Consulting Guiding Principles: Tips and Pointers for an entry level staff/consultant

Under Construction (Using this as a brainstorming pad, any thoughts/ideas/suggestions/comments are welcomed! )

Process Improvement:

Deal with every task as a process improvement exercise. You are always trying to help the client make their business better. Irrespective of the nature of the task, if you deal with it as a process improvement initiative you will do very well:

Step 1: Take a broken process

Step 2: Learn to deal with ambiguity - Figure all the details out by yourself (Less/No spoon-feeding, Read coaching! )

Step 3: Fix it with less/no supervision

As you deal with any process improvement task, use automation as an enabler and try to automate any and every task possible. Start with hard work but naturally blend into being a smart worker. After all, good time management is one of the key aspects to be a successful consultant.

Right Attitude: Going into consulting with the right attitude, solves 2/3 rds of the problem. This was a quote i hold very close to my heart and day to day job. It was told to me by one of the leaders at EY.

Sponge theory - Be open and willing to be thrown into highly ambiguous situations and try to absorb as much as you can from the experience. Every experience, positive or negative will translate into some key takeaways for you. Stay tuned and observant and try to pick up as many transferable skills as possible. Remember, you are a sponge - you should soak in as much as you can at this stage of your career.

Learn to deal with ambiguity and change. Thats what consulting is all about. It is a skill you want to master.

Try to figure things out by yourself, rather than expecting people to help you through stuff. During the initial days, hand holding might be required but after a point turn on your hustling mode and get stuff done with less/no guidance.

Always perform and dress at the next level. You are where you are, but your work and attire should speak for where you want to be next.

Network. Network. Network - Allocate 15 minutes every week to reach out to new / old individuals and get to know about the experiences. Spend some time building your brand via a variety of modes. Start with LinkedIn and your internal firm platforms. I have a few tools I have designed to make this task easy and fun. Reach out to me if in case you are interested to learning further about them.

Package and Template all your day to day emails. A whole bunch of your email content is re-usable. Do you really think you want to re-type it every time you need it? #processimprovement

Consulting is a perception based industry. You want to make sure your network perceives you in the correct manner and you should take extra efforts to ensure it. After all sales and marketing might be a key component of your job role couple of years down the line #roadtopartner

Establishment Theory - Whatever project or service line or industry you might be aligned to - a single goal in your mind should be to establish yourself there. Work hard and establish yourself to be a goto guy for a big or small chunk of work. Remember, no one in consulting is irreplaceable! You want to build an identity for yourself and be on the top 3 goto list for your upstream network. 

Be Enthusiastic.

Be Motivated.

Be Flexible.

Seek out coaching, from the right professionals.

Additional topics to be covered:

Long term vs Short term projects - Please feel free to throw in your views on this, I would love to hear what you have to say
Business/Practice Development, Internal Initiatives, Proposals/RFPs
Upstream and Downstream network