Once you get to be my level in management consulting, you have to learn how to be the bad guy. My personality is far from being the bad guy, but I quickly need to learn how to become an as*hole.
So how do you develop this personality of as*holedness. It's actually quite easy because there are numerous examples to model yourself after. In one of my previous blogs, I talked about how there were a lack of role models. The exception to that is if you are looking for leaders that don't give a sh*t what they say and will steamroll anyone in the process - there are plenty of them to model yourself after.
My opinion is that before you can do that, you have to gain the trust of your client. The flip side of that is sometimes you start a project already in progress and it's so messed up, you have to take the risk and make that jump before you even know the client.
Taking that risk is calculated because you don't want to get kicked off a project. But my hope is that clients believe that it's because we are putting their best interest at heart and not just trying to sell more work. The one thing that I've learned is that you cannot control other people's decisions. Clients are representative of this statement. As an experienced consultant, I honestly believe you have to take the calculated risk of being an a*hole 100% of the time if it means delivering the right message. Life is too short to go along with something you may not believe in.
So my takeaway is this. Sometimes you are going to have to be an ass to acccomplish your end objective. Don't get caught up in your own perception of how a client will react to an objection to how they are doing things. If they are true business professionals, they will comprehend what your intent is and at the very least, all they will say is no and thank you for your opinion.
So how do you develop this personality of as*holedness. It's actually quite easy because there are numerous examples to model yourself after. In one of my previous blogs, I talked about how there were a lack of role models. The exception to that is if you are looking for leaders that don't give a sh*t what they say and will steamroll anyone in the process - there are plenty of them to model yourself after.
My opinion is that before you can do that, you have to gain the trust of your client. The flip side of that is sometimes you start a project already in progress and it's so messed up, you have to take the risk and make that jump before you even know the client.
Taking that risk is calculated because you don't want to get kicked off a project. But my hope is that clients believe that it's because we are putting their best interest at heart and not just trying to sell more work. The one thing that I've learned is that you cannot control other people's decisions. Clients are representative of this statement. As an experienced consultant, I honestly believe you have to take the calculated risk of being an a*hole 100% of the time if it means delivering the right message. Life is too short to go along with something you may not believe in.
So my takeaway is this. Sometimes you are going to have to be an ass to acccomplish your end objective. Don't get caught up in your own perception of how a client will react to an objection to how they are doing things. If they are true business professionals, they will comprehend what your intent is and at the very least, all they will say is no and thank you for your opinion.
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