Sustaining Your Consulting PDF

9 SUSTAINING YOUR CONSULTING Consultants are their own best instrument for change. This chapter...

9 SUSTAINING YOUR CONSULTING Consultants are their own best instrument for change. This chapter focuses on how to be authentic as a consultant and set appropriate boundaries by regularly saying ‘no’. It is also about how to keep ourself mentally, emotionally, socially, physically and spiritually as fit as possible for taking clients on a challenging change journey. If we dare interfere in another organisation’s life, we have a duty to bring the very best of ourselves to the work. 110 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 111 AUTHENTIC CONSULTING QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: We can only be trusted if we are authentic. Authentic is about What has shaped who you are today in regard to your values, ‘being yourself more, with skill’ (Goffee and Jones, 2006). Being A FURIOUS CLIENT beliefs and worldview? W E A R I N G T W O H AT S ourself as a consultant means knowing who we are and how How has your family, peers, education and life experience ‘This is appalling work! Did you really The task looked clear at the beginning that influences how we operate as a consultant. influenced who you are? spend eight days working on this? - to gather data from one particular What personal agenda do you have? How might your age, gender, nationality and faith affect your cash transfer project (CTP) with Syrian KNOW YOURSELF We are not accepting this. Rewrite work? refugees in the border area of northern To be yourself, you have to know yourself. To dare to engage it!’ This was how the international How does your personality influence how you prefer to consult? Lebanon and write a book about with the emotional complexity of CSOs in change, we have director of a large NGO responded to How do you learn best? best practices (amongst other tasks). to know ourselves, our biases and baggage. We need to be one of my early consultancy reports. When the Lebanese NGO recruited What things energise you and make you flourish? emotionally intelligent. This starts with self-awareness. It proved a formative learning me, everything looked rosy. All the experience for me in many ways. I What helps you rest and relax? stakeholders, including the European An effective consultant is highly self-aware. We each have realised that I had allowed the strong What are your vulnerabilities and weaknesses? funder, were excited by the initial different preferences, personalities, experiences and biases. We personal opinion that I brought into success in supporting Lebanese families What are your strengths and key qualities? cannot help but bring these into any change process. Without the consultancy influence the way I who had voluntarily hosted Syrian realising it, a facilitator’s personal views influence a change did the data gathering and presented How do you cope with failure? refugees. process that purports to be objective and logical. We can never my findings. How you manage crisis and stress? But over time, perhaps not surprisingly be completely neutral. We interpret all the data we gather I learnt that it is often more difficult in such a complex environment, the through our own experience. I learnt this the hard way in my to work well as facilitator with project faced difficult challenges. In early days as a consultant: organisations you know well. Our KNOW YOUR POWER particular, accusations of financial We also need to be aware of our own strengths and pre-understanding of a situation Consultants bring power into any situation. Yet, we often mismanagement arose only after I had weaknesses. To the extent that we understand our weaknesses, means we can bring a strong opinion view power as negative. We like to think it does not pollute started the work. This caused rising we can mitigate and manage them (and in the best cases about the issues and solutions even us. Or we simply ignore it. But pretending it is not there tension between the international turn them into opportunities for learning). Some of us prefer before we start. We pre-judge and changes nothing, except our ability to manage it. Our power as agency and the local NGO. As I looked are therefore prejudiced. Our own consultants comes from a variety of sources: more closely I found plenty of mediocre playing a more ‘expert’ role, giving recommendations to clients; motives influence the work. However practices too, where the project had others, by personality type, prefer to let clients themselves Our perceived expertise open we claim to be, we may hear not followed accepted CTP procedures. decide. Some of us are more comfortable managing conflict loudly anything that confirms our Our influence over decisions and therefore resources than others. Some are able to tolerate ambiguity; others need What was I to do with my best practice opinion and filter out anything that Our potential to expose to know the answer. We bring different strengths to different book? I felt I had to be honest and contradicts what we think. This stages of the consultancy process. For example, I know I have Our name, nationality, gender natural in what I wrote. I tried to be undermines our ability to really to work hard with myself not to skip over the details of the The connections we have balanced. But I feared the international listen and therefore facilitate well. In planning stage, and to keep my interest and engagement during agency would not like it… They didn’t! retrospect, it might have been better The person who has brought us in implementation. It was not just the book. They did not to say that I had a potential conflict We need to be acutely aware of the power we bring into even want to consider the findings of of interest and simply declined the Clearly, my nationality, my gender, my age also affect how the any situation so that we can avoid us using it to manipulate the internal learning review I had also consultancy. client perceives me and affects the power that I bring. I cannot a situation. If we allow ourselves to become too powerful in done. All my time and effort achieved change being a white British male of a certain age. In some Rick James a change situation, this can easily undermine people’s sense nothing. We are just left with a pile of circumstances it is an asset, at other times a real liability. On of ownership and remove any chance of the change being unread books in the office. one occasion, I was asked to facilitate a highly volatile process in sustained after we leave. To use our power in a positive way, I’ve often wondered, ‘Could have I Kenya, which surprised me, as I did not know the context well. we need to become more conscious of it. done more before I started?’ Should I I found out later that the leader had chosen me because, as a have probed with the client, ‘What will foreigner, I was not open to bribery and intimidation. The vice- you do if things are not as wonderful chair of the board only accepted me because, if things went as you think?’ I’ve also come to realize wrong, he needed someone he could deport as a scapegoat. that I was not the objective external consultant I thought I was. I had an It can be extremely valuable to have someone else who can interest and when conflict arose, a help us see our blind spots, who can help us become more conflict of interest. The Lebanese mature and keep our feet on the ground. Working in pairs or in NGO had recruited me as their a team of facilitators can also help us bring balance and diversity representative. I could not help but to our professional practice. Pairs can bring complementary see things from their perspective and skills, insights and attitudes. One person’s strength can make up take their side. Wearing two hats at the for another’s weakness. same time is not possible. Lina Abirizk 112 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 113 KNOW YOUR BIASES PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS One way of ensuring that we engage with organisations If we know who we are and what we do well, we are better appropriately is to be aware of the biases we come with, which able to play to our strengths. If the job is good for us, we are can often influence how we see situations and people. Our more likely to be good at the job. I could not do what other DEALING WITH MY values and experience are undoubted strengths, but they may consultants do. I am often asked to conduct an evaluation for blind us to other perspectives. Some biases include: a large funder. But because I know it does not fit either my OWN GENDER BIASES preferred approach, or my skill set, I usually get other people My tribe believes that women are PROFESSIONAL BIAS better suited to the task to take it on. liabilities and men are asserts. Some of us are specialists in health, education and agriculture, Throughout my childhood, people Playing to our strengths means saying ‘no’ regularly. While not drilled into to me that it did not and therefore are not always open to issues that are outside all consultants have this luxury, it is important only to take on matter how much schooling I had, our own training. work that we think we can do reasonably well. This does not I was still a woman and my work ORGANISATIONAL BIAS mean we should not take responsible risks and assignments would be to cook for a man. This that stretch us beyond what we have done before. But a core socialisation process gravely injured Each of us brings our own prior work experience. We may principle of humanitarian development is ‘Do no harm’. If we my self-esteem. It took a toll on my only have worked in large or small organisations, new or old, know we are not good at something, or we do not have the leadership and self-confidence. charitable or profit-making, relief or development, specialist time, taking on the work may damage our credibility and more or generalist, operational or partnerships… We should use our Even now as a woman, I find it importantly the client CSO in the process. Saying ‘no’ may cause difficult to believe in myself. I’m experience, but not assume that every client will be like the short-term disappointment, but it leads to a stronger reputation organisations we have worked with before. Each is unique. left believing that somehow male in the long term (not least because clients will think we are in consultants are more capable than URBAN BIAS demand and hard to get). women. So in much of my work I rely Saying ‘no’ is also about choosing jobs where we feel we on my male co-consultants to make Many of us live and work in urban areas, and are familiar and can make a difference, where there is scope for change, a tough decisions or take the leadership comfortable with an urban culture. Because of this, we may role. I’ve even turned down the role not fully appreciate the challenges and opportunities of a rural willingness to learn. This goes back to interrogating the client’s of lead consultant, proposing a man context. motive at the start. While we will never have perfect knowledge instead. I have to constantly battle before we start, we can get a sense by asking probing questions: with the mutating effects of my EDUCATIONAL BIAS How will you use this? What will happen after it is finished? upbringing. Many of us have benefited from a good education, which may I’ve done this through lots of self- lead us to think we have the answers and so ignore people’s WORK ON YOUR WEAKNESSES awareness work like biography and indigenous knowledge and wisdom. If we are not aware of the baggage we bring into every personality exercises. I’ve mapped Obviously, no consultant is the same as another. We are all situation, we run the risk that we will manipulate and do more out areas for attention and but also unique, different instruments. There is great value in working harm than good. As Parker Palmer warns leaders: ‘By failing to highlighted my strengths. I now focus out for ourselves and for prospective clients ‘who I am’ as a look at our shadows, we feed a dangerous delusion that leaders much more on appreciating and consultant. It helps us know what sort of consulting work we celebrating my God-given gifts. (or consultants) too often indulge: that our efforts are always are likely to do well, how well we will fit with a client and what well-intended, our power is always benign, and the problem Edna Chilimo sort of work will give us energy and enjoyment. is always in those difficult people whom we are trying to lead’ (Palmer, 1999:79). We can work on weaknesses by learning continuously and our cultivating character. 114 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 115 LEARNING CONTINUOUSLY Others prefer more structure. They might answer questions such as: TEACHING A mountain guide has to know their stuff. To be a good change What happened? YO U R S E L F agent we need to develop our understanding and skills in facilitating What surprised me? A colleague, who was amazed human change. How do I feel about this? that I had learnt Urdu (and later The greatest asset that a consultant can learn from is their Mongolian) over the age of 40, What do I think about this? experience. We can use every assignment we do to develop our once told me that there are competencies. Yet, so often consultants are caught up with the next What have I learnt from this? two main adult learning styles. assignment. Our learnings remain vague, undigested and personal. What actions will I take as a result of my learning? There are those who do all their The key to improving our facilitation is to regularly stop and think learning when they are young-ish I find that writing down my reflections helps me. Sometimes they and regurgitate what they have about our current consultancy experiences. Every consultancy, are raw thoughts, jottings in a journal. At other times, I have tried learnt for the rest of their working especially the ones that do not go as planned, is an opportunity to blog. The discipline of trying to communicate my learning to an life. Others prefer to build on a for growth. My two most ‘disastrous’ assignments have provided outside audience forces me to order my thoughts and clarify what basic education and continue to me with my best learning. They were like doing a crash course in I really think. learn (largely under their own consulting. steam) for the rest of their lives. Obviously, consultants can also learn from others. No consultant is Mee-Yan Cheung-Judge (2003) recommends five ways we can This is not simply learning by good at everything. If we are weak in a certain area, we may want doing, but learning in order to develop our own habits for continuous learning: to invest time and resources in developing our skills. It could be do and reinforcing the learning Continually develop and enhance competences in order to move presentation and public speaking skills, or writing, or our creative while doing the actual work. As flexibly along the various roles required facilitations or coaching skills. The list is endless. However, our a self-taught practitioner, it is my Develop relationships with peers and professionals with whom learning should not just focus on our weaknesses. Often the best preferred approach to learning to check perspectives, talk through challenges and strategies and investments are in our strengths. Taking something we are already and involves intensive prior align values and practices good at and making it even better. However, what matters is that research updating my knowledge as a consultant we do not feel we have arrived and rest on our since the last job covering a Actively seek feedback from clients and colleagues laurels. A good consultant is continually improving. similar theme. It does mean that, Build a knowledge base in the field even when this seems neither as I jump from job to job, often urgent nor critical Learning is also about integrity. Consultant and writer Peter Block completely different in subject puts it in stark terms: matter, scale or region, this makes Take responsible risks that stretch your professional comfort zone and proficiency ‘Our ability to facilitate the learning of others is absolutely dependent on it harder to process the learning, our willingness to make our own actions a legitimate source of inquiry. refine it and share it more widely. Different people find they can do this in different ways. Some Our need for privacy and our fear of the personal are the primary reasons But the method suits me well, have a colleague or friend (or supervisor) with whom they discuss why organisational change is more rhetoric than reality. Real change perhaps because I started life as a learning after each intervention. Framework consultants have a comes from our willingness to own our own vulnerability, confess our freelance journalist. failures and acknowledge that many of our stories do not have a happy formal system of peer supervision with a colleague who discusses ending’ John Beauclerk their assignments with them regularly. (Peter Block in Harrison R (1995) A consultant’s journey) People have found it helpful to start a journal or a folder where for every OD intervention or facilitation experience they jot down Integrity for consultants means making sure that our actions what they have learnt. ‘Free writing’ is one way of doing it: writing are consistent with what we believe. Integrity is about setting without stopping for a set amount of time (five to ten minutes). You ourselves high standards and holding ourself accountable for them. just let your pen and your mind wander where they will. Sometimes it helps to have a prompt, such as ‘From this consultancy I learnt…’ 116 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 117 SET YOURSELF HIGH STANDARDS A few years ago, I tried to make my implicit beliefs about change more TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF IMBALANCE explicit. I analysed all my experience with organisational and leadership AT W O R K development. I thought about changes in my own life. I wrote down MANAGE YOUR BOUNDARIES A big challenge for many consultants is to manage themselves by I am so passionate about how I believed change occurred in organisations. I then created some my work. Doing good and standards for my consultancy to assist me to know whether my practice setting appropriate boundaries. These might be: contributing to society is my way was reflecting what I believed – that I was doing the ‘best’ that I could. Time boundaries – how much we want to work, whether we can of worshipping God. But it means squeeze that extra request in I spend most of my time at work. CONSULTANCY QUALITY STANDARDS Type of work boundary – whether we take on something outside I tend to accept most work I’m offered, with or without payment, our core competence In every consultancy I do, I commit myself to: because I see an opportunity to Client boundary – whether we work with the commercial sector learn and to contribute. I usually Ensure the client takes responsibility for change or a particular type of CSO work in at least three different Understand the situation from the client’s perspective Work location boundary – where the work will take place and for projects at the same time. It how long? leaves me feeling overwhelmed. Take a people-centred approach Address relationships (including leadership) within the organisation Fee boundary – what do we feel is an appropriate fee rate? My wife tells me that I am a Many of us resist the idea of limits. We see limits as something to ‘workaholic’. I’m realising that Create safe, ‘sacred’ spaces in change processes overcome. However, limits can be a gift if we have self-control and there are dangers in making Integrate a spiritual dimension work the biggest and most good time management. Time is not ‘against us’. Time is our friend, Attend to the implementation of change significant part of my life. My not our enemy, but we have to steward it wisely. If we are too sense of well-being depends on Live out spiritual virtues of humility, compassion, patience, busy, we have probably been too lazy or not courageous enough my work accomplishments. My determination, generosity, self-control, honesty to prioritise. We may be not so much active as lost. When we family and health become second refuse to be intentional, we become too busy. Consultants need priority. I need balance. I need to the courage to say ‘no’ regularly and routinely. Otherwise, we will remember that my service to civil I now use these standards in all my consultancy. When planning a fall into the trap that Douglas Steere (quoted by Kaplan, 2002:187) society is more like a marathon consultancy, I use them to make sure what I am suggesting is consistent points out: that needs endurance rather than with what I believe. When tendering for work I usually send these to ‘The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, sprint race that aims to achieve potential clients, so that they know the approach I aspire to take. During short goal in short time. perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence... It destroys the assignments, I try to go back and check, ‘How am I doing?’ And at the fruitfulness of [one’s] work because it kills the roots of inner wisdom end, I also stop and reflect on what went well and what I could have which make work fruitful.’ Ibnu Mundzir improved. Other consultancy networks, such as Framework,8 have a code of practice that shapes what work they take on and how they do it. Consultants have to become extremely good at managing their time. It includes setting aside time for learning and keeping Being clear about their values and practical principles helps ourselves fit. consultants perform the balancing act between doing what the client is asking and pushing their own ideas about what is really needed. Many programme evaluators, for example, have the principle of always involving the target group in a meaningful way. They would bring this principle into any negotiations of a ‘top-down, accountability, impress-the-donor’ type of evaluation. 118 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 119 KEEP FIT FOR CONSULTING SPIRITUALLY If we are to bring our best to our work as consultants, we have Some people find that spirituality is an important way to keep to look after ourselves – emotionally, mentally, physically and RECONCILING themselves motivated and energised: connected to a sense of MINDFULNESS spiritually. We all need regular maintenance and care. Parker higher purpose and the deeper questions about the meaning FA M I LY G U I LT of life. Because our beliefs profoundly influence our values, Mindfulness meditation is a practice Palmer (1999) points out: that helps us to pay attention – without My work requires a lot of travelling connecting with spirituality can be an important way to help ‘Self-care is never a selfish act – it is simply good stewardship of the only judgement – to our moment-to-moment away from my family. My three sons’ us live up to those values. Spirituality may be, but is not gift I have, the gift I was put on the earth to offer others. Anytime we can experience. needs do not wait for me to return. listen to our true selves and give it the care it requires, we do so not only My friends, extended family and necessarily, religious.9 Practising mindfulness involves mind- for ourselves but for the many others whose lives we touch.’ community have clear expectations People use different activities to recalibrate, reflect and orientate and body-based practices that help us to of my role in looking after my family understand our mind’s tendency to work PHYSICALLY and keeping it stable. They say, ‘Be themselves: prayer, meditation, retreats or group meetings, on automatic pilot, and to time travel very careful: this job may cost you conferences, pilgrimages and other events. These practices can into the future and the past – even when If we are not physically well, we will underperform as consultants. your family.’ I feel guilty. So I try connect us to a deeper sense of belonging and interconnectedness we try to stay with the present moment. We therefore have a duty to our clients to look after ourselves to to be a super-woman so that I can with others, with the environment and, for some, with God. It helps us to notice the assumptions, make sure we are as healthy as possible when we are consulting. leave everything in order before I biases and judgements that influence It helps bring perspective and reaffirms the importance of This may mean ensuring we have a good diet, we exercise regularly, travel. When I am away, I still try to the way we see things, and the way relationships over results and success. Connecting with the and we drink enough water (and not too much alcohol!). It manage my family from wherever I we behave. It helps us to recognise our am. This sometimes makes me lose spiritual can help us become more authentic, compassionate and may also mean that we give ourselves enough time to rest with tendency to live through our minds – concentration at work and fail to rest accepting of ourselves and others. We can feel more loved and and our non-stop thinking – rather than appropriate sleep patterns and taking regular breaks from work. enough after a long day’s work. accepted, rather than driven to achieve. Spirituality can help keep through our direct experience. Our Rest days are essential and holidays improve performance. Bruce I am steadily developing more us humble, but also inspired with hope. body and senses tell us a lot about our Britton relates: ‘When I first became a consultant, I received good experience and yet we often seem to advice to put holidays in next year’s diary first. Sadly, I ignored this confidence to express myself without Spirituality is not just a touchy-feely, civil society interest. be disconnected or uninterested. We worrying too much about what for years, creating unnecessary stress and frustration in my family. others think especially because I am The commercial world is learning the value of such practices. recognise, through mindfulness practice, Now I have learnt to put it into practice.’ Wagner-Marsh and Conley observe that ‘a great number of highly how we tend to relate to our thoughts, a woman. I am constantly challenging bodily sensations and emotions. It helps myself to let go whenever I am diverse firms are moving ahead with attempts to instil a spiritual EMOTIONALLY us see why we can become vulnerable away from home and celebrate approach to their corporate cultures’ (Wagner-Marsh and Conley, to stress, unhappiness or rigid thinking. Consulting can be a lonely profession, particularly because of the my husband’s contribution to our 1999:292). They highlight Fortune 100 firms such as TDIndustries, Learning mindfulness helps us to make relationship when he takes on my travelling and time away from home that it often involves. Such ascribed gender roles in the family Xerox, Exxon and the Bank of Montreal which ‘all have a spiritual choices about where to place our absences can be difficult for family life, as Doreen Kwarimpa-Atim dimension to leadership and management development attention, and what intentions and context. This sets me free to commit programmes’ (Ibid: 294). attitudes to bring to each moment, so from Uganda describes: myself fully to my work. that we can support our well-being. It It is also a challenge for travelling consultants to maintain and Doreen Kwarimpa-Atim can also help us to think clearly, build develop friendships. But we need friends. We need to relax and emotional resilience and improve our interpersonal skills, all of which can have fun. We know friendships need effort. We have to invest time contribute to being effective in our work. in them. We will serve our clients no better than we live as a friend. Paula Haddock MENTALLY Being a CSO consultant is not an easy profession. It can easily damage your soul and spirit. It requires a degree of ‘stress hardiness’ to navigate the arduous task of making change happen. Consultants have to live with a lack of control while feeling accountable for the results. Consultancy requires a high degree of emotional intelligence, strong communication skills and an ability to build trust quickly. All of this is put to the test when tensions run P I LG R I M A G E high due to time, budget or a difference of opinion. When things After a strenuous winter with ups and downs in work, family and health, we decided we needed some spiritual do not go as planned, we can lose enthusiasm and self-confidence. refreshment. We decided to try the religious tradition of pilgrimage. If unchecked, it can lead to burn-out. Looking after ourselves is therefore crucial to sustain ourselves so that we can continue to We walked the last leg of the route to Santiago de Compostela, which involved 20–25 kilometres a day across Spain’s cold and rainy Galicia region. We learnt a lot about humility, as our younger, fellow pilgrims sped off ahead to nab the best bring encouragement and hope to others. hostel beds. A shell that every pilgrim wears on his or her pack represents this hard-won virtue. The pack itself represents Some consultants use the practice of mindfulness and see it as a the burden each one of us bears (though we cheated a bit by sending ours ahead each day!) Our major concern was how we would put up with each other for such long days on the trail but, like the born facilitators that we are, we talked valuable way to help them reflect, learn and feel resourced for the our way across the landscape in a companionable amble that only risked getting heated if the subjects of civil society work. or managing change, or indeed INTRAC, were to arise. After reaching Santiago, we took a bus to the ocean at Finisterre – literally the World’s End to earlier pilgrims. Refreshed we certainly were, but mindful too of the fate of so many other pilgrims, refugees from war or destitution in Mediterranean waters not so far from here. John Beauclerk and John Hailey 120 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 121 CULTIVATING CHARACTER Becoming a trustworthy consultant is ultimately about developing KEY LESSONS our character. It is about dealing with our shadows, our fears, areas in At the core of effective CSO consultancy is an authentic, trust-worthy which we are tempted. As a consultant, we have the privilege of being consultant. A consultant is her or his own best instrument for change. invited into the guts of an organisation. We get special access. We get to ask questions no-one else can. We are given time that no-one Being authentic means we have to clarify who we are as a consultant, else is. Yet, with such privilege comes responsibility. Decisions that are what we believe about change, what we bring, what we are not made affect people’s jobs, their lives and their own sense of identity. naturally so good at. An authentic consultant can discuss with a We have to tread softly on people’s lives. We are responsible for potential client at the outset their preferred approach to consulting. It bringing the best of ourselves to our work. helps a consultant to play to their strengths. Our effectiveness as consultants correlates closely to our character To become more trustworthy, we need to learn continuously. To be – which in turn depends on whether we are prepared to confront most effective in helping CSOs learn and change, we have to be open ourselves. Cultivating character is about wrestling with our to learning and changing ourselves. The most powerful source of our imperfections. It is about daring to look inside and take an inward learning is our own consultancy experience. Each assignment is a great journey. In the course of this confrontation with ourselves, we build opportunity to reflect and improve our practice for next time. Sadly, too character. As Alexander Solzhenitsyn said: many consultants let themselves get too busy and are not disciplined enough to stop and learn. ‘The line separating good and evil passes, not through states, not between classes, nor between political parties either – but right through every human Being disciplined requires self-management. We need to establish heart.’ appropriate boundaries for our time, our fees, our clients and the We have to be aware of our shadow sides and grapple with our own location of our work. These boundaries will be different for different temptations. I sometimes am disturbed to realise how much my pride, people. They will alter at different times of our lives. greed, impatience, laziness and even self-interest influences my work. We have to bring the very best of ourselves to our work if we are to None of us is immune from these. I find the antidote is actively to catalyse change in CSOs. We have a duty to keep ourselves as fit as cultivate spiritual virtues: possible. We need to be healthy physically to be effective consultants. Humility to look to value others’ contributions, to listen genuinely, However, more than just physical fitness, we also have a duty to look to be honest with myself, to own my weaknesses and to learn after our emotional, mental and, for some, our spiritual well-being. continuously Ultimately, how effective we are as consultants will come back to our Compassion for the client, not being ignorant of their weaknesses, character, as this influences how much a client will trust us. It means but being merciful. It means overcoming my adverse reactions to wrestling with our imperfections and cultivating the best in who we are. their poor behaviour and earnestly to desire the best for them, injecting hope that they can change. Patience to put up with a different pace and standards of a client Determination to produce work of the highest standards and to follow through rigorously Generosity in setting fee rates and time commitments within family boundaries. It is also about being generous in my relationships and my approach. Self-control to be a careful steward of my time and client resources Honesty to make sure feedback, reports and writings are full of grace and truth Most of us need outside help to do this. It may be a spouse, a friend, a work colleague. What is important is that we seek support from others to cultivate character. 122 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 123 CONCLUSION Reaching the summit and engaging constructively with emotional issues that will constrain or energise change. For significant organisational Consultancy for CSOs has to be about catalysing change. A well- change, reaching the summit may involve facing fears and letting go of written report, gathering dust on a shelf or in a file, is a waste of past attitudes and behaviours. Giving feedback in a way that has most time and money if it has not made a difference to the CSO. The likelihood of provoking a positive response from the CSO is an art. challenges of poverty and marginalisation are much too pressing Connecting with hope. To catalyse change a consultancy needs to and painful for poor CSO consulting. leave the client energised and hopeful that they can change. It is easy Whatever consultancy we are involved in, whether we do for consultants simply to criticise and leave the client demoralised, evaluations, strategic planning, project planning, systems design, depressed and sometimes angry. Creative techniques that bring fun and resource mobilisation or leadership development, we all want our laughter into difficult situations can be helpful. Engaging with a client’s clients to learn and change. The same applies regardless of the faith, if they have one, may prove vital. sector we work in, whether environment, advocacy, livelihoods or Disciplined planning. To implement change well, a client has to plan for child rights. We have to become adept in catalysing change in other it in a way that ensures staff take responsibility. A consultant may need to people. This is no easy task. facilitate a collaborative planning process that helps the CSO staff identify To catalyse change effectively, consultants have to be trusted and clear goals and prioritise activities in a feasible timeframe. therefore trust-worthy. It is about having the necessary: Accompanying the real work of implementation. This last part of the Commitment change process is when change really happens. The journey is not yet over. Consultants may need to walk alongside CSO clients, who, by Competence now, are tired. They often play a valuable role in motivating leaders Character and change management teams to put into practice what they have to make a difference. It is about consulting with soul. promised to do differently. This book has looked at change as if it were like going up and down Ultimately, we believe that at the heart of every effective consultancy a mountain. Obviously not all mountains are the same height. It is an effective consultant. A consultant is her or his own best tool. is the same with consulting. Relatively small changes in a single Meddling in another organisation’s life is a responsibility we should not department may be little more than ‘a hill of change’, requiring take lightly. As consultants, we often have the power to inspire change, limited letting go. But if dealing with major issues of CSO identity, but also to damage people’s self-confidence and well-being. We can leadership or strategy, such consultancies require change that harm our clients. is more significant. As consultants, we need to be like mountain The global challenges of poverty, disease, conflict, migration, climate guides, motivating and helping clients find their way up difficult, change are far too urgent, far too important and far too complex to even frightening, peaks of change and then down the other side. address with egocentric, soulless consulting. CSO consultants are usually only with a client for a short part of We therefore have a duty to bring the best of ourselves to our their change journey. We may simply point out the way ahead consultancy work. We need to know ourselves, what we bring and how to the next stage or provide a quick word of encouragement or we tend to approach our work. This helps us play to our strengths. constructive criticism. But however long we are engaged, we We should also set ourselves demanding quality standards. We may have to do it in such a way that builds client ownership and their need to seek outside support to hold us to account for these and give capacity to do it themselves in the future. It is about consulting in us new ideas. To be as good as we can be, we should create habits for ways that increase the likelihood of positive change. continuous learning, systematically reflecting on our experiences and This book has highlighted the importance of: finding ways to learn from others. We have to work on ourselves – ruthlessly – continuously strengthening our commitment, competence Carefully examining the different motives for change. The client, and even working on our characters. It takes courage to wrestle with our and in particular the leadership, have to have enough willingness to imperfections and actively cultivate virtues of humility, compassion, and change to overcome the inherent tendency to continue as before. self-discipline. Genuine change is not something that can be inflicted on a CSO by a funder, however well-meaning they are. There is no absence of need in the world. There is no absence of opportunities to support civil society as consultants, whether we are Listening extremely well to understand the unique situation of paid or unpaid. We are here on this earth for a relatively short time. We every CSO client. This involves appreciating the broader context in are here to make a unique and positive contribution to this world. Let us which the CSO operates as well as investigating how the CSO really make a lasting difference by consulting with soul. works – below the waterline. Facilitating the client to work out for itself both the key issues and ways forward. This encourages ownership and greatly increases the likelihood of the client implementing change. 124 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 125 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING ENDNOTES Adair J (2002) Effective strategic leadership, Macmillan, London of organizational transformation’, Journal of Organizational Change 1 https://aidleap.org/2015/03/30/development-consultants-over-paid-over-rated-and-over-used/ Armson R (2011) Growing wings on the way – systems thinking for Management Vol. 10, No 5, 1997, MCB University Press, pp 393–411 2 The Times newspaper Dec 2016 messy situations, Triarchy Press, Axminster Lippitt, G., and Lippitt, R., (1978) The consultancy process in action, 3 Adapted from Beauclerk et al., 2011: 11 Balogun J and Hope Hailey V (2008) (3rd ed) Exploring strategic change, Pfeiffer and Co., San Diego 4 http://www.iconsulting.org.uk/membership/what_consulting Harlow Prentice Hall Machiavelli N, The Prince, (1532 republished 1995), Everyman, London 5 Narayan D (2000) Voices of the poor: can anyone hear us? 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C4C is developing a cohort of for sustainable development in communities. over their own future. Our vision is that people individuals to provide sustainable, high quality Nama Foundation has a keen interest in the are able to come together and to organise in consultancy services to non-governmental and activation of civil society and lifting civil society’s forms that are effective, sustainable, rooted and civil society organisations in their own countries. level of performance by developing the capacity legitimate in their own societies; and are able of the third sector organisations. to participate in a vibrant and interconnected global movement for social justice, human rights and environmental sustainability.