Consulting Mastery

Book description

This is not just another book telling consultants how to advise their clients on solving specific problems—increasing sales, finding the best IT system, reducing turnover, and so on. Consulting Mastery teaches consultants how to master the real challenge of working with organizations: effecting actual change. It examines how to help clients help themselves to achieve higher levels of performance.

Drawing on interviews with fourteen master consultants and ten executives in client organizations, Merron explores how consultants can profoundly impact the way organizations operate.

Whether you are a seasoned consultant or just starting out, Consulting Mastery will inspire you to adopt goals , strategies, and the mindset that will help you make a real difference in your work and in your client organizations.

Table of contents

  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  4. PREFACE
    1. A DIFFERENCE IN PERSPECTIVE
    2. THE AUDIENCE FOR THE BOOK
    3. THE INTERVIEWS
    4. THE STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK
  5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  6. INTRODUCTION SEEKING GREATNESS IN THE CONSULTING PROFESSION
    1. THE RULES OF CONSULTING
    2. IT’S NO LONGER WORKING WELL
    3. QUESTIONABLE ASSUMPTIONS
    4. THE RULES BEHIND THE RULES
    5. WHAT DIFFERENTIATES GOOD CONSULTANTS FROM GREAT ONES?
    6. WHAT IS CONSULTING MASTERY?
  7. PART I UNDERSTANDING CONSULTING MASTERY
    1. CHAPTER 1 THE DECAY OF THE CONSULTING PROFESSION
      1. IT STARTS WITH GOALS
      2. THE SAVIOR STRATEGY: THE PRIMARY STRATEGY OF THE CURRENT RULES OF CONSULTING
      3. SECONDARY STRATEGIES OF THE CURRENT RULES OF CONSULTING
      4. HOW THE RULES OF CONSULTING WERE CREATED
      5. THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE TYPICAL CONSULTING MODEL
      6. WHY LARGE COMPANIES BUY INTO THE CURRENT RULES OF THE GAME
      7. HOW OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM SUPPORTS THE CURRENT RULES OF THE GAME
      8. THE TYPICAL APPROACH TO CONSULTING IS RAPIDLY BECOMING OBSOLETE
    2. CHAPTER 2 THE MASTERFUL CONSULTANT’S INNER STANCE
      1. THE ARTISTRY OF A MASTERFUL CONSULTANT
      2. THE MASTER CONSULTANT’S GOALS AND STRATEGIES
      3. HOW MASTERFUL CONSULTANTS RELATE TO THEIR CLIENT ORGANIZATIONS
      4. HOW MASTERFUL CONSULTANTS RELATE TO KNOWLEDGE
      5. HOW MASTERFUL CONSULTANTS CARRY THEMSELVES AS PEOPLE
      6. THE THREE STRATEGIES ARE AN INTEGRATED WHOLE
  8. PART II MASTERY IN ACTION
    1. CHAPTER 3 CLIENT-CENTERED CONSULTING
      1. SOME FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS
      2. CONSULTING APPROACHES THAT MISS THE MARK
      3. THE CLIENT-CENTERED APPROACH
      4. A CLIENT-CENTERED VIEW OF LIFE
    2. CHAPTER 4 SEEING THE CLIENT AS A SYSTEM
    3. CHAPTER 5 SHARED OWNERSHIP OF THE PROCESS
      1. THE POWER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLIENT AND CONSULTANT
      2. CONTRASTING EXAMPLES OF CONSULTING
      3. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP
      4. PARTNERING AT THE PROPOSAL PHASE
  9. PART III MASTERY IN ACTION
    1. CHAPTER 6 APPLYING KNOWLEDGE
      1. SOME KNOWLEDGE IS CRUCIAL
      2. GUIDED BY A THEORY OF CHANGE
      3. THE COGNITIVE MAPS FOR MASTERY
    2. CHAPTER 7 CONVEYING KNOWLEDGE
      1. GROUNDED IN SELF-CONFIDENCE
      2. A BALANCED STANCE
    3. CHAPTER 8 HELPING CLIENTS HELP THEMSELVES
      1. GUIDANCE NOT ADVICE
      2. FRAMING OR REFRAMING
      3. FEEDBACK
      4. ASKING QUESTIONS
  10. PART IV MASTERY IN ACTION
    1. CHAPTER 9 THE KEYS TO SELF-MASTERY
      1. KEY ONE: BEING GUIDED BY AN INNER COMPASS
      2. KEY TWO: SELF-KNOWLEDGE
      3. KEY THREE: SELF-ACCEPTANCE
      4. SELF-MASTERY AND THE MASTERFUL CONSULTANT’S CREDO
    2. CHAPTER 10 HONESTY AT THE DEEPEST LEVEL
      1. HONESTY IS NOT AN ABSOLUTE
      2. MOMENTS OF TRUTH
      3. HONESTY IN TWO AREAS
      4. AFTER DOING SOME SOUL-SEARCHING
    3. CHAPTER 11 DEEP LEARNING
      1. LEARNING AND ACCOUNTABILITY
      2. EARNING AND THE SPIRIT OF INQUIRY
    4. CHAPTER 12 LBRING YOUR WHOLE SELF, IN FULL PARTNERSHIP
      1. EMBRACING THE SHADOW
      2. A BETTER BAROMETER
      3. A CLEAR WITNESS
    5. CHAPTER 13 PLAYING A BIG GAME
      1. SEEING A BIGGER PICTURE
      2. FROM SEPARATE TO CONNECTED
      3. COMMITMENT TO MAKING A BIGGER DIFFERENCE
      4. SITUATION ONE
      5. SITUATION TWO
  11. PART V ATTAINING MASTERY
    1. CHAPTER 14 MASTERY AND BEING
      1. MASTERY
      2. BEING
      3. MY EARLY TRAINING ON MY BEING
    2. CHAPTER 15 THE ROAD TO CONSULTING MASTERY
      1. FROM BEING TO ACTION
      2. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR INNER STANCE
      3. SEEK A MENTOR TO GUIDE YOU
      4. TUNE YOUR INNER STANCE
      5. THE LIFELONG JOURNEY
  12. APPENDIX A THE INTERVIEWS AND THEIR IMPACT
    1. MY APPROACH TO SELECTING MASTERFUL CONSULTANTS TO BE INTERVIEWED
    2. CLIENT INTERVIEWS
  13. INDEX
  14. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  15. BERRETT-KOEHLER PUBLISHERS

Product information

  • Title: Consulting Mastery
  • Author(s): Keith Merron
  • Release date: June 2005
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781605097206