Part of the Furniture

I am very lucky to work with some fabulous long term clients, and this does have very many pros. I have recently been reminded of one of the cons I should always I keep in mind and I wanted to share that with you.

As an external consultant, people buy my time and expertise often because I am external. My main job is to be impartial, hold up a mirror to the organisation, let them know what I am seeing, speaking the truth to power and often to find a way to get leaders to hear things they don’t really want to. All to improve the organisation, in service of the organisation.

Just recently I’ve been reminded of how precious that is, to the organisation I am in service of AND to me. I chose to be an independent consultant, so I could be that, do that and not worry about whether people didn’t take the news well, however kind I might be in the delivery.

Sometimes, if we get too comfortable, or we become too fearful (for whatever reason) that our client might not like what we have to say that they stop wanting to hear us, then we may begin to fail to be in service of the organisation. I had one of those lightbulb moments recently when coaching someone else about their approach to setting up their own business, and integrity, and I realised for a moment I had become a bit too comfortable with some of my clients.

So I had a long talk to myself and remembered why I shook off the corporate mantle. I’ve made a career out of being on the outside looking in, even when I was on a board and part of the executive, I’ve never been afraid to stand up for what is right, say the unpopular thing and speak the truth to power. So why now, why in some situations, why at those times.

Really thinking deeply and reflecting about those whys, my conclusion is the same old stuff. Confidence, anxiety, imposter syndrome, will people like me, will I get more work. Once I figured that out, I could remember why I became an independent, external consultant in the first place, and all that “stuff” diminished because I reminded myself that the very thing I was toning down, was the very thing people (well most of them!) wanted from me. My voice, my view, my honesty, my impartiality and the fact that really I had nothing to lose by telling them how it was. As an internal, we always have our job to lose, as an external, we might lose that job because they are not ready to hear, but there will be another one, somewhere where the team absolutely need you as you are.

So after all that self-talk I found the clarity to distance myself enough to be objective, not get sucked into being one of the team, because I am not, nor should I be. Hired as a consultant, I should be consulting, contributing my expertise, fitting in enough to be useful, but very much keeping enough distance to be objective, dispassionate and always in service of the organisation not part of the furniture!

If you are interested in self-talk, imposter syndrome etc, perhaps our Female Leadership and Growth program is for you – www.peopleandodpartners.com