Tag Archives | consulting industry

Looking through blogs last month, I came across Consultants Are Pros, While Corporate IT Staff Are Minor Leaguers, by Erik Eckel. Admittedly, the provocative title lured me in.

In the piece, Eckel argues that it’s difficult for corporate IT employees to make the leap to the consulting business because they just don’t have the chops. Really? I read on.

Eckel says:

IT consultants are essentially the equivalent of baseball’s major leaguers, while corporate tech staff members are typically minor league professionals…consultancies too often must slow down and train corporate professionals on simple and basic processes. These are fundamentals that I think it’s fair to claim any big leaguer should have mastered.

Besides the lame use of a sports metaphor and flawed reasoning, what’s really wrong with Eckel’s slap at corporate technologists lies in its not-so-subtle arrogance. The path to consulting oblivion is paved with such arrogance.

If you put yourself above others, which arrogant consultants do, you sabotage any effort to establish communication channels with those who are “beneath” you. Especially in a client environment, effective consultants ratchet up their listening skills, instead of selecting who is worthy of their attention.

Arrogance grows from a self-perceived image of importance. A client may tolerate that in the short term, but, over time, arrogance always wears thin. It won’t be long before an arrogant consultant makes the wrong move in the client environment and winds up looking for a “new opportunity.”

Mostly, arrogance gives all consultants a bad name. Arrogant behavior fuels every negative myth that consultants confront as they serve clients and build their businesses.

I don’t know Eckel or how he practices his craft. I do know that he stumbled as he tried to point out the skills someone needs to succeed in an IT consulting practice. But he gave me an important reminder: If you have a shred of arrogance, check it at the door.