Interview with Alan Weiss

Think Like A Consultant interviewed Alan Weiss, Ph.D., a well-known consultant, coach, speaker and author of over 500 articles and 32 books.

TLAC: For some background, can you briefly tell our readers how you got started in consulting?
Alan: I was recruited into a training firm in Princeton, NJ. The search firm had read an article I had published while I was with Prudential Insurance.

TLAC: Your blog is titled “Contrarian Consulting.” How do you define this term?
Alan: Contrarian consulting means not readily accepting conventional wisdom and mainstream thinking until and unless you have empirical evidence that it produces results for you and your clients. In practical terms, this means pushing back and challenging your buyer’s thinking (never in the HR Department) about assumptions being made regarding customers, services, products, and relationships.

TLAC: Through your experience as a mentor, what do you see as the top most avoidable mistakes that new consultants make?
Alan: The huge issue is lack of self-esteem. It may not always be preventable, but it is certainly correctable. Recent studies of self-esteem support what I’ve learned and believed for over 20 years: Positive self-esteem is not a causal factor, it’s a result. That is, when I succeed at something, my self-esteem improves, creating a cycle of success.

The acquisition of skills enables us to perform better—or in new areas— thereby creating success, enhancing self-esteem, and building the motivation to acquire still more skills. That’s a great cycle, and one we should scrupulously pursue for ourselves and our loved ones.

TLAC: Can you give some advice to consultants who are having a hard time in this economy?
Alan: Yes: It’s NOT the economy. That’s an excuse. If someone, somewhere is successfully providing your kind of value (and they are) then the problem is you. Focus on market need, your competency, and passion. And build a brand.

TLAC: Regarding ways to succeed during this economy, Alan provides helpful guidance in his article, It’s Not the Economy, Though Many Wish That It Were.

1. Clearly articulate the value you will provide to a client.
2. Insist on meeting the real buyers (the people who sign the checks).
3. Internalize that you are in the marketing business.
4. Ask for help from the right resources.

Now that’s good advice in any economy.