I’ve talked to a number of leaders recently who are retiring and thinking about becoming a consultant.  Having coached and mentored others who have made the same transition, I have one major piece of advice: Remember that you are no longer in charge!

New consultants who have been former leaders often run up against their own “Make it so!” approach.  That might work when you are hired to lead an organization, but not so much when you are hired to consult with it. That’s because a consultant’s role is to assist the leader’s efforts, not take over for them. A good consultant recognizes this boundary and honors it.

I saw this first hand a while ago while mentoring a former police chief into becoming a law enforcement consultant.  As a chief, he was listened to, respected, and obeyed. As a consultant, he was frustrated with clients’ resistance to his ideas and the slow speed of change. Learning to be a consultant meant realizing that he was no longer “the law” – and accepting that clients were making the best decisions possible for situations in which they lived every day.

A consultant is in danger of overstepping their bounds when they:

• Do not listen well to the client’s unique situation, making assumptions instead
• Try to impose their will on a client (for solutions, decisions, or action items)
• Dismiss objections as “resistance to change” versus digging in to understand and work with them
• Act hurt, defensive, or angry if the client chooses not to take a recommended course of action

As a good consultant, you will use understanding, knowledge/information and encouragement to influence clients. You will accept their leadership and not take it personally if a client decides against what you suggest. That said, if in the end you don’t think you can support the client’s direction, you don’t need to take the next contract with them. It is, after all, their organization, not yours!

Fizz! How to Succeed as an Independent Consultant author Cathy Perme also wrote Confucius in My Cubicle: Practical Wisdom for the Leader in All of Us, released by Wisdom Editions in 2017.

Starting your own consulting business is a huge leap of faith – in yourself! Assuming that this is how you plan to make your living (not just a retirement pursuit) here are 3 practical tips to create a safety net for yourself. So before you quit your “day job” make sure you do the following:

Make sure you have 18 months of living expenses planned out.

• New consultants usually give themselves a year to make it before they decide to bail out, and that is way too soon! You need to give it at least 18 months in order for marketing to kick in and generate the kinds of referrals that become the staple of any consulting business.
• My own business turned the corner in my 15th month. I was thrilled when it happened and relieved that I was able to support yourself during that start-up phase.

Arrange for a signature line of credit.

• I’d suggest at least $50,000 US, more if you can get it.   That’s because there may be unanticipated expenses for you or your business, and you want to be able to absorb them.
• However, you need to get this line of credit BEFORE you start your business, while you are still employed and getting a salary! That’s because once you quit, you may not be credit worthy for a while — finance companies will want to see two years of business tax returns.
• In my own business I realized this too late. When I needed to invest in a new computer system and marketing collateral, I had difficulty getting a loan and often had to rely on credit cards with a much higher interest rate.

Get disability insurance before you quit.

• The fact is, you are more likely to become disabled than die, so life insurance although nice will not help you if you get into a situation in which you cannot work for an extended period of time.
• I learned the hard way that applying for this AFTER you start your business means lower benefits for a higher rate. Why? Insurance companies need to prove you are working before agreeing to sign you.   They like to look at a pay stub or tax returns and be able to see you come and go.
• If you are in the start-up phase, you may not be able to provide the financial evidence needed for the amount you want to insure, and if you work out of a home office, you won’t be “coming and going” on a regular 9-5 basis. As one insurance agent said to me, “How do I know you are not just watching daytime TV?”

So while you are planning your own consulting business, put in the effort to soften any hard falls. It will still be a scary leap, but you will sleep better knowing that you have a safety net!

Fizz! How to Succeed as an Independent Consultant author Cathy Perme also wrote Confucius in My Cubicle: Practical Wisdom for the Leader in All of Us, released by Wisdom Editions in 2017.

Rejection is a lot harder to handle as a consultant. After all, you are marketing yourself and not just a “thing-a-ma-jig” with no emotional attachment. But you are not going to win every contract and that is reality. So how do you handle it?

First of all, don’t take it personally. This is not an indictment of your self-worth. There may be lots of reasons why you did not get the business, such as:

• Your proposal did not meet the perceived need
• It is not what the client had in mind
• It is more than they wanted to pay
• They wanted certain people assigned (or not)
• They lack confidence in your ability to deliver
• It may not be politically expedient
• They may have already decided to buy from someone else but not told you.

It is always fair? No, but that is life, and that is business.   So how do you deal with it productively?

1. Check your own sales process.
   • Did you really listen to what the client said the issue was and what they wanted to see happen? Or did you try to impose your own objectives for the work?
   • Did you check to see what their experience with consultants was in the past? And what process those folks used?
   • Were you clear on what they wanted from you as a consultant?
   • Did you ferret out their objections and handle them well?
2. Ask for feedback to improve your product or service.
   • It is important to ask, although they may not want to tell you for fear of lawsuits.
   • Sometimes I have phrased this by asking, “What did you like about the other consultant’s proposal that was not in mine?”
3. Don’t close the door on the relationship.
   • Tell them you are sorry it did not work out this time.
   • Ask if you can check back in X amount of time to see how they are doing, and if there is anything else with which you can assist them. Most of the time, people will say yes.

I have gotten business after an initial rejection and it was even sweeter because of it.  So the next time someone says no – and that is their final answer – respect that it was not a good fit, be graceful, learn well, and try again later!

Fizz! How to Succeed as an Independent Consultant author Cathy Perme also wrote Confucius in My Cubicle: Practical Wisdom for the Leader in All of Us, released by Wisdom Editions in 2017.

Like many consultants, occasionally I am asked to be a member of someone else’s consulting team. Usually this is a pretty good deal, but there are catches. I don’t have to do the marketing or administration of the contract, and when you are in business for yourself that is a gift. The bad news is that sometimes it is not a good fit.

What I have learned is to be clear about my contractor’s expectations, not only in terms of a work product, but also in terms of their culture and brand. And sometimes I just need to say no.  Here are some examples:

Personality Mismatch: One consulting firm’s brand was to deliver deep change with humor and a light touch, and it was very successful at it. When they asked if I would be part of their consulting team on a large contract, I realized that I could never pull off the “light touch” part. I do very well with difficult issues that need focus and depth, but even a 9-month “comedy improv” class years ago did not help to lighten me up.  I told them my reservations and offered to provide background consulting work. Unfortunately, that is not what they needed, but we parted on good terms and now refer business to each other.

Mutually Conflicting Expectations: One national consulting firm’s brand was to guarantee their work and their price, and they wanted that from me as well. However, they also wanted me to be very flexible to changes in process and variables. At best, this is a prescription for “scope creep” (and the opportunity to work for $5 per hour). At worst it can create serious team conflict and the inability to deliver a product that satisfies the customer. This was a consulting firm that I respected, but I would not work for them under these terms. We agreed to work “side by side” – i.e. they would refer projects to me and I to them, and we would collaborate when working on projects with the same client, but each under our own contracts.

The Best Gig Ever! I have been operating as a subcontractor on and off for nearly 15 years with a national law enforcement consulting firm, providing facilitation and change management expertise on many of their projects. I love this work! And although I am not “sworn” – their lingo for being a trained and licensed law enforcement officer – I have earned a modicum of respect in that field as a result of my work with them. Why does this relationship work so well?

• Because law enforcement is not my background, there is no skill overlap to worry about. I enjoy learning their field, and my personality – upfront, bold, and action-oriented – works well with their clients.
• We respect each other’s body of knowledge, we have very similar value systems, and we are all absolutely committed to doing the best job possible.
• We know that we may be touching the lives of citizens with whom our clients come in contact, and we take our responsibilities very seriously. Our outcomes can change lives, not just spreadsheets.

My suggestion to those who would like to be hired as associates under someone else’s contract, is to make that desire known upfront and start a dialog early. It will take time for each of you to vet the other and see if a potential match exists. When an opportunity comes up, start with a smaller project and see how it goes before committing to something larger. You will be doing yourself and your contractor a favor, and you just might find your own best gig ever!

Fizz! How to Succeed as an Independent Consultant author Cathy Perme also wrote Confucius in My Cubicle: Practical Wisdom for the Leader in All of Us, released by Wisdom Editions in 2017.

I have been thinking a lot about the best gift my Dad ever gave me – the confidence and ability to think. If you are a guy, you probably don’t see this as a big deal, because men are expected, trained, and socialized to think.

But for a girl, and now a woman, it was a gift to be respected and appreciated for the quality of my thinking. As a young girl, I would constantly be told by others that I think too hard or too much, although never by my Dad. He and I would often argue about what I was thinking, but never that I thought too much! We argued about religion, politics, race relations, world views, and patriotism along with what constituted proper behavior. We argued a lot, but I always knew that he respected and encouraged my ability to think – logically, independently, and intuitively.

He encouraged me to “go into computers” because I had good math skills and he thought the industry had good potential for women. This was at a time when most college-bound women were still being slotted into teaching or nursing careers. I took his advice and afterward landed a great job with IBM that gave me the skills for a successful consulting career today. Later in life it was fun to have “solve the world” conversations as adults, because he was always up on the news and we both loved complicated problems to solve.

So, for you fathers of daughters — make sure they know how important it is to you that they are independent thinkers, and engage them in big discussions even if it makes your hair curl when they tell you what they think! You will be giving your girl the gift of a lifetime – and maybe a career – in having the courage and confidence to be herself and use the God-given talents she possesses.

Fizz! How to Succeed as an Independent Consultant author Cathy Perme also wrote Confucius in My Cubicle: Practical Wisdom for the Leader in All of Us, released by Wisdom Editions in 2017.

I wrote this “Code of Honor” out of pure frustration one day after letting all of my former associates go. (See last week’s post on “Hiring Associates.”) I really wanted to be clear on how I did business, and I wanted my associates to honor that, thus the name.  I based my business values on my past experience as a manager who at one time hired consultants, as well as how I wanted us to work together in serving clients.  This is now the heart of my business approach and I expect us to adhere to it when working as a consulting team.

1.    Each client must be made to feel like he/she is our only client.

• This means that references to other clients are minimized and used sparingly to make points; it is not “show and tell.”
• This also means than we prepare well for each engagement and keep up-to-date information about what we’ve done with each client so that we don’t repeat ourselves.

2.  We follow through on commitments to clients and each other.

• This means that we honor ourselves and our work by providing adequate lead time when we commit to deadlines, engagements, or follow-up activities; and…
• If we cannot meet our commitments, we provide adequate notice to the project manager and either negotiate a new deadline/agreement or find an appropriate solution ourselves to meet client needs. The problem is not dumped on the project manager or client’s lap.

3.       A major commitment is the cost of our services.

•  This means that our bid is our price and our commitment. Once the contract is negotiated, we “throw away” the time sheet and do what is necessary to serve and satisfy the client.
•  We only go back to the client to negotiate additional payment if the client is asking for more function than was originally contracted. Otherwise, if we’ve underestimated the work, that’s our problem and it becomes an opportunity to learn more about our own work process before the next contract.

4.   We give each other as associates as much priority and respect as we give our clients.

•  This means that we allocate and schedule time for each other to meet during business hours and we do not cancel on each other due to another “client engagement.” It is important that we develop our relationship and strategy together to serve the customer well.

5.  What we discuss with each other about the client we share with the client.

•  We do not say one thing to each other and act differently in front of the client. We agree to share our concerns and relate our experiences with the client as a mirror to them. We also accept concerns and feedback from the client as a mirror for us.

6.   We build skills not dependency.

• This means that we are here to work ourselves out of business with this client. If we are effective, the client should feel confident in her/his ability to deal with future issues rather than call on us.
•  It is our underlying belief that we will get more referrals and future business through this approach rather than trying to “hang on” to current contracts.
•  If we do agree to take additional contracts, they are time-bounded and force us and the client to take on new roles that continue to reduce our participation.

This “Code of Honor” is now something that I review early on with potential associates because I want to know if they will be able to adhere to it. Interestingly, some can’t!  I also use it to guide my own behavior when working with clients and it is the basis for how I write proposals.

What is important to you in how you work? Are you clear about that with your own associates or colleagues? If not, try drafting your own code of honor when you are frustrated, and see what you come up with!

Fizz! How to Succeed as an Independent Consultant author Cathy Perme also wrote Confucius in My Cubicle: Practical Wisdom for the Leader in All of Us, released by Wisdom Editions in 2017.