Following on from my previous post.

If I don't consider myself much of a consultant, then what must I be?

I could be a "coach"? A coach is someone who gives special classes in sports or a subject, especially private, to one person or a small group {Cambridge Dictionary}. This term I also find lacking, there are executive coaches,  personal coaches, and life coaches (though I wonder what I would do with a coach if I were dead ). While I have met many "coaches" who are highly qualified, it is a profession that has quite a few people that have just decided to call themselves a coach.

There are business coaches and I do find this term somewhat compelling. I still find it a bit lacking. I don't really give classes or training, per se.

I focus on providing a sounding board for the executives and companies that I work with. I facillitate learning. I assist the executive in working through issues on their own. I help them to take a fresh look at the situation and work with them to figure out a way to get where they want to go.

This, to me, is more of a mentor or advisor relationship. I consider myself co-equal to the client. Although we each have areas of expertise, both make significant contributions to the solution.

The solution will be unique and authentic for the executive and business. This is because a business is a living organism and it has unique issues and advantages. Solutions designed for one business will likely not work for another business. They may not even work for the same business at a different time. More on this topic later.

This is why I have chosen the title, Authentiq Advisors. I like it. I hope you will too.

Until next time. 

Ever since I started this business, I have grappled with what to call myself. Do I call myself a consultant, a coach, an advisor, a mentor or what?

I do not like the term "consultant" very much for several reasons.

1) First and foremost, the term "consultant" is formally: A person special knowledge in a particular subject brought in for a short period of time to solve a specific problem {Cambridge International Dictionary of English}.

2) My experience with consultants (particularly those from big name consulting firms) has not always been the best. They often do good work. However:

• The frequently have a process or methodology that they closely stick to. If the client doesn't fit in, the consultant often attempts to make them fit.
• On occasion, they can be reluctant to share how they got to the conclusion.
• They prefer to charge on a "per diem" basis, it is often hard for the client to understand how much work the consultant has actually done on their behalf.
• They often have long gone when the client is in the midst of implementing the recommendations.

[NOTE: there is nothing inherently wrong with this model, it must be accepted and managed.]

3) These days many people who are working independently have taken to using the identifier of "consultant". For companies that are using workers of this type to provide flexibility in the workforce, it would be more accurate to use terms like interim worker, freelancer, permatemp, flexforce or better yet "mercinary worker".

[NOTE: the term freelance was first used by Sir Walter Scott in Ivanhoe as a noun to describe a "medieval mercenary warrior"- Wikipedia].

This differs from the way that I work with my clients. I cover a wide range of business issues with the client at a strategic level. I work collaboraively with them over a long period, in partnership to address the issues of the client. We do this in a way that best meets the clients needs.

So the question is: Am I a consultant? In my opinion: yes and no, though mostly no.

In my next post, I will cover some of the other terms.