LEADERSHIP CONSULTANT CAPABILITIES

Phuoc D. Nguyen

Management consulting is a profession that requires the convergence of many capabilities of the management consultant. Management consultants are usually those who have great practical experience in the areas of leadership, management, coaching, teaching, and business support. In addition to professional knowledge and practical experience to succeed in working with clients management consultants should have appropriate skills and capabilities.

IMC (2002) indicated “Typically, a management consultant will be engaging in providing change management solutions to a client. This will include demonstrating: change management skills; technical and business knowledge; business understanding; ownership, management, and delivery of solutions to clients; project delivery and risk management; excellent interpersonal skills; ability to transfer skills to others; creative and analytical thinking; and adherence to a code of conduct and ethical guidelines.” (p. 7). Change management consulting projects are often projects that lead to a drastic change in the company’s direction, structure, culture, technology, perspective, process, or leadership/management style. This requires that the management consultant must have good change management skills to successfully lead the project to the defined objectives and minimize the opposition.

“Dealing with client resistance — a predictable, normal, and necessary reaction against the process of being helped — is a key skill for effective consultants. Resistance has many sources, including fear of losing control or of facing up to difficult organizational problems.” (Designed Learning). The management consultant should be a holistic and systematic thinker, taking into account factors that influence the proposed changes as well as the positive and the negative impact of these changes on the business on the attitude of executives, managers, and employees and thus it affects the performance of the business.

Reitsma and Léon (2009) suggested “consultant’s basic competencies, including showing resilience: flexibility; analyzing: analytical skills, conceptual thinking, learning orientation, creativity; considering: balanced judgment, awareness of the external environment, generating vision; facilitating: listening, sensitivity; influencing: communication, presentation, persuasion; inspiring confidence: integrity, reliability, loyalty, creating a favorable atmosphere.” (p. 8). Presentation and persuasion skills – Management consultants have objective perspectives in consulting projects that they have to propose new management improvement opportunities and solutions. In the process of building a solution, the management consultant is often asked by the client to analyze and solve the problem with him or her to create a new solution. Therefore, presentation and persuasion skills play an important role in helping clients understand and accept solutions.