48 Laws Of Powerful Consulting (Part 2)

Laws of Powerful Consulting

Powerful Consulting

• Look we have got you the ‘To Be Contd.’ version of the first 12 laws of powerful consulting

• This is purely an extension to the bandwagon of the laws of Powerful Consulting helping you to be more close to becoming a Powerful Consultant who is an expert professional and from a skilled talent pool.

• The following are 12 more laws on Powerful Consulting

Law 13: When Asking For Help, Appeal To People’s Self Interest, Never To Their Mercy Or

Gratitude

Greene writes:

If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him tat will benefit him and emphasize it out of all proportion.

• WIIFM – What’s In It For Me. It is a basic skill of Influence Without Authority. You build alliances offering value in first place.

• Collect as much information as possible. Ask questions. Build a profile for your potential ally then offer what he values the most. Ask for value in return.

Law 14: Pose As  A Friend, Work As  A Spy

Greene writes:Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions.

• Collecting detailed information is crucial. Only trust verifiable information.

• It’s not that people will lie to you, the opposite is true – people will flood you with the information.

• Chances are the information misinterpreted or not first hand. Ask more question and correlate.

Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally

Greene writes:All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. The enemy will recover, and will see revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.

• See the problem at hand as you enemy. Fight it until you destroy it.

• Never settle for a workaround. It’ll backfire at you later.

• Remember about your trust – guard it by building real solutions, not workarounds. 

Law 16: Use Absence To Increase Respect And Honor

Greene writes:Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. Create value through scarcity.

• Time is the scarcest resource for a Consultant. It is the scarcest resource for anybody, including your customers. If you master to manage it right you will increase respect and honor.

• In fact  - do not try to manage time – treat it as a budget and invest in most impactful stuff, stuff that matters.

Law 17: Keep Other In Suspended Terror: Cultivate An Air Of Unpredictability

Greene writes:Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control.

• Here is a little story. I was working with a customer. The customer was asking me tough questions right from the start demanding very precise solutions. I was shooting classic answers off the heap, but then he told me this: “I do not accept it only because it’s written in the book.” I was kind of disarmed, but I insisted: “Well, this is how everybody does it and it proves it’s effectiveness time after time, that is why we will do it to.” Then I added: “… as a start. And if it’ll prove it’s working we’ll continue with it, if not – we will put our Creative Hat.”  There was some tension toward the final solution which was in the end a mix of classics and new creative stuff.

Law 18: Do Not Build Fortresses To Protect Yourself – Isolation Is Dangerous

Greene writes:A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes your to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people, find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd

• You can be a superhero but if no one knows about it your expertise won’t get be utilized, let alone used

• Go off and be there in the field. Experience stuff first hand – know the jargon, speak their language, feel their pain, solve their problems

• If you do – they will market you on your behalf. Share the solutions on your blog – break the limit of time and space

Law 19 : Know Who You’re Dealing With – Do Not Offend The Wrong Person

Greene writes:Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the wrong person.

• I am pretty sure the most important thing for me is being aligned to my personal values. It is one of the 4 Dimensions Of Personal Power. If I want to keep my personal power high, I stick with my values.

• The other secret weapon that worked for me to keep me out of troubles is applying Emotional Intelligence Core Skills.

• Stick with your values and keep cool. You’ll beat them all if you win yourself first. 

Law 20: Do Not Commit To Anyone

Greene writes:

It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.

• It is interesting that the original law resonates with one of the principals of Lean Software Development – defer commitments.

• Consultant should offer options and tools for decisions. It’s up to the customer to make the final decision.

• The Consultant can take sides but offer alternatives. Do not fall in trap of becoming decision maker on customer’s behalf.

Law 21: Play A Sucker To Catch A Sucker – Seem Dumber Than Your Mark

Greene writes:No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick , then, is to make your victims feel smart – not just smart, but smarter than you are.

• To avoid “smart-ass” trap try to not shoot the answers off the heap, do not jump into conclusions and offer last gig solutions right away.

• Ask principle based questions. Lead the horse to the water.

• Help the customer solve his problems on his own. Empower the customer by offering tips along the way.

Greene writes:When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait fir his power to wane. Make surrender a tool of power.

• As simple as that – lose with self respect. Or better off do not get involved in something that is just not YOU, use the The Power Of Saying “No” to avoid such situations.

Law 22: Use The Surrender Tactic: Transform, Weakness Into Power

Law 23:  Concentrate Your Forces

Greene writes:

Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.

• No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.  

Law 24: Play The Perfect Courtier

Greene writes:The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatter, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the most oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.

• Being SME (Subject Matter Expert) is one thing. Getting others to use and apply your expertise is the other.

• Only because you are SME does not mean the customer will blindly buy in and start using your ideas.

• There are many forces that you must be aware of – customer’s manager, your manager, your colleagues, customer’s customers and many more. Learn the theater of operations and maneuver. 

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