Monthly Archives: May 2016

TNF #035: Gentlemen of style

Welcome Professionals…

…appearance and style are of high importance for the top management consultant. Since our services are generally hard to measure by objective and accessible performance indicators, the law of analogy applies. Our clients will build simple analogies. A sloppy outfit is linked to a sloppy analysis. A clumsy dress style is linked to a confused working style. We do not want this to get into our way.

There is not that one wardrobe that works for all consultants. In fact, dressing patterns vary heavily by region and by client industry and even company size. Whether you work in Milano or Detroit, whether you work in banking or fast moving consumer goods, the proper style will be relative to the one of your clients. In relation to the client, the top management consultant will always dress:

a bit more formal
a bit more smart
a bit more classic / conservative

Furthermore, our wardrobe should be fitting well, be in a good state and good shape, and project rather humble understatement than pretentious status symbols.

While these principles apply equally to men it women, it is usually the male species that is looking for a bit more practical advice and guidance. Here are some links to experts for you.

Aaron Marino is the pioneer of men style blogs and one of the most successful contributors in this areas. His videos cover everything from casual and formal clothing across fitness and grooming to even communication. Blessed with a good sense of humour, he is also quite entertaining. (http://www.iamalpham.com)

Sven Raphael Schneider from the Gentleman’s Gazette promotes a very elegant style that is in most cases much too dapper and dandy for any top management consultant. However, he has the best collection of background information on how to judge quality of garments, how to bind a proper necktie with a dimple, how to even tie your shoelaces and much more. Some fashion advice is clearly over the top, but some is quite practical. (http://www.gentlemansgazette.com)

A good entertaining and inspiring blog can also be found by Brian Sacawa, a professional musician and former elite-level bicycle racer. His page “he spoke style” is a playful explanation of core principles in menswear. (http://hespokestyle.com)

Of course, there are many more addresses for tips and tricks. Hope you like that one and curious to learn your additions to this topic.

Malte

Thursday Night Flight is brought to you by Malte Müller Professionals. Sharing best practices for top management consultants on topics like communication, client handling, problem solving, appearance, and fitness. Check out www.mm-professionals.com for more material and free resources!

TNF #034: Do you have a prescription?

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Welcome Professionals…

…as top management consultants, we are selling cures to management problems. We are literally selling a project or mandate and in a figurative sense, we are selling our ideas, concepts, approaches and so on. Our client needs to buy into it. Our client needs to apply our product to make a change.

Someone made me aware of an interesting analogy. A physician is someone curing health problems. Just like a consultant, this professional also needs clients (called patients) to buy into his/her concepts and to apply solutions (called medicine) in order to make a change. The difference is, that in most cases, the medical practitioner does not even make the attempt to sell something.

Think of your own experience when consulting a physician. In most cases, he/she will listen to the problem, make a diagnosis and write a prescription. And – in most cases – the patient will accept it and thankfully apply it. Why is this the case? I came to the following observation:

The physician addresses a very important if not existential problem of the client which came to see him/her for this
The physician suggest’s in most cases only one solution
The physician acts with a natural authority

Wouldn’t it be great if we could move our clients by writing a prescription to them? What in our process do we have to change if we wanted to act with the same persuasiveness as a physician? The problem that we address? The argumentation on the solution? Our communication style?

Let’s think about this for a week!

Malte

TNF #033: What’s your USP?

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Welcome Professionals…

…such a simple question, isn’t it? What’s your USP? Do you have an answer for it?

I sat with the founder and CEO of a consulting company today. He has been running the company for 7 years now and they are quite successful. They have a cooperation with one of the Big 4 accounting firms and have clients among Fortune 500 companies.

When I asked him: “What’s your USP?”, I received a lengthy answer that sounded rather like the company’s history. “We started with…, then we did that project…, then we discovered that…, and I think we are pretty good at…”

It is of utmost importance that every one of us has a crisp and convincing answer to this elementary question! Right after the meeting I went to stand in front of the mirror and said loudly to myself: What’s your USP?

To be honest: It was worth practicing. I thought I would have had a better spontaneous answer. Finally, I wrote it down in my notebook. Not to forget my personal USP and to review it from time to time.

Try it by yourself: What’s your USP?

TNF #032: Easy like Sunday morning

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Welcome Professionals…

…our job as top management consultants is to solve problems for our clients. We do that usually by applying rigorous analytics. However, sometimes I get stuck on a problem. I am ruminating about a certain task and actually turning in circles. With a bit of distance, I can see that I am out of balance.

What helps then is when I go home and pick up my guitar. I play around and sing along which is bringing me back to balance. My interpretation is that I am sometimes getting a bit too left brained, focusing almost all my brain power on analytics. Playing guitar and singing is activating the right side of the brain. It stimulates the creativity.

And yes, it works. A few moments later, I usually find a creative solution to the analytical problem I was thinking of before.

What are your ways of getting into analytical/creative balance? I see more and more people around me drawing, for instance while they are sitting in a plane. What are your Thursday Night Flight activies?

Anyways, next thing in our office kitchen I found myself singing: easy like Sunday morning…

Malte