Consulting 101

Perhaps the most important consideration when seeking a consulting contract concerns the point at which you enter the organization.

If the CEO supports and wants your consulting effort, there will be far fewer obstacles from the organization placed in your path. If, however, a manager or director is the mover behind your hire, the politics of the organization could become a real impediment to your success. Your management advocate automatically competes with his/her peers for promotion to the next management level. If your contract effort were to fail, your advocate might suffer loss of face, at best, and, at worst, promotion stagnation or termination.

Criticism of your advocate may only appear as a “word to the wise.” For example, a management peer might say something negative to your boss or your boss’s boss. “I don’t think ‘enter your advocate’s name here’ really knows what he is doing. That consultant he hired is not making any friends here with what he is doing for us.” Small personal digs will not mean anything if the project succeeds, but the possibility of project failure could increase if organizational resistance occurs. Not everyone wants you to succeed.

So, the consultant rids himself of many possible problems if the CEO is his advocate, or the support of a senior vice president might be acceptable. Regardless of your organization entry point, remember that a consultant can perform competently, even brilliantly – and still fail! Sometimes just meeting client expectations is all it takes to demonstrate success.

Dr Lou Gamble