who figures it out, no matter what. Let others play the specialist game. You play the game of trust. The goal is simple: When a partner says, “We’ve got a tough case, short timeline, nervous client”… Your name should come up. 4. Build your tribe. The people you meet in consulting will shape your career; and your life. Build real relationships. Find the associate who challenges you.The manager who teaches you. The partner who has your back. Consulting is brutal if you’re alone. It’s unbeatable if you’ve got people in your corner. 5. Take care of your damn body. Too many consultants make €10K/month… and eat like interns. Zero sleep. Uber Eats. No exercise. It’s a joke. 8kg more in their first 18 months. You only get one body. Respect it. Lift. Run. Sleep. Eat like an adult. You’ll be sharper, faster, and calmer, and you’ll outlast everyone else. Bottom line: Consulting will shape how you think for life. But it will also test who you are. Play it right, and you’ll leave with skills no one can take from you. Play it wrong, and it’ll burn you out before you even get good.

My 5 consulting laws: 1. Focus on the process, not just the results. Successful consulting is about guiding clients through a journey, not just delivering an outcome. Emphasize the importance of each step and celebrate small victories along the way. This builds trust and keeps clients engaged. 2. Be a facilitator, not a dictator. Great consultants guide discussions and help clients discover solutions rather than imposing their own ideas. Facilitate conversations, encourage brainstorming, and let clients take ownership of the decisions. This leads to more sustainable and accepted outcomes. 3. Adaptability is key. Every client and project is unique. Being flexible and willing to adjust your approach based on the specific needs and circumstances of your client is crucial. Stay open-minded and ready to pivot when necessary to ensure the best possible results. 4. Build lasting relationships. Consulting is not just about providing expertise; it’s about building trust and forming long-term partnerships. Take the time to understand your client’s business, culture, and challenges deeply. A relationship-based approach leads to repeat business and valuable referrals. 5. Teach and empower. The ultimate goal of consulting should be to leave the client better equipped to handle future challenges on their own. Share knowledge, provide training, and develop tools that empower your clients. When they succeed without you, they’ll remember who helped them get there. What's a consulting law you live by?

IQ isn't a problem for Management Consultants. But consulting asks you to be relentlessly logical and emotionally fluent. And when you're tired, switching between IQ and EQ can be hard. Tight deadlines. Shifting priorities. High-stakes delivery. It's easier to tell your teams and clients "just get on with it." But you need calm, empathy, and influence to drive the best outcomes. Here are 7 EQ Superpowers Every Consultant Needs: 1. Emotional Regulation 💡Lose your centre, lose the room. ✅ Use a pause as power. ✅ Know your triggers before they hijack you. 2. Empathy 💡What your client says isn’t always what they mean. ✅ Tune into tone, not just words. ✅ Listen for intent without planning a reply. 3. Self-Awareness 💡Manage your tone, energy, and impact. ✅ Debrief meetings: what did you notice in yourself? ✅ Ask for feedback and use it. 4. Burnout Recognition (Team) 💡High performers rarely ask for help. ✅ Look for shifts in tone, energy, or output. ✅ Ask: “How are you really?” 5. Influence Without Authority 💡EQ is how you move things without pushing. ✅ Speak in their style. ✅ Frame ideas around their priorities. 6. Conflict Navigation 💡How you manage friction is important. ✅ Get curious, not defensive. ✅ Ask: “What would a win look like for you?” 7. Cultural Awareness 💡Today’s work crosses borders. ✅ Learn the norms (spoken and unspoken). ✅ Be curious and flexible. What works in one room flops in another. IQ solves the problem. EQ gets it implemented without burning bridges (or people). The best consultants aren’t just smart. They’re emotionally fluent, empathically sharp, and alert to what’s unsaid. That’s what makes you not just intelligent but irreplaceable. What EQ skill is most underrated in consulting? ♻️ Repost to help your network. ➕ Follow Deena Priest for more like this.

🚀 Advisory isn’t just a job, it’s a mindset. In advisory roles, your success depends less on what you know today and more on how you think, adapt, and deliver value. From my journey and what I’ve observed, here are some mindsets that make all the difference: 1️⃣ Problem-solving mindset: Sometimes the work may feel like a complete mess because of its very nature or simply due to tight deadlines. You need to stay calm and work through it step by step. 2️⃣ Thinking out of the box: Creativity in approach is what sets you apart from others in the team. Sometimes one fresh idea can save hours of effort. 3️⃣ Taking initiative: Volunteering for additional tasks (without overburdening yourself) gives you visibility and helps you grow faster. 4️⃣ Drafting & communication skills: Can’t emphasize this enough. The way you write mails, reports, or summaries reflects your clarity of thought. Imagine an Executive Director asking you for insights on the European transactions market, you can’t just dump information; you need to structure it in a crisp, systematic manner. 5️⃣ Asking questions: Not asking doesn’t make you look smart, it makes you look stuck. The right questions show you are engaged and thinking. 6️⃣ Industry & market awareness: You are expected to stay updated on what’s happening in the industry, both domestically and globally. A consultant who understands the bigger picture can connect the dots faster and provide more meaningful advice. 💡 In consulting/advisory, it’s not about knowing all the answers, it’s about having the mindset to find them efficiently and deliver value. CA Sakshi Borikar LinkedIn Guide to Creating

𝗜𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴? 🌟 Here are 10 Insights to Prepare for a Consulting Career (Beyond Just Cracking the Interview) 💼 Think cracking the interview is the endgame? It's just the beginning. Sure, acing the interview is vital, but true success in consulting demands much more. 1. **Long-term Sustainability** → Interviews are a snapshot. → Your career is the full movie. 🎬 Focus on sustaining momentum after landing the job. 2. **Master the Art of Problem Solving** → Consulting is about solving complex problems, not just discussing them in an interview. 3. **Develop Emotional Intelligence** → Understand and manage your emotions and those of others. → Crucial for client interactions and team dynamics. 4. **Build a Growth Mindset** → Be open to feedback. → Learn continuously. This mindset sets you apart in the ever-evolving consulting landscape. 5. **Strengthen Networking Skills** → Networking is a lifeline in consulting. → It goes beyond LinkedIn connections. 🤝 Cultivate genuine relationships. 6. **Enhance Communication Skills** → It’s not just about what you say, but how you say it. → Clear, concise, and compelling communication is key. 7. **Understand Business Fundamentals** → Having a solid grasp of business basics will help you hit the ground running. 🚀 8. **Foster Cultural Awareness** → Consulting is global. → Being culturally aware can make or break client relationships. 🌍 9. **Time Management is Non-Negotiable** → Balancing multiple tasks and deadlines is a daily reality. 10. **Embrace Uncertainty** → Consulting involves ambiguity. → Develop the ability to navigate the unknown with confidence. Remember, a consulting career is a marathon, not a sprint. Prepare holistically, and you'll not only crack the interview but also thrive in your consulting career. Which out of these 10 you find most challenging? #beingconsultant #managementconsulting #consultingcareers #Mckinsey #BCG #Bain

I meet with about 80-100 people per year who are recently unemployed, looking for an internship, or are just curious about project management or consulting. I take every intro and request that I receive as long as it's personalized and genuine. The folks that get the most out of the calls come in with a sense of curiosity -- hunger for knowledge and advice. (If that's you, DM me. I'm happy to chat.) When asked for advice about how to approach a transition into consulting or project management, I often recommend side gigging a project (paid or pro bono) and becoming obsessed about learning as much as you can on that first project or two. Become an expert in the industry. Become an expert in the tech they're using (especially the PM tool). Become an expert at the people you're leading. Learn as much as you can. Learning how to learn quickly is key to being a great project manager. You will gain the trust of your teammates more quickly, and you'll be able to identify risks and ask good questions sooner in the process. I've been interviewing some other smart folks in the space as part of a project that is dropping on Thursday, and here are some of the things they've said: Jessica Caresse White told early PMs to always be curious and ask good questions. She also said don't let people run you over. When you're brave enough to challenge leaders, you will continue to progress in your career. Brutus Segun, PMP recommends getting closer to the problems you're trying to solve vs. the process and work products you're developing. Be focused on delivering customer value. Dr. Sheila Volante, PhD urges young PMs and consultants to look at the project and work as part of the overall picture. "Everything is not a fire" and you don't need to take everything so seriously. Do a great job, but realize the work will be there tomorrow. AJ Castellucci makes the suggestion to recent graduates to try to find a small company where you can get real hands-on experience vs. chasing the big logos. He was fortunate enough to have this in his first job, and it has set him up for success in the future. Check out his clip here.

10 years ago, I had no idea how to start fractional consulting. If I were to start today, here's what I'd do: 1/ Don't overthink the admin 🖱️ Register for an LLC, get a basic bookkeeping invoicing tool, solid contract, and you're good. A quarter in, snag a free CRM. You don't need a website or newsletter at this stage. ⏩ Goal: Get to your first engagement as soon as possible 2/ Define your Highest & Best Use 🏋♀️ Consider all the things folks call you about, narrow down to the 3 business outcomes you are best at, put some metrics behind it and pivot your pitch and LinkedIn to focus here. ⏩ Goal: Do your best, don't do the rest 3/ Design your ideal schedule ⚖️ Consulting means you have many more options over how, when, and where you work. Think through an ideal week and ideal month, reverse out your work blocks you want. Full-time isn't the default. ⏩ Goal: Mindset shift from 9-to-5 to organizing work around your life 4/ Finalize your pricing 💰 Use a bill rate calculator to determine your hourly or retainer rate. Don't forget to layer the cost of PTO, benefits, and taxes IN your rate. Test if you prefer hourly engagements vs fractional residency vs project-based to see what works in this season for you. ⏩ Goal: Get that bread, on your terms 5/ Call the folks you want to be your clients 👯♀️ Almost always, your first clients are from your network. The barrier to start is just way lower. Who's values align with yours? Consider: - Previous employers who almost hired you - Former managers and leaders you would love to see win - Peers you worked alongside who you can talk in short-hand - Where there's a friendly leader with the exact business challenge you know how to solve ⏩ Goal: Run familiar water through new pipes Now, friends, there's one thing that so many folks miss... 6/ Align your skills to the business problem 🎯 I see so many consultant pitch their skills ("Hire me, I'm rad!") and it's up to the reader/client to fill in the blanks around how you'd fit in their world. Take the extra step to suggest where you can help the client achieve their goals. Do some research here. If you don't know, you can model their role + industry in ChatGPT and ask questions for likely scenarios. ⏩ Goal: Your expertise is a gift, make sure it's easy to see Use something like this pitch: "Hey __(friendly potential client)___, after __(X)__ years in corporate, I'm pivoting to fractional consulting and you are first on my mind. I remember ___(problem they need fixed)____ was something keeping you up at night. With ___(trend)___ ahead, I wanted to raise my hand to help. Recently, I achieved ___(exact problem you just solved with proof points)____. I think that experience could mitigate some risk for you next quarter. Do you have interest/budget for us to chat about a possible engagement to move the ball forward for you?" So, I'm curious - for those of you in it, what did I miss? What are the must-have tech tools for #Independent work right now?

After spending 8 years in consulting and growing from Associate Consultant to Senior Manager, I’ve seen many ups and downs. One thing that stayed constant was learning on the job. I’m starting a short series to share 32 simple but powerful lessons that helped me succeed in consulting. These are grouped by career stage: 1. Associate Consultant working with Manager 2. Consultant/Senior Consultant working with Senior Manager or Principal 3. Manager working with Partner 4. Senior Manager working with Senior Partner Stage 1: Associate Consultant working with Manager Lesson 1: Always be client-ready No matter how early you are in your career, your work should look good enough to be sent to the client. Even if it’s just a draft, check your logic, make sure the numbers are right, and the story makes sense. Why it matters: This simple habit builds trust with your manager. It shows that you take ownership, that you care about quality, and that you can be trusted with bigger tasks. In my case, this helped me get more responsibility and visibility early in my career. The long hours in the beginning will pay off—because your growth starts with how you show up every single day. More lessons coming soon! #Consulting #CareerTips #GrowthMindset #ConsultingLessons #Leadership #ChicagoBooth #Deloitte #Gartner #EY #McKinsey #Bain #BCG #IIM #ManagementConsulting