I was recently asked what it took to get from being a good consultant to being a great one.  A simple question, but as I described in an earlier post a tough one to answer. I really wasn’t that sure what a Great consultant was like but I was pretty clear what it was like to go beyond good.  The Beyond Good consultant is someone who has the qualities of the Good Consultant outlined in my previous blog below but who now:

• Quickly establishes personal credibility with their clients
• Has integrity that shines through enabling clients to open up their private thinking to the consultant confident in the knowledge that confidentiality is key
• Recognises the need to be themselves, not ‘acting the part’ of being a consultant, trusting that their insights and feelings are valid and provide value to their client
• Is flexible and adaptable in their ways of working with clients, recognising intuitively that different contexts require different styles of engagement
• Develops new frameworks and models in addition to being adept and at ease with a broad range of established one
• Challenges the thinking, assumptions and world views of their clients – subtly not bluntly, opening their eyes to new ways of seeing the world, the issues they have to deal with and preparing the ground for breakthrough and break out strategies
• Ensures no long term dependency on them as consultants – leaves a legacy of embedded capability so client doesn’t need their help to do that sort of project again
• and in the midst of all of this now doubts they truly know their stuff as they once though they did

If you can help me improve this list do let me know.

My description of the Great Consultant follows in the next blog.