Consulting Journal: Style - Getting recognition

Style: Getting recognition

by David Blakey

Do you get the recognition you deserve? Don't worry. David Blakey thinks you never will.

[Monday 1 October 2001]

How much recognition do you get for your work? How much do you think you should get?

When companies are changing, someone takes the credit. Often, consultants are the real driving force behind the change. Mostly, the person credited with driving the change is the company's chief executive. The consultants don't get mentioned.

To be a successful consultant, I believe that you need to be an egotist. You need to be confident about what you're saying to your clients. You need to steer them down a track that you know to be correct. Sometimes, you can be the only person who knows that the particular track is indeed the correct one. Consulting is no job for someone who cannot project themselves with confidence. There are, of course, roles in consulting firms that do not require egotism, but they tend to be the ‘back-room’ jobs, rather than the ‘front-line’ jobs.

So, consultants may not be recognized as the real drivers. But consultants are egotistic - some would say arrogant. How do you reconcile the two?

Consider the analogy of movie credits. At the end of a movie, everyone who worked on the movie gets their name on the screen: not just the actors and stunt-men and directors and producers, but the camera operators, the caterers, even the accountants. The only people who do not get mentioned in the credits are the ‘body doubles’. Some actors refuse to appear in sex or nude scenes, so body doubles are the people whose bodies are actually seen in the movies.

It is natural for people who have recently become consultants to want to have their successes recognized. Anyone who has achieved something significant wants to have that achievement known to a wide audience.

Unfortunately, consultants' names never seem to make it into the credits. Consultants tend to be the ‘body doubles’ of the business world.

Here are some ways that you can get the credit you deserve, even if indirectly.

Include it in your résumé

This is the most useful way to get credit, because it can bring in new business. If you can't get full recognition, you may as well make more money. You should check with clients before you mention their name in your résumé. You can only approach some clients at the end of the assignment. Others will grant you permission before you start, but you should still confirm it at the end. Some clients, of course, will insist on anonymity.
Talk about it in public

In my view, consultants should be presenting papers and conducting workshops at events that are open to the public. It can be a useful way of making new contacts, and it can generate publicity for your consulting services. The same rule applies when you're talking about a client by name: you must have their permission. In some circumstances, you can mention assignments that are in the public domain. If you helped X to construct a successful outsourcing deal with Y and the existence of that deal has been publicized, then I think you can mention your contribution to the ‘X-Y deal’, without even mentioning who your client was.
Get it known in the industry

In addition, of course, you should make sure that word gets around in those groups where you want to attract more business. If your work has been in the airline business, then make sure that other airlines know about it. If you have managed a successful bid for a web developer, then make sure that other web developers know about it. Focus on the places - the geographic areas - in which you work.
Write about it

Write articles for the trade press that demonstrate - without emphasizing - your skills as a consultant in that trade. Make sure that you have something new to say. Don't talk down to your audience. Don't try to show off that you understand their business as well as they do: you don't. And don't state the obvious. Few people outside the electricity industry know what a kilowatt-hour is, but everyone in the industry does, so they don't need to have ‘KWh’ defined for them.

Here's a final thought. It is common for consultants to set something up for a client and then leave. It doesn't always happen that way, but it does happen quite often. What if your client then messes up what you've started? Do you still want your name on it then? It may be better to go for long-term success rather than short-term praise.

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