Painting a Broader Consulting Picture

Bramwell Osula

Welcome to another issue of the Journal of Practical Consulting. To all practicing and would-be practicing consultants, Happy New Year! 2008 offers another opportunity to roll up our sleeves and explore the world of consulting from the inside out. This issue follows our usual broad review of themes and concerns from a variety of different consulting perspectives. The idea is that there is no single way of doing consulting. As I like to say, consulting is a dynamic activity. The more we practice, the more we learn and unlearn. This journal continues to play a role in disseminating information and inviting readers like you to share their practical experiences and sober thoughts on consulting. Once again, enjoy! Read more

When the Client Won’t Move: Understanding the Causes of Resistance by Leveraging the Laws of Human Behavior

Mark C. Biteler

As internal champions of change or those that work as outside consultants, we may have worked for clients and companies that have asked us to secure improvements in results only to find that our recommendations are taken half-heartedly or rejected outright. Our front-end assessment of the situation and the organization’s culture using pinpointed tools such as surveys or onsite observation indicated a course of action. We may have conferred with key organizational leaders to establish alignment and uncovered the business drivers that were foundational for establishing the “why” to justify the effort and investment required to move to a new level of performance. We reviewed management communications and interviewed leaders at each level of the organization. All of this to make sure we were on target with our recommendations, and still the leaders would not move. Why? The author will offer key insights based upon 80 years of research within the field of behavior analysis.

A Time to Consult: Strategies for Expanding Your Strategic Consulting Career

Consulting is an equal opportunities employer and an option that virtually every professional has considered at one time or another. Combining the right blend of experience, skill, and interest helps one move to the next level in their consulting career. Today, the demand is for strategic consultants who bring a cutting-edge quality of leadership to what they do. This article explores the broad scope of what it takes to be a consultant and offers some basic advice on effective consulting.

Jeremiah Koshal

With approximately one billion people around the world being unable to afford basic subsistence living and another 1.5 billion lacking basic amenities, kingdom businesses are helping make both an economic, as well as, a spiritual impact in developing countries. Kingdom businesses are businesses started by Christians that pursue a multiple strategy: profitability and sustainability, and job creation and income generation. In a world mired by endemic corruption and an absence of moral values, kingdom business consultants, with their caring and other-centered attitude, are teaching business owners not only how to grow and be more profitable, but also how to multiply their efforts through ethical and honorable business practices. By using their business acumen to interact with people from all circles—business and government—kingdom business consultants are able to transform society by impacting national policies through a myriad of ways.