A friend wants to be a consultant. She is willing to give up her job and do whatever it takes to become so. My first suggestion to her was, “WAIT!”
There seems to be a belief that changework happens only fancy paid consultants and trainers and so on. Yet, if that is reality, all these people (including me) are failing miserably. The fact of the matter is, change happens everywhere, all the time. If you focus on positive change and manage to do it, great, you are actively doing changework, regardless of what your job description is.
Wanting the label, is a chief symptom of becoming a ballerina for the applause, and while it may be possible to indulge in love for applause for a successful ballerina, nothing but the love for dancing ever created genius. The consultants I look at with respect, to date, are learners. People commited to expanding their own learning horizons. This is what gives them the power to continually keep others reaching beyond their horizons.
Most outstanding consultants I know, also didn’t get where they are by having an ambition to consult, but by developing their knowledge to extents where people asked for their experience to assist their own growth.
Please, I’m certainly not calling you an evil person to want to be superior or something. Just pointing out something I discovered, and saw echoed in all I wanted to be like. I have my own share of thirst for glory, yet the best work I do is when I forget it and become an artist with the people I am with.
So what do I recommend?
I’d say that setting off on a journey of self-discovery would be a start. Watch yourself and see why you do things. Watch people and see how they impact each other and situations. What they speak, what they do, what they admit, and what they hide, and what happens as a result. Discover your own self and what you do. Discover what happens when a group of people come together as organizations and what impact does the situation have on them.
Use this knowledge to really understand people with you wherever you are. Free consulting opportunities abound in your current job (no matter what it is), without the hassle of “convincing” clients based on limited experience and then worrying about developing as a consultant slower based on limited opportunities with clients. Work with friends, family, colleagues. Volunteer with NGOs, work with kids in your area, hold the space for get-togethers to add meaning to them. See what happens. See when you are effective, see when what you do is resisted. Enrich lives. Empower people. Learn to drive positive change.
As you learn, you will realize that your role becomes visible and more opportunities become visible. Then, if you still want to be a consultant, a suitable wave will come along, waiting for you to surf it.
