Absent these skills below, the professional background and experience of a consultant will impair his or her ability to be successful.

• High Moral Character: This is an absolute must.  Many consultants tell you what they think you want to hear, in an effort to please or to gain more future business from you.   The consultant MUST tell you what you NEED to hear, not what you want to hear, at the risk of losing potential business with you.   Your interest should come first, no matter what.

  
  If all or some of the work you require is outside the level of expertise of the consultant, they should ALWAYS be honest about it, and either refer the work to another party or subcontract with someone who does.   They should aim to earn credibility and respect from you, and as a result obtain more opportunity in the future.

• Communication: A good consultant should possess excellent oral and written communication skills.  In addition, because some of the communication skills of your personnel may not be what it could or should be, listening skills are even more important.  Without superior listening skills, a consultant is very unlikely to fully grasp the challenges or issues you are facing.  Worse, they may miss important facts and lead you on the wrong path.

  
  Consultants should use their listening skills to catch what hasn’t been said, so they may ask the proper follow-on questions. “The most important thing in communication is what isn’t being said.” (Kushandwizoom, Peter Drucker).

• Creativity: Problem solving is more an art than a science, and often there is more than one solution to a problem.   The consultant should have the ability to identify multiple solutions and evaluate them to choose the best possible one for you.   The process and rigor used to get there is often more important than the solution itself.
  
  Exercise caution when consultants offer a potential solution during the first set of meetings.  You could wind up with a canned solution that either needs to be retrofitted to suit you, or you will need to transform your organization to fit into it.
  
  
• Interpersonal Skills: The chemistry between you and your personnel and the consultant is of utmost importance.  Without trust, candor, and teamwork, all projects are doomed for failure.   Trust needs to be established, but we all have a ‘gut feel’ for it.  Follow it.  Candor is required from both sides.  You will divulge some things that are not for everyone’s ears, and the consultant needs to openly tell you what they think and feel about what you told them, at the risk of you not working with them.
  
  If your employees don’t trust the chosen consultant, you will not be able to achieve the best possible results.  Most repeat business at a client initiates from the employees who rely and trust the consultants they worked with, not from the person who hired them in the first place.  Finally, look for a consultant who goes above and beyond to establish the required kind of relationship with you and your team to get the job done. Yes, that includes fun, food and drink, within reasonable standards and guidelines, of course!

Do not rely on professional experience alone!   After all, we are human beings, and we cannot succeed on our own.

Our experiences running companies globally teaches us this needs to change. So, we practice Consulting Inside Out.  It may be right for you.