Prashant Agarwal_Consulting_Oct'11

Consulting can simply be described as, ‘Responsibility without Authority.’

Consulting is not merely for business professionals. Every single time in our daily lives when we either give or take advice we are practicing it.

One of the most important steps in getting a Consulting assignment is Contract Meeting.  A contract meeting is all about understanding the problem in and out by asking deeper questions.

5 favorite questions for a consultant:

• What are we trying to do?
• How will we know that we are successful?
• What could go wrong?
• What countermeasures do we take responsibility for with respect to 3 questions?
• Who, how often, when and where is the review process?

Building a good rapport with the client is equally important. Competencies like good analytical skills and being a good problem solver are of no use if his client does not trust the consultant and is not able to open with his problem. Some do’s that can help a Consultant are:

• Enjoying people
• Being curious
• Listening with attention
• Asking open ended questions

A good consultant must have the courage to say “No” to the client and also should learn how to say “no” in a right way without offending the client.

Also a consultant must be upfront in stating the areas for which client holds the accountability because a consultant only proposes solutions/suggestions. But implementation is client’s responsibility.

Prashant Agarwal_BLP056_SelfLeadership_Oct'11

Who Am I?

• Hail from Sahibabad, UP
• Family- strong value system – PROUD
• B.Tech (IT) – chance
• 3 yr exp. with Infosys & Pitney Bowes
• BLP at SOIL – choice
• Going Forward

What am I here for?

To understand my own gifts and then to use them for a higher purpose – benefit myself & others.

Where I am going?

• Continuous introspection, evaluation, and hence improvement of self.
• SOIL has given me a risk-free environment to practice my own convictions of self & my learning’s so far and see the results.
• Going forward I want to experiment with self and see how I respond to challenges and changing environment. 

Why is it important?

• It will define me - I must know what I did and what difference I was able to make.
• “The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose.” Purpose can never be a destination, it is always a journey. So it is important for me to take this journey and traverse as much as possible in the pursuit of my purpose wholeheartedly.
• Happiness!

How can I leverage who I am to reach where I am going?

• Committing to deliver the best I can
• Constant striving to learn from others and from my own failures
• Asking more and more questions
• Developing  genuine relationships
• Helping others

Prashant Agarwal_BLP056_Consulting_03Jan2012

In the consulting class today, we learnt about the initial stages of Proposal Development. We discussed two important aspects of a consulting assignment i.e. (i) Dealing with resistance and (ii) Stage of discovery.

Consultants generally face resistance from the client in opening up and coming out with the actual problem and it is really difficult to handle this resistance because resistance is an emotional process. The best way to deal with resistance is to get the client talk more about their concern. The best way to handle this is to ask open ended questions and encourage the client to think deeply and talk about the real concerns and issues. A consultant should not push back at resistance, but face it and talk through it in an authentic and in a sincere manner. There are 3 steps to handling resistance:

1.) Pick up cues for resistance – A consultant must keenly observe what is happening and pay attention to non-verbal signals from the client. Any sign of resistance like uneasiness or odd body language in client, repetition of same points being explained again and again or feeling of disengagement from the conversation with the client is a clear signal of resistance.

2.) Name the resistance – use simple language to describe the form the resistance is taking. This would help client openly share what he is feeling.

3.) Let the client respond – A consultant should make the statement about resistance and then remain silent. The idea is to encourage the client to take responsibility and come forward and discuss the issue at hand.

Consultant should not take this resistance from client personally. The main reason of resistance is sign of dealing with something important and valuable and which is coming out in a difficult form. The majority of questions which a consultant gets are expression of discomfort and defensiveness of client. A consultant should answer a question asked by the client twice and clarify things but if the same question is asked thrice then it indicates that the client is feeling some resistance to commit to the problem or the process. Then this is the time to face the client and challenge his underlying assumptions.

Once client and consultant are ready to deal with resistance they switch to discovery phase. The goal of discovery is to be more effective at solving the client’s problem. In this phase, consultant tries to understand what he knows and what he doesn’t know. A consultant must clearly understand the client’s issue and the client’s industry in order to help him. He should get to the root of the problem – which may be different than what appears or what the client is stating. At the same time it is important at this stage that the consultant gives a clear picture on how the problem is being managed. He should not be suggesting recommendations at this juncture but should be clearly stating the facts.

The day indeed provided us with valuable learning’s and we got to know consulting one step deeper and the challenges that a consultant face in his day to day work and assignments while dealing with clients and complex organizational issues.

Prashant Agarwal_BLP056_Self Leadership_Sep’11

“Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is that simple. It is that difficult.” 

  ~ Warren Bennis

 Leadership is about leading yourself and not others. No one can lead others. Essentially it is ‘Self Leadership’ and not ‘self Leadership’. Self Leadership is ‘S’ leading ‘s’.

‘S’ Vs ‘s’

 ‘S’ -- Observer inside us or actual self which is observing the body, perceptions and our actions. It is the Soul, the Consciousness, the Source, the Leader and the Subject. It is the ‘Experiencer’.

‘s’ -- This is illusionary self which we think we are. It constitutes body, 5 senses, heart and intellect. These are merely objects.

Leadership is about leading one’s body and actions, heart and emotions and intellect and thoughts. It is about being led by one’s Consciousness and Spirit.

Life is a series of choices and the purpose of life is about making conscious choices. ‘S’ makes choices how to use ‘s’. How can I use ‘s’ to embrace the unlimited potential within me is SELF LEADERSHIP. When we are accessing the ‘S’, we are fully present. At that point we can learn effortlessly. This is ‘Mindfulness’, the core pillar, the mother of all other pillars of leadership.

Pillars of Inspired Leadership:

1.  Leading Body & Instincts – It’s about leading our perceptions i.e. ability to appreciate ‘Diversity’
2. Leading Heart (‘Emotional Mind’) – Capacity to Relate or ‘Compassion’  
3. Leading Intellect – Capacity to take decisions/make choices or ‘Ethics’
4. Leading Ego – lies between ‘S’ &‘s’. It’s about controlling our EGO i.e. values, habits and fears which form our Belief System. The only way to survive is to free ourselves from our past conditioning and adapt to the need of the moment i.e. ‘Sustainability’. Also that is the only way we can learn.
5. Led by Consciousness – Capacity to Learn or ‘Mindfulness’

Thus Mindfulness leads our belief system by practicing sustainability which ultimately determines our behavior (Ethics, Compassion & Diversity). This is Inspired Leadership.

Leadership is also about enabling others to be leaders. Leaders always encourage others to discover their own potential. Leaders create other leaders and not followers.

 

 Immunity X-Ray:

1. One thing that I want to change?
2. What do I actually do or not do instead?
3. What is the hidden competing commitment behind it?
4. What are the assumptions/mental models/beliefs that give energy to the hidden competing commitment?
5. How do I bring a change in these assumptions using my strengths, values and gifts?

Some beautiful quotes from the Workshop

• Goal is time bound, purpose is not. Goal comes out of purpose. Whatever we do in life is a part of this purpose.
• The biggest leader is the biggest follower of a cause.
• If you are embarrassed by the goodness of your own vision, then it’s worth having.
• Work is love made visible.
• Creators only give ideas. Innovators are executors of these ideas. Be an innovator and not just a creator.
• Talent comes to you in different forms. What you do with it is leadership.
• Mind is completely peaceful only when you do something out of unconditional love.
• People only rise in love, never fall in love.
• Whoever comes are the right people. Whenever it starts, it is the right time. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened. When it is over, it is over.
• Appreciate one’s effort more than his abilities. Reminding people of their best work make them grow further.
• Disappointment comes to those who try to keep an appointment with the future.
• You cannot step into someone else’s shoes without removing your own shoes.
• In meditation – Just Be. In everything else – Be Just.