27MAINTAINING YOUR EDGE AS

A CONSULTANT AND ASAN ORGANIZATION

VICKIV. VANDAVEER

As a consultant, you are the primary instrument in the consulting engage-ment. All other tools (e.g., measures, methods, processes, other resources) aresecondary because they are selected, developed, adapted, prepared, and/or usedby you, the primary instrument. There is probably universal agreement thatany instrument needs to be well maintained (i.e., kept sharp, nourished, pol-ished, exercised, honed—and occasionally modified or adapted) for it to con-tinue to be effective in serving its purposes. I/O consultants vary considerablyin their perspectives on what "maintaining one's edge" exactly means—andhow to do it.

In preparing to write this chapter—realizing that I did not have all oreven most of the answers—I interviewed six seasoned and highly accom-plished I/O consultants in different settings and different positions to get theirthoughts, perspectives, and secrets to maintaining their edge:

• Hodges Golson is cofounder and senior partner of the Manage-ment Psychology Group in Atlanta, Georgia. A consultant tobusiness organizations since 1976 and a diplomate in I/O psy-chology, he focuses his practice on, and has extensive experiencein, leadership assessment, sales assessment, test construction,

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validation, and statistical analysis. His book, Influence for Impactwas published in 2006 by iUniverse (Golson, 2006).

• P. Richard Jeanneret is president of Valtera (Houston, Texas;formerly managing principal, Jeanneret & Associates, Inc.)and a fellow of the Society for Industrial and OrganizationalPsychology and the American Psychological Association, hasextensive experience in individual assessment, organizationaldiagnosis and strategic change, and providing expert testi-mony in matters involving employment discrimination. Hehas written scholarly articles and has served as editor forindustry books and journals, including a widely recognized andcited text on individual psychological assessment (Jeanneret& Silzer, 1998).

• Pamela Kennedy is a business consulting psychologist and theprincipal of PK & Associates (Houston, Texas), which shefounded in 1986. Her national and international practice focuseson executive coaching, change management, and leadership teamdevelopment. She has been a critical force in helping numer-ous companies build powerful teams and develop strong leadersduring times of organizational upheaval and change.

• Allen Parchem is chairman and CEO of RHR International(Wood Dale, Illinois). In his 27-year career, he has consultedwith top-level senior management executives and humanresource departments at major international corporations.Starting at RHR as a consultant in 1979, he rose from there tomanager of the firm's Chicago office in 1985, then to seniorvice-president in 1991, president and COO in 1996, and chair-man in 1997.

• David B. Peterson is senior vice-president and the team leaderof executive coaching services at Personnel Decisions Inter-national, which he joined in 1985. He is the coauthor, withMary Dee Hicks, of Leader as Coach (1996) and DevelopmentFIRST: Strategies for Self-Development (1995). Based in San Fran-cisco, his consulting work is focused on executive coaching,leadership development, and helping organizations design, man-age, and evaluate their coaching programs.

• Dale Thompson is the founder and CEO of Leadership WorthFollowing, a consulting firm based in Dallas, Texas. Prior tolaunching his own business, he enjoyed a long and distin-guished career as executive vice-president—North America, atPersonnel Decisions International (PDI; Minneapolis, Min-nesota) and as executive vice president—chief people officer atHitachi Consulting (Dallas, Texas). Thompson is, at the time

228 VICKI V. VANDAVEER

of this writing, president of the Society of Psychologists inManagement.

If you sometimes feel that you may be losing your edge, you are in goodcompany. All of us do from time to time! In fact, if you never feel that way, itmight be a good idea to check your degree of self-awareness, just so you won'tget blindsided. Those feelings are valuable. Just like when the low-fuel indica-tor on our car lets us know when it's time to refuel, good self-awareness anten-nae, along with other valuable indicators (e.g., feedback, change in volume ofbusiness), will let us know when it's time to refuel, renew, and retool. Regularmaintenance, however, is highly recommended over waiting until your bum-out alarms go off or your client work falls off.

This chapter is organized around five core questions I asked the colleaguesI interviewed, and focuses first on maintaining one's own edge, followed byrequirements for an organization to maintain its edge. Interviews were con-ducted between November 27, 2006, and December 11, 2006. Quotes fromindividuals are acknowledged as personal communications, and commentsmade without attribution are my own or the majority view.

WHAT DOES "MAINTAINING YOUR EDGE"MEAN TO YOU? HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE IT?

The perspectives of the colleagues I interviewed, combined with my own,show clearly that defining "maintaining one's edge" is subjective and values-based (P. Kennedy, personal communication, 2007). That is, the defini-tion depends to a large extent on what you want or are trying to achieve. AsPeterson noted, for example, "It's a competitive world and if you want to sur-vive, it is critical to continually develop, anticipate trends and needs, innovate,etc. But your values will determine how hard you work at it." (D. Peterson, per-sonal communication) As D. Thompson put it,

If you value work-life balance more than being "cutting edge" (i.e., atthe forefront of thought leadership, product or process innovation, etc.),and if you are making a decent income and enjoying your work, thenmaintaining your edge will likely require less effort and time than thatrequired of someone whose desire is to be "cutting edge," or world-renowned. (D. Thompson, personal communication, 2007)

The definition may also depend on what you do (P. R. Jeanneret, per-sonal communication, 2007). For example, if your consulting practice isselection or test development, maintaining your edge will involve keeping upto date with technological and psychometric developments, as well as clientdemands and trends (e.g., incorporating testing into IT systems, globalizing,outsourcing).

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The concept seems easier to grasp at a subconscious level than to oper-ationally define (P. Kennedy, personal communication, 2007). Yet everyoneI spoke with had specific ways of conceptualizing "maintaining edge":

• "Not losing those things about myself that make me effectivefor my clients." (P. Kennedy, personal communication, 2007)

• "Thompson's 'three C's model of leadership' applies." (D.Thompson, personal communication, 2007)• Capacity—to do good work, to persevere and to adapt; and

to do it again and again—the next day(s);• Commitment—a deep and native interest that is self-

motivating; and• Character—integrity, ethics, and courage to earn and main-

tain client trust and to be accountable.• "Staying fresh and alert—not just settling into a comfortable

routine." (H. Golson, personal communication, 2007)• Maintaining business knowledge (A. Parchem, personal com-

munication, 2007):• Sociopolitical knowledge,• Knowledge of what your competitors are doing, and• Knowledge of what your client organizations are doing that

will be most important to their future.• Maintaining one's "edge" psychologically (A. Parchem, personal

communication, 2007):• Keeping abreast of the I/O psychology literature,• Reading business books,• Keeping your observational skills sharp—avoiding getting

trapped in old perceptions, and• Renewing yourself. When you feel yourself beginning to lose

your edge, it may be time to get away for a vacation, holiday,or retreat or to take some time alone to contemplate andrenew.

For consultants, maintaining one's edge can be seen as managing risk (i.e.,staying in business), providing the best to your clients, and helping ensuresustainability—for you, your enterprise, and your client organizations.

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE KEY DRIVERSFOR MAINTAINING ONE'S EDGE?

The interviewees and I identified a number of drivers that fit into threecategories: (a) personal characteristics of the consultant, (b) technology, and(c) external forces. We also identified personal characteristics that, whetherdrivers or not, were typical of consultants who best maintain their edge.

230 VICKI V. VANDAVEER

Personal Characteristics of the Consultant

These drivers may account for the greatest variability in the extent towhich different consultants are driven to maintain their edge. These includepersonal motivational drivers such as commitment, need for achievement,aspirations to be at the forefront of thought and innovation, natural curiosityand thirst for continual learning and growing, and even fear.

Commitment was described by several colleagues as a key motivationaldriver that differentiates consultants who best maintain their edge from others.It refers to dedication to one's work, one's clients, or one's own development.Here are some examples:

• "Deep commitment to one's work. Working in your area of deepinterest is self-motivating. Self-motivated skills are those thingsthat you are good at and that you really enjoy, and that othersreally value" (D. Thompson, personal communication, 2007).

• Full and unwavering commitment to clients, continuously striv-ing to remain at the top of their game in order to bring the bestto the client. This driver originates in any of a number of otherpersonal drivers, such as work ethic, degree of competitiveness,need for approval, and fear of failure.

• Additionally, "Some people have a deep and native interest—from early in life. Others wear out—or their interests and/orlevels of commitment change over time. Consultants can losetheir edge if they feel they are in a rut doing the same old thing"(D. Thompson, personal communication, 2007).

Fear is also a common driver, such as fear of obsolescence, fear of losingwhat you have, fear of losing face with professional colleagues, and fear ofdying professionally.

Additional personality characteristics we identified as potential driversincluded openness or open-mindedness (i.e., valuing learning, being open tonew ways of thinking and doing, not being content with status quo, not beingtoo high on arrogance), high degree of initiative, entrepreneurial spirit, andhigh need for achievement. It is also possible that characteristics such as feel-ings of insecurity or inadequacy, generalized fear of failure, or other moreuncomfortable characteristics can provide the impetus to maintain one's edge.

Some identifiable personal characteristics and skills, whether drivers ornot, appear to be typical among those who best maintain their edge. Theyinclude mental sharpness and agility, perceptivity, capacity, sensitivity toclient needs, high energy and stamina, high level of initiative, an entrepre-neurial spirit, and other personality characteristics.

Mental sharpness and agility are required to keep pace with the clientswe serve, including (a) "intellectual robustness that can synthesize a lot of

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different data efficiently and use it effectively" (A. Parchem, personal commu-nication, 2007) and (b) agile learning, perceptivity and mental responsiveness—to quickly and accurately "get" what the client is saying, intending, implying,assuming, wanting, and needing, or avoiding, not seeing, not understanding,not wanting, and so on—and to be able to respond effectively and quickly, oftenin the moment.

Capacity includes being able to handle a large number of different activi-ties and responsibilities or processing and using a large amount of complexinformation efficiently. It also means "persevering and adapting. This is a hugedifferentiator among consultants. Some people just wear out easily. Some can-not handle conflict—and don't keep going in the face of it" (D. Thompson, per-sonal communication, 2007).

Sensitivity to client needs is recognizing what the client is ready for andwhen. You may be on the cutting edge professionally or technologically, but ifyour client is not ready for that, all your hard work to maintain that edge willhave been wasted on that client, who may well prefer a different consultant whocan give them what they really need. I always advise the students in my gradu-ate professional issues class to accept the clients as they are—and to deliverwhat they need (i.e., don't build a Ferrari for them if what they need is a pickuptruck). Thus, maintaining edge does not always mean being at the cutting edge.It can mean maintaining your ability to identify what is needed, what the clientis ready for, what you may be able to influence them about, and what you prob-ably cannot influence.

High energy and stamina also typically distinguish those who best maintaintheir edge from others. This applies not only to "travel—[having] the physicalrobustness to do it a large percentage of the time" (A. Parchem, personal com-munication, 2007), but also to faithfully keeping deadline commitments,responding to additional client needs and demands, and at the same time ensur-ing sufficient new business is "in the pipeline."

Technology

Technology is such a pervasive and consistent external force that itdeserves its own category. A key driver for consultants who do assessmentor test development is "computerization of testing/assessment—and clientdemands for it—to the point where that is the only way they will accept it.That removes some of the personal touches that were possible before" (P. R.Jeanneret, personal communication, 2007).

Technological advancements in client organizations can also indirectlybecome drivers. For example, the technological sophistication of clients' com-munications and presentation media condition them to expect the same fromtheir consultants.

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External Forces

External forces that we identified as key drivers included (a) commodi-tization of consultants' products and services, (b) globalization, and (c) self-imposed factors.

A fact of consultant life is

camrnoditization—ultimately of everything we do. You have to keep devel-oping just to stay even. And if you want more than just staying even—ifyou want to be cutting edge, for example—then you have to be really seri-ous about your development. An example is 360° feedback. A decade ago,clients paid consultants a lot for customized development and administra-tion of 360° feedback surveys. Today, the surveys are easily available off theshelf or developed in-house, packaged with interpretive guidelines, devel-opment suggestions, and planning tools that replicate to some extentwhat a consultant used to do in person. Virtually anything that is inno-vative now—if people find it really useful—will eventually be commodi-tized. (D. Peterson, personal communication, 2007)

Another driver is globalization, including global consultant talent. "Weare competing against a larger and larger pool of consultants who provide theservices we provide, and many of them are hungry to get ahead" (D. Peterson,personal communication, 2007).

Some of the external forces are self-imposed. These include such thingsas an organization's having an advisory board (D. Thompson, personal com-munication, 2007) and an individual's having a good network for peer review—or having a new house with a big mortgage payment!

WHAT DO YOU DO TO MAINTAIN YOUR EDGE?WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND MOST EFFECTIVE?

There was a fairly high degree of similarity in responses among the col-leagues interviewed. Connecting professionally, reading broadly, exercising(physically, mentally, and [some say] spiritually), agile ongoing learning anddevelopment, and taking time out to renew were the main strategies named.

Stay Involved Professionally

All recommend staying involved professionally, and all named partici-pating in professional conferences as an excellent way to do that. "Peerskeep each other going; keep each other current" (P. R. Jeanneret, personalcommunication, 2007). It is important to "stay in touch with our area" (H.Golson, personal communication, 2007). I personally find learning from

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other areas of psychology and related fields very stimulating and enrichingof my practice.

Another effective strategy is "commit to do something. Put yourself onthe line—like agree to write a chapter, or participate in a conference program,or serve on a committee, etc." (H. Golson, personal communication, 2007).This is one of my own strategies. Last year I was invited to speak to a graduateMBA class on cross-cultural leadership development. After I had committedto do it, the professor told me that the class had read the book Culture, Leader'ship and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies (House, Hanges,Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004). 1 had not even heard of it. Too busy! I hadto scramble to get up to speed on that major study. This weighty book was nota quick read, but it reported on an important and impressive multinational,multicultural study of leadership that was completely relevant to the work Ido. I shared my practical experience with the students, and interacting withthem yielded new insights for us all. I came away exhilarated and feeling razor-sharp, for at least a little while.

Stay connected with colleagues outside of conferences "by interactionevery day in the office" (P. R. Jeanneret, personal communication, 2007).In addition,

Maintain relationships and learn from colleagues. The people who dothe best have a good network. They talk with them regularly, so theyhave a good feel for how they are measuring up. It's important not toisolate. Interact and learn from colleagues in other disciplines as well(e.g., marketing, finance, economics). (H. Golson, personal communi'cation, 2007)

Continue to Learn, Grow, and Develop

Two excellent methods are (a) attend professional conference programsand participate in the workshops and (b) regularly seek and use feedback.Feedback is critical to maintaining one's edge (i.e., regularly evaluating whatwe do, gathering data from clients and peers, as well as self-critique). I work,as P. Kennedy (personal communication, 2007) put it, to "continue to confrontand uncover my blind spots. You have to be open to candid feedback. Whenyou solicit and get feedback, it's harder to lose your edge." P. R. Jeanneret (per-sonal communication, 2007), stated that "the client is a good source of feed-back about your edge. Indicators include the extent to which the clientaccepts your counsel, whether you are invited back, and what other consult-ants are doing."

Another strategy for a consulting firm, no matter how small, is to havean advisory board. They ask good questions, challenge your thinking, andreally help you keep your edge.

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Read

Reading is another important strategy. As D. Peterson (personal com-munication, 2007) noted,

Read broadly, so you are exposed to a wide variety of ideas and trends. Oneexample is The Economist (globally oriented, in-depth articles on science,economics, politics, social trends). Especially if you read topics that you

normally wouldn't explore and continually think about how you mightcreatively use that information for your client work.

A few examples of books that have influenced my own thinking and workover the years are The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Kuhn, 1996); The Tooof Physics (Capra, 2000); and Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Voca-tion (Palmer, 1999).

Exercise

Maintaining physical and mental fitness is another important aspect ofmaintaining one's edge. "Develop the habits necessary to be physically robustenough to deal with all the demands and the travel" (A. Parchem, personalcommunication, 2007).

Take Time Out to Renew

Engage in major rest and renewal periodically. This includes setting theright personal boundaries in order to ensure renewal of self. "The best con-sultants know how to balance intensity with renewal" (A. Parchem, personalcommunication, 2007).

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE PRIMARY POTENTIAL THREATSTO AN INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT (OR ORGANIZATION'S)

MAINTAINING THEIR EDGE?

Besides lacking sufficient drivers, the following were identified: (a) suc-cess itself, (b) doing what you don't enjoy, (c) client demands, (d) technology,and (e) characteristics of oneself.

Success

Success can lull one into complacency and potentially yield a big surpriseone day as competitors get the edge with your clients. It is important not to gettoo busy to work on your development and "edge," however you define "edge."

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Doing What You Don't Enjoy

"Continuing to do what you are not good at, what you don't enjoy, andwhat others don't value" (D. Thompson, personal communication, 2007) cancertainly also threaten successfully maintaining one's edge.

Working Outside Your Comfort Zone

Clients who draw us out of our sweet spots—to do more and morethings, some of which are really outside our comfort zone—may also threatenmaintaining an edge. "There is a tension in consulting between breadth anddepth. Part of maintaining one's edge has to be knowing what you're reallyskilled at doing—and what you're not" (D. Thompson, personal communi-cation, 2007).

Technology

Another potential threat is technology. D. Thompson (personal commu-nication, 2007) provided an example:

The Blackberry enables us to be on call 24/7. That keeps us in touch butalso robs us of the ability to let things percolate on a subconscious level.One can get seduced into learning more and more about the technologyand getting steeped in it—only to get farther and farther from what theyneed to be doing for the client.

As H. Golson (personal communication, 2007) noted,

Another example is automated testing. If you rely only on that—no mat-ter how good your algorithm is, there are some things you just won't beable to pick up with the online measures. Technology could take youdown a path that is away from maintaining your edge.

Characteristics of the Self

We must also (and especially) look inside. Characteristics of the self thatwe identified as potential threats included (a) dull "antennae" for sensing theextent to which you are on your game from the client's perspective; (b) lack ofopenness to feedback or not proactively seeking it; (c) inconsistent motiva-tion for the task; (d) less than high-energy—required for being responsive toclient demands, frequent travel, continually developing oneself, and so on;(e) tendency to take on too much, leaving insufficient time to maintainyour primary instrument, sometimes leading to burnout; and (f) doing thesame things over and over rather than continually updating and improving.

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Anathema to maintaining your edge is Close-mindedness, Isolation, dullAntennae, and Over and over (CIAO).

WHAT DO YOU DO TO ANTICIPATE AND PREPARE YOURSELFFOR CHANGES IN THE BUSINESS CLIMATE THAT HAVE

IMPLICATIONS FOR YOUR CONSULTING PRACTICE?

The top recommendations were to (a) read broadly and (b) keep yourantennae tuned in everywhere.

Read Broadly

Read business periodicals (e.g., Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, For-tune, The Economist), client industry periodicals, a wide variety of books, andrelevant journal articles.

Keep Your Antennae Tuned In

Make sure you have antennae, work to hone their sensitivity, and keepthem turned on and tuned in. Tune in to what clients, colleagues, friends, andothers are observing, hearing, thinking, and reading, while keeping your clientsand their needs in mind and looking for ways to apply innovations and con-cepts from elsewhere. "We have to get better at anticipating what's around thecomer—watch trends, consider implications, and be attuned to what's goingon so we are not blind-sided by it" (D. Peterson, personal communication,2007). "SIOP [Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology] could provideleadership here. The busy consultant usually doesn't have a lot of time to thinkmuch about future trends" (P. R. Jeanneret, personal communication, 2007).

MAINTAINING YOUR EDGE AS AN ORGANIZATION

The principles for organizations are similar to those for individuals. Likean individual, an organization needs to seek and use feedback; continually workto learn and develop; and proactively stay abreast of developments in businessgenerally, in their client organizations, and with competitors (including theirclients' competitors).

Several interviewees pointed out that there is variability in how hard con-sultants work to maintain their edge. In a large organization, for example, thereare usually a few thought leaders who do most of the "environmental scan-ning," innovating, and product development—helping all to keep their edge.

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Independent consultants benefit a great deal from forming alliances with otherindependent consultants or larger firms.

FOR NEW CONSULTANTS

If you are new to consulting or are thinking about getting into it, you maybe working on how to get your edge, a bit upstream of maintaining it. You mayfind these three books helpful as you get started: Process Consulting Revisited(Schein, 1999); Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used(Block, 1999); and Managing the Professional Service Firm (Maister, 1993). Inaddition, workshops on consulting, such as one I recently conducted at SIOP(Vandaveer, 2004) are usually helpful, especially if the format allows for con-siderable participant interaction, real case studies, and sharing of experiences.

SO WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THIS INFORMATION?

May I suggest that you take yourself on a retreat—really get away—andponder these thoughts. What do you really want from life and your professionalcareer? What gives you your edge, and what does "maintaining" it mean for you,your primary instrument? What are you willing to do to achieve what you want?What weights do the various trade-offs have? What will you do?

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