What is your stance?

Two consultants…three opinions

I have had the great privilege of attending many of Alan Weiss’ training events. There are consultants of all shapes and sizes and persuasions throughout Alan’s community. When I attended the Million Dollar Consulting College, I enjoyed meeting and learning with a variety of consultants possessing expertise quite different from my own.

For example, I met and talked at length with Kathryn, a consultant who is an expert project manager and another, Dan, who is an insurance agent helping other insurance agents and insurance firms become better at their jobs. I also spent time with Alex, a consultant who translates the benefits of technology for the public in order to improve the sales and market share for large companies like Apple.

Our distinctive consulting biases became apparent when Alan put us into small groups to discuss solutions to a case study. We drew on the traits that make us each individually effective to determine the best course a hypothetical leader should take in a corporate situation. And, not surprisingly, we all came up with different solutions.

Why? Is it because some of us were men and some were women? Or…was it because of our unique personality types? Or…was it because we hold differing values?

The answer is “yes” to all of these questions. We came up with differing solutions for a combination of all the reasons listed above and then some. That is because, although we are all consultants and our job is to improve the condition of our clients, we each hold a different stance. Simply put, your stance is your position or point of view on how to best use your expertise to better your clients’ condition.

There are two elements of a stance:

1. The values and beliefs about what makes an organization or individual effective
2. The mode in which we engage an organization or individual in order to improve that effectiveness

Defining values and beliefs

The following questions can be used as thought-starters to help you answer this fundamental question: What needs to be in place in order for an organization or an individual to be working at maximum effectiveness?

• Human nature:
  • Do I believe people are essentially good or bad?
  • Do people want to work or do they have no ambition on their own?
  • Do people have a little or a great deal of capacity for solving problems?
  • Are people motivated by comfort or purpose?

• Work:
  • Do people find work inherently distasteful or natural?
  • Is there a higher purpose for work (aside from making money)?

• Power:
  • What is the definition of power? Is power about who has the right job?
  • Is power finite or unlimited? Should it be held or shared?

• Role of Leadership:
  • Should it provide control and expect compliance or promote accountability and choice?

• Role of Employees
  • Should they be required to comply or act on their own authority?

• Specific to my area of expertise
  • Based on my area of expertise, what defines organizational and/or individual health?

Defining your mode of engagement

Review the visual below.

To define your model of engagement, you have two questions to answer:

1. Is the way that I improve a client’s condition based on my expertise in process or content?
2. What role(s) do I play the most often with a client to improve his or her condition?

The Difference between Process and Content

My expertise is in the area of process. Basically, I am an expert in Organization Development, which means that I know how an organization functions and how to deal with the white spaces of an organization. My goal is always to work myself out of a job, because I am transferring what I know about organizations to my client, so his or her personal capacity is improved. I can and have worked in organizations that are incredibly diverse. I have consulted to manufacturing and supply chain companies, zoological institutions, restaurants, resorts, theme parks, cities, churches, publishing companies, and a wide range of other clients.

I don’t need to know much about any industry that I consult to, because I am an expert in process and I bring a complementary expertise to the table, which is how I add value. On the other hand, Dan, whom I have already mentioned, is an expert in the insurance industry. He consults on content, and his depth of knowledge adds value to his clients, because he is able to speak to their insurance-related issues.

Consulting Roles

Once you know whether you consult primarily around process or content, you can better understand the different roles you might play when engaging an organization. You do not need to choose a specific role, because you may want to use several. Or you may determine that one of the roles is your default or preferred role. Understanding these roles will help you in the following ways:

1. Determining your products and services. For example, I offer coaching, mentoring and process leadership-related services. Dan, the insurance consultant, offers services more on the right side of the above continuum.
2. Determining what options to offer your clients. When I engage a client, I typically will offer options that include: process consulting, backstage coaching and full-on process leadership. Another consultant I mentioned offers options that include his project management expertise, as well as access to his extensive knowledge of technology.

Articulating your Stance – the Value Proposition

Your stance can be best summarized in your value proposition, which is the value or outcome your client will receive by virtue of working with you. (In other words, the ways in which you will improve your client’s condition.)

The following questions can be used as thought- starters to help you articulate your stance in a value proposition.

• What is my EXPERTISE?
• How does my expertise BUILD CAPACITY (both leadership and organizational)?
• How does my expertise IMPROVE A CLIENT’S CONDITION?
• What am I willing to PROMISE about the end results if my expertise is used?

For examples of how your consulting stance can be articulated in effective value propositions, go to: http://themilliondollarwebsites.com/gallery.php. You will find a well-articulated value proposition on each website.

The Bottom line

A brand is a promise that is made and consistently delivered to a customer. The strength of a brand is based on the consistency of that promised delivery. For example, if Southwest Airlines differentiates itself by developing a brand on “shuffle, fun, fun,” and the air hosts/hostesses behave in a surly manner, the company has violated my expectations and diminished its brand value. Consistency is extremely important. But a company that violates consistency does not have as big a problem as a company that can’t articulate who it is and what it has to offer, and so is unable to promise anything. A company without a promise is a company that is simply not competing.

An example of such a company is Kmart. One reason Kmart can’t keep up with Target and Wal-mart is that consumers have no earthly idea of what value they will receive by shopping there, Target, on the other hand, makes it very clear to me that I can get excellent value there without sacrificing style. And I know that I can get good prices coupled with exceptional down-to-earth service at Wal-Mart. But what do I get at Kmart? Hmmm… I don’t know, and I don’t think you do, either.

A consultant without a defined offer and well-articulated expertise will get lost in the crowded marketplace of consultants. There are thousands upon thousands of consultants looking for work and competing with you. Understanding your stance and articulating it in your value proposition will go a long way toward building your consultancy into a powerful brand.

Do you want to learn about stance, value propositions, branding or other ways to improve your effectiveness as a consultant? Check out the other resources available online at www.acceleraconsultinggroup.com or give us a call at 407.376.8522 for a free consultation. We accelerate results by igniting leadership and organizational potential!