The Art of Nurturing Consultative Talent: From Analyst to Strategic Advisor

I often say that successful consultants share many of the same traits as great detectives. In a forensic process for example you need to look at data as evidence; identify the important proofs; and stitch everything together to create a compelling story - beyond any reasonable doubt. This will give your client (and their stakeholders) the clarity and confidence to act on the recommendations.

So, here is my advice on nurturing consultative talent and transforming analysts into trusted detectives who can help you get to the truth.

Know them like the back of your hand

Successful consultation begins with a deep understanding of your client's motivations. Go beyond the project's scope to consider what your client wants to achieve in terms of lasting impact. Are they aiming to bring intellectual leadership to their organization? Are they trying to challenge the current thinking and strategy? Have they been hired to bring “change”? Is their job, or a possible promotion, at stake?

Understanding the underlying motivations and the political landscape within the organization you seek to help, is critical to providing fully contextualized insights and, ultimately, to the success of the project.

To get an analyst started on their consultative journey to client understanding they need to learn to ask the right questions. To build the confidence for this, we find it is always helpful to have a customized onboarding process, or orientation. This includes training and exercises on the tools you use, readings, and shadowing a project.

Know your client AND their Audience(s)

No two clients are the same, and you need to adapt your consultative style to them. There are those who like taking the lead, as well as those who need to be led through a project. They may be micromanagers or a hands-off boss. Recognizing the type of client that you are dealing with, will determine the level of detail required in your materials and what style of communication you’ll need.

On top of understanding your client, you need to understand their audiences. It's essential to know who will be consuming and acting on your insights, and your "client's client" – the ultimate stakeholders. Knowing this audience will help you understand how to tell the story: small details, such as the words and the tone of voice to use, or what to focus on, can make a huge difference in terms of final buy-in. Even if the story is the same, a good consultant knows how to tailor it.

On the same page

Ensure that you and your client are on the same page right from the start: articulate together the questions you want to answer, define what is within the project's scope and what is way off base. Clearly outlining the project's success criteria is essential to set the right expectations.

As well as with the client, your team needs to be aligned internally. An important step is having a good internal kick off session. Here you can lay out expectations and ensure that the junior consultants have all the tools and support needed to succeed. After this initial call, it’s important to keep regular communications going. Especially for large projects for which you can set up daily check ins.

The end of a project is almost as important as the start. You can help junior consultants progress by providing them with a wrap up document with feedback on key elements such as quality of analyses, clarity in verbal and written communications, level of energy, etc. We use this feedback to support mid and end of year performance conversations which are essential for professional growth.

Is it Nice-to-Have or Need-to-have?

Not all data points are created equal. The ability to sift between the data that is nice to have for some extra flair, and the bare-bones data that is mission-critical to a project is a hallmark of consultative talent. Focus your efforts on what truly matters, both in your analyses, and in what you choose to communicate with your slides.

You are NOT the expert

Consultative talent shines when you consistently bring a well-researched and put together point of view to the table. Go beyond the data and consider the second and third-order implications. Explain how your insights can affect the present situation, what actions should be taken as a result.

However, remember that your client is the knowledge expert in their industry. Your true, unique expertise resides in your ability to ask the right questions, to bring impactful insights, processes, and frameworks, that can effectively channel your client’s knowledge and allow you to build the story together.

Lead with a POV but let The Story Drive Your Analytics

One practical approach to building consultative talent is to start with the end in mind. A successful consultant from whom I learned a lot in my early days, used to say that his first task when embarking on a new project is to write the executive summary: a bit of a provocation, but you get my point.

As you craft, test and validate your hypotheses, be open to the fact that there might be an entirely different story out there: strike the right balance between being persistent in proving your (or your client’s) theory correct, while also being open to the possibility of a different answer.

It is a team effort

Back to our detective story - successful detectives don’t work on their own. A genuine interest in teamwork, the ability to select the right professionals and leverage their skillsets, striving for their growth, and truly working with the client’s team as ONE, are the secret “genes” in the DNA of a successful consultant. This is possibly the hardest skill to build but when achieved, makes projects amazing and fun journeys.