David A. Fields Consulting Group Consulting is a great profession. However, occasionally consulting can be decidedly un-fun. A total bummer. When that happens, it’s time to turn to the tips outlined below.
My colleagues and I frequently hear tales of woe from consulting firm leaders. Down days caused by revenue slumps, rejected proposals, engagements that head south, and even clients who don’t appreciate puns.
It’s hardly surprising that most consultants talk to us about the gap between reality and their desired reality. And those requests for help often wear a patina of discouragement.
Consulting delivers more than its fair share of rejection and energy-sucking interactions.
That’s because of the deeply personal nature of small consulting firms. Someone who represents a big company or sells a product can separate themselves from the value of the offering. You and I can’t do that.
When a prospect rejects your proposal, it feels like a repudiation of your ideas, your competence and your credibility.
Then pile on the occasional blow after your firm wins an engagement: the disappointed client whose expectations are unmet, the laboriously crafted recommendation that is rejected or ignored, or perhaps the fixed-fee engagement that has slid into money-losing territory.
Given this backdrop, is it any wonder that discouragement is a well-known visitor at most consulting firms?
Fortunately, you’re resilient.
Sooner or later you usher unwelcome emotions out the door then resume the business of winning engagements and delivering value.
But the gap between sooner and later has a huge impact on your balance sheet and your heart.
When your rebound is slow, you lose essential opportunities to reinforce your brand equity, nurture promising prospects, and close projects on the cusp.
Plus, if you don’t rebound fully, you’re at risk of losing two essential ingredients for consulting success: passion and conviction.
The tips below will help you overcome the consulting blues faster and more fully.
7 Tips to Overcome the Consulting Blues
Take a Break
A real break. A “power” break, if you will.
The research is clear: we do not analyze our situation well when we’re in a negative frame of mind. When you’re in the depths of discouragement, “pushing through” is counterproductive.
Whether you take an hour, a day, or a week, set all thoughts of the business aside, and fully escape the gravity of your consulting practice.
Take a Walk
Or a run, or a skate or a swim. Or be really ambitious and swim with skates on.
The research on the impact of exercise on mood is also irrefutable. Interestingly, the literature shows that not everyone enjoys exercise while it’s happening, but the post-workout effect is consistent.
Physiologically, the vigorous activity produces endorphins. Psychologically, we get the added boost of a sense of accomplishment.
Take Credit
Put a point on the board and acknowledge your success. Even a minor victory changes the trajectory of your cognitions and emotions.
Fortunately, you’ve just put two points on the board: you took a break and you exercised. Give yourself props for already setting yourself on the path back to go-getter land.
Add a win by accomplishing any small task. Answer an email from a client. Make a list of prospects you’ll call when your attitude is adjusted. Read an article you set aside. Throw out that pile of articles you’re never really going to read.
Your goal is simply to cross something off the list with a flourish and a sense of accomplishment.
Take Advice
You’d think consultants, of all people, would embrace outside counsel. Wrong.
Move past the “doctors make the worst patients” nonsense and get a mentor, coach or advisor. Every top performer has one.
In addition to improving your consulting firm’s performance, your advisor can trot out your successes and highlight the evidence of your wonderfulness when despair is hiding them from your view.
Make a Plan
Your discouragement is rooted in perceived lack of control and shaken belief in your ability to accomplish your objectives as a consulting firm leader. The antidote is to assert control by outlining a clear path from where you are to where you want to be.
(Be careful: a poorly constructed plan increases the likelihood that you’ll lose hope.)
While “big, hairy, audacious goals” are nice in theory and terrific rhetorically, the research shows you’re more likely to thrive by setting then achieving an upward trajectory of modest objectives.
Also, acknowledge what you can’t control. For instance, you can’t control whether prospects pick up the phone.
Make a Ritual
Bolstering your spirits only when they’re down is like visiting the dentist only when you find a cavity. Painful and expensive.
Take a planned break every day, every week and a few times a year.
Ritualize your exercise routine.
Note your accomplishments at the end of every day or every morning.
Update your mentor and seek advice a minimum of once a month.
Revisit your plan and assumptions quarterly. What did you think was in your control that actually isn’t? What small steps will progress you toward the big goal?
Make a Difference
Perhaps the best step you can take to climb out of the doldrums is to help someone else.
The blues and discouragement are legitimate. They’re also upside down, because they reflect your thoughts about yourself.
The act of helping others pushes you Right-Side Up–your focus is on them, not you, which is good for your psyche and good for your consulting practice.
You don’t have to don firefighting equipment and save someone from a raging fire or retrieve a cat stuck in a tree. Volunteering at the library, serving lunch at the local soup kitchen or even rescuing a neighbor from a cookie craving will boost your mood.
Consulting is a rough and tumble world, and as a consulting firm leader you’re likely to take some emotional knocks along the way.
With the seven tips above, you’ll walk away with minor dings instead of major dents. You’ll spend less time singing the blues and more time whistling your way to the bank.
How else could you chase the consulting blues away?
Text and images are © 2024 David A. Fields, all rights reserved.
Great insights David!
Thank you for the feedback, Doc. I neglected to mention in the tips that another good practice is to hang out with fun, uplifting folks like you!
Agreed with all of the above. I also sneak in a fun or pro-bono project, to use my skills in a different way while I wait.
Excellent, Agnes! Using your skills to create some delight for yourself is a great way to chase away the blues, and using them to help a cause that otherwise couldn’t afford your services is uplifting and inspiring.
Thank you for being a great example, Agnes!
In “Big Magic” Elizabeth Gilbert says that every job (including writing) involves tasks and activities that are a sh!t sandwich. She suggests that we embrace even savor that sandwich. It’s what separates the successful from the unsuccessful.
What’s yours?
Great perspective, Jay. In some ways, that’s like embracing challenging clients because we know those client will stretch us and our firms to deliver better, to work smarter, and to find new ways to create value and delight those who hire us. There is benefit to adversity.
I’m glad you reminded me and other readers about importance of tough times, Jay!
Who says spring cleaning the office and catching up with filing is not therapeutic?!
Right you are, Benjamin! There’s scientific evidence that clutter and chaos sap our energy and bring us down. Cleaning up and cleaning out both restore a clear sense that we can move forward powerfully.
Terrific addition, Benjamin!
Under the category of “Take a break” I would add (Re)Connect. Catching up with an old friend or grabbing coffee with a neighbor is a two-fer: it’s a break AND it can provide a different perspective. You might see things differently because of something that came up during your conversation. Or your friend/neighbor might have a contact that needs your help. Connections are great for the soul (and hopefully for business).
Well said, Carrie. Relationships are the ultimate source of wealth, health and happiness. Renewing a relationship, creating a new relationship, or reinforcing your current relationships will all give you a lift when you need one.
Thank you so much for highlighting that source of positive energy, Carrie!