A question was recently asked: “One of my past clients has retired from his organization and is still consulting for them. I want to get back in this organization. Previously, the ex-employee brought me into the organization and I worked with the CEO who is no longer there. We are going to talk this week. Have you had any experience partnering with an ex-employee to consult with their old organization?”

Here is my answer:

Since he is inside already and especially since you have worked with him and them in the past why won’t you:

1. Ask him what key issues they are facing.
2. What role is he providing.
3. Who, inside this organization, may he introduce you to, to start building relationships.
4. Are there areas that the two of you may collaborate on.
5. What other organizations could he make introduce you to.
6. Ask him for a testimonial of the work you’ve done for him in the past.

I just returned from Rhode Island, where I attended “The Strategist” workshop, which was conducted by Alan Weiss, Ph.D. It was simply outstanding.

Here are some of my takeaways:

1. Strategy is the what, tactics is the how
2. Planning kills strategy. Strategy is top down, planning is bottom up.
3. Strategy starts with the end desire. Paint a picture of the future.
4. Being good at what you do trumps being at the right place.
5. The key to strategy is to make enough good decisions, not one perfect decision.
6. Strategy is organized serendipity
7. Strategy is a continual process, not an annual event.
8. Ambiguity is the norm.
9. Process visual charts of the Strategy Quadrant, The Strategic Profile and Risk /Reward Ratio which I will publish shortly.

How do you recognize a good strategy?

1. Anyone in the company is able to talk about it.
2. Executives in the company held directly responsible for implementation
3. Executives constantly looking and reviewing its effectiveness.

Lastly, some points of interest:

• If IBM were still a punch card company they would have been out of business many years ago. They are in the information exchange business.
• Steve Jobs: “We wait for the next big thing and we then jump at it”

I believe the following are the top five ways to become a better and clearer communicator:

1. Deliver direct and clear points and eliminate vagueness.
2. Support with examples.
3. Frame the issues with clear definition of what each one is and what it is not.
4. Communicate on a level the other can understand.
5. Test your assumptions as feedback is given and received.

May 1, 2007

For Immediate Release

Five Inducted As Charter Members To Million Dollar Consultant™ Hall of Fame

Five outstanding consultants from diverse disciplines have been inducted into the Million Dollar Consultant™ Hall of Fame. Criteria for membership in this elite group are:

• Serving as an exemplar to others in the profession.
• Manifesting the highest levels of integrity, ethics, and accountability.
• Achieving significant annual revenue and profit improvement.
• Contributing intellectual capital to the consulting profession.
• Engaging in continuing, challenging, personal and professional development.
• Taking prudent risk and demonstrating resilience.

The inductees and an excerpt of their citations are:

Chad Barr, CB Software, Shaker Heights, OH (866/791-2277)
http://www.cbsoftware.com
“For leadership in web design and Internet marketing innovation, and for outstanding pro bono help in assisting others in the profession, and for helping transform technical consulting to a value basis.”

Dan Coughlin, The Coughlin Company, Fenton, MO (636/825-6611)
http://www.thecoughlincompany.com
“An example of start-up success, leaving a high school teaching position and rapidly becoming a pre-eminent national personal coach, working with organizations such as Marriott and MacDonald’s, including the publication of two books in three years on his specialty.”

Alan Fortier, Fortier & Associates, Fort Lee, NJ (201/585-7600)
http://www.fortierassociates.com
“An expert in all aspects of manufacturing productivity, organization, management structure, merger and acquisition, combining more value for manufacturing clients than any single other resource, and for helping senior management and boards implement competitive strategies.”

Nancy MacKay, Ph.D., Inspire Action, Inc., North Vancouver, Canada (604/904-9870) http://www.inspireaction.ca
“For excellence in strategic and organizational consulting, building executive teams, and assisting diverse and global organizations to more rapidly move toward their strategic objectives.”

Ed Poll, J.D., LawBiz® Management Co., Venice, CA (310/827-5415)
http://www.lawbiz.com
“The pre-eminent individual resource for law firm valuation, growth, and productivity, with singular contribution of intellectual capital to the legal community.”

The awards were announced at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Naples, FL at the Million Dollar Consulting™ Graduate School by Alan Weiss, Ph.D., who conducts a global mentoring program for consultants. Dr. Weiss himself holds multiple awards in the consulting and speaking professions.

At the presentation he noted, “These are the best of the best and absolutely fitting for the first class of inductees. I’m proud to have been associated with all of these people.” The installation included the notation of “…the distinction of being regarded by peers as one of the world leaders in consulting, as evidenced by empirical accomplishments in client results, professional contributions, and intellectual property.”

Honorees are chosen from the global participants in the Private Roster Mentor Program.

More details can be found on the Summit Consulting Group, Inc. web site.

Press Release for MDCC Grad School

Chad Barr is one of only 14 consultants in the world to have completed the inaugural Million Dollar Consulting™ Graduate School held in Naples, Florida in April 2007. Elite consultants representing the U.S., Canada, and Australia attended the program, all of them prior graduates of the Million Dollar Consulting™ College.

“These people represent the finest talent in the profession,” noted Alan Weiss, Ph.D. who conducts the Colleges three time a year. “They are the best of the best in terms of methodology, integrity, client satisfaction, and contributions to the profession. And they are highly innovative, as attested by their enrolling in the first graduate school of its kind.”

The Million Dollar Consulting College and Graduate School entail intense on-site work; challenges in case studies, role plays, and group exercises; interaction with client executives, financial experts, legal experts, and professional image consultants; focus on technology; and innovative approaches to client service and value-based results. The school was founded in 2005 by Alan Weiss, whom the New York Post describes as “one of the most highly respected independent consultants in the country,” and all students are personally mentored by him for over  a year. There is no equivalent development in the entire consulting

I came across a great article written by Lois Kelly, a radiant and successful colleague of mine, where she powerfully articulated the following 13 most important traits for a consultant:

1. Expertise that provides real business value
2. Ability to cut to the core of an issue or situation and diagnose causes of the problem
3. Creative thinking to develop pragmatic ways to solve the problem
4. Outstanding oral and written communications skills
5. Responsiveness
6. Perspective
7. Influence
8. Confidence & self-esteem
9. Intellectual curiosity
10. Thick skin (clients pay you to be frank, but they’ll often push back and challenge, as they should. You can’t take it too personally.)
11. Fearlessness
12. Flexibility to create “work arounds” to deliver value within every client’s realities
13. Integrity. A consultant’s only asset is her/his reputation.