Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

The reason to get into the management consulting business is that change is always constant. Most of us have projects with a discrete beginning and end. We get to work in a variety of industries. We get to be on teams with a diverse group of people. We never have the same boss twice -- that is unless you find someone that has latched on to you and you now you are a part of that particular sleeper cell. All of these things are the reason that I got into management consulting. The biggest asset that management consulting firms have is the people and intellectual capital. So it's in a firm's best interest to retain as many people as possible and professionally grow those people into future leaders. Turnover is inevitable - but at the end of the day, you have a consistency in the culture that becomes pretty apparent over time. The culture is what clients, customers, and competitors recognize. Now what happens when an event such as an acquisition of another consultancy occurs and...

"To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven." - Ralph Waldo Emerson As I look back on my posts, I realize that if anyone actually reads them, it probably appears that I am about as indecisive and whiny as the people that I hate to be around. I can see people thinking that the reason that I haven't made it anywhere is because I am hating (for lack of a better word) on the people that have actually made it or are making it successfully in this business. I am not sure if that is necessarily true though. I associate the word "hate" in the slang sense as being jealous of a person because of what they have or what they do and then proceeding to talk disparagingly of that person in order to feel better about myself. In my head, I honestly believe that I'm making candid observations. But maybe - subconciously - I really am hating. As a result, I need a serious attitude adjustment. After all, you should never bite the hand that feeds you. I'...

“ The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not  arrogant ; have humor, but without folly. ” - Jim Rohn, Leadership Guru I am not the smartest guy in the room. I don't claim to be. That sometimes hurts me when it comes to perception and overall value to a conversation in a meeting of 20 or more people. I find that in big meetings like that, people jockey for position by being the most outspoken whether they are saying something meaningful or not. For those of you that know me, you know that I read a lot of business management books. My wife actually rolls her eyes when a box from Amazon comes in or I make a run to Borders and buy $100 worth of books. She even bought me a Kindle, so now I have another avenue to get business management content. Every leadership or business management book that I reads says that a great leader is authentic. In my ...

Bring it! - Tony Horton P90X Lately I've spent my fair share of time working into the early hours of the next morning. The senior consultant that works with me probably thinks I'm slow. But the reality is that after meetings all day, the only time I can get stuff done is at night. Because of this ritual of late night working, I get wrapped up in all of these infomercials on a nightly basis. If you watch them enough, eventually you'll get convinced to buy something -- I swear it. I think I've had dreams about P90X and the joy it will bring when I am ripped after 90 days. Too bad I eat like the world is going to end tomorrow. Anyway, I've always had this problem of starting something that could transform my life and never finishing. Tony Robbins, P90X, Insanity, Getting Things Done-- you name it, I half-ass do it. Not something worth advertising, but I'm going to blame the inconsistency of my job and how I can let it consume me. I mean seriously-- to establis...

"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." -Oscar Wilde After 10 years in the management consulting business, you would think that I would have deep content knowledge and expertise. As I look through my resume of experiences that describe my roles and results on engagement after engagement, I realize that my consulting experience is a smorgasbord of experiences.  I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. The reason that I got to thinking about this is that I was listening in to a webinar conducted by three extremely knowledgeable supply chain experts. As I listened to them, they used their past experiences and expertise from 20+ years apiece in the supply chain field to have a very informative discussion that demonstrated that they really knew what they were talking about. As I listened, I thought to myself, "Would all of my experiences add up to a point where I could have that kind of conversation with people that really ...

People expect good service but few are willing to give it. - Robert Gately When I actually had the time take a vacation, I remember going to the Ritz Carlton Reynolds Plantation . As soon as I hit the property and pulled up, I would be greeted in a cordial manner, the bell men would ask to take my bags, and they would give me directions to where I needed to go to check in. When I walked up to reception to check in, the hotel staff person checking me in would be extremely gracious. And if / when I asked a question requesting something, they would respond, "Certainly." At the end of it all, I felt obliged to tip everyone. Good customer service goes a long way. Lately, and this is probably me, I've noticed the customer service sucks almost everywhere else. I'm working in Baltimore, MD now and I swear that everyone in every industry in that city has been trained to do the bare minimum when it comes to serving others. ...

Like I always say, there's no 'I' in "team". There is a 'me', though, if you jumble it up. - David Shore   I believe that this profession will consume you if you let it. You can get so caught up in solving other people's problems, your travel schedule, your points, your miles, and the endless amount of time staying relevant and self-promoting that pretty soon the only friend you have is yourself. The sad part is that the things that will bring you down to reality include a serious illness, a family member or close friend getting sick or close to dying, or something else personal hits you extremely hard.   To that point, if I were king for a day (or week), I would take a small group of consultants and apply principles that I've read from the following books: Drive , by Dan Pink which explains Motivation 3.0. I'm a simple person. I would throw metrics out the window and work off the belief that consultants will sell and deliver work to ...