Growth and Development

Introduction

For this assessment, in 35 pages you will describe your vision for your future consulting practice, defining your specialty or niche area, your target client or clients, and your marketing plan. You will also develop strategies to help keep your energy high and avoid burnout as a consultant.

It is important to research and reflect upon the skills, tools, and plans required for growing and maintaining your consulting business. As Judith Blanton (2012) noted in a Society of Consulting Psychology webinar, you may be a great consultant practitioner, “but if you don’t get the work or manage the client well, you will not succeed in consulting work. All three areas: practice, getting the work, and managing the client well, can make or break a consulting practice.” This assessment focuses on “getting the work.”

How do you thrive as a consultant, contribute to the world, and become the person you want to be? In The Consultant’s Calling: Bringing Who You Are to What You Do (2002), Geoffrey Bellman offers answers to these questions. He provides some great perspectives on life balance, living your values, and earning money while doing the work of consulting. As a master consultant, he explains how easy it is for a consultant to experience work burnout and shares some stories about how he grows his work using his talents in a way that provides life enjoyment and balance.

Consultants must consider how to build their businesses and how to learn from others who can mentor and help them continue to grow and develop. Evaluation is also vital to determine the effectiveness of consultation work and contribute to continuing personal growth and development. It is critical for the consultant to be flexible and knowledgeable enough to adapt to contextual variables.

To succeed as a consultant, you must possess knowledge and a set of skills beyond technical ability. To be successful, you must be rigorous in your ability to analyze the theoretical and empirical foundations of consultation psychology and apply higher-order thinking to assess and diagnose problematic situations (Gray, 2007). In addition, it is essential for a consultant to have an acute awareness of their own values and goals. This is because consultants deal with issues that are enmeshed with values that can often cause conflicts. For example, a consultant may value sharing ideas and opinions in the workplace, but a manager may believe that their ideas are the only ones that should be considered (Weiss, 2003). By recognizing their values, consultants can anticipate potential conflicts and work to avoid them. Consultants must also build trust, stay self-aware, and avoid burnout (Cheung-Judge, 2012). They also should not practice outside of their areas of competence, always use the scientific evidence available to guide their work, and alwaysas in all psychology settingsseek to do no harm.

As you continue to develop your approach to consulting, consider how to integrate and synthesize what you know and what you have learned into a concept and model that has high potential for success and one in which you can feel pride and confidence. Reach high.

To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the following questions and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community.

• What are some of the pros and cons of being an independent consultant? What are the pros and cons of working with an established consulting firm?
• How will you bill for your consulting services?
• What are some marketing methods you think would be effective in helping you build your consulting practice?
• How would you describe your niche client market?
• What does being an internal consultant look like? How would they market services to other internal business partners?

References

Bellman, G. M. (2002). The consultant’s calling: Bringing who you are to what you do. Jossey-Bass.

Blanton, J. (2012). Emerging professionals speaker series [Presentation]. https:// www.anymeeting.com/WebConference-beta/RecordingDefault.aspx?c_psrid=EC52DB86824C

Cheung-Judge, M. (2012). The self as an instrument: A cornerstone for the future of OD. OD Practitioner, 44(2), 4247.

Gray, D. (2007). Facilitating management learning: Developing critical reflection through reflective tools. Management Learning, 38(5), 495517.

Weiss, A. (2003). Great consulting challenges: And how to surmount them. Jossey Bass/Pfeiffer.

Preparation

To prepare for this assessment, spend some time researching the practice specialization or niche of interest to you. Also, consider the various ways that consultants in the field grow and sustain their businesses.

Requirements

Prepare a 35 page paper that meets these requirements:

• Develop your vision for your future consulting business. Your vision should define the following:
• What is your specialty or niche area?
• Who are your target client or clients?
• Identify strategies for your future consulting practice:
• Based on your research about and understanding of your specialization or niche, what are strategies to help you be successful and thrive as a consultant in your chosen area?
• What are your knowledge and skills around these competencies relevant to carrying out effective psychological consultation: legal, ethical, cultural, and professional capabilities (communication, writing, analytical skills, et cetera)?
• Craft an action plan for marketing your future consulting practice. Conduct a self-assessment of your skills and strengths and respond to the following:
• What are your strengths and weaknesses regarding your ability to market yourself and your services?
• Are there areas where additional professional development will be needed?
• What are the costs and feasibility issues in developing your marketing options?
• Develop three strategies to help keep your energy high and avoid consulting burnout.
• What will you need to keep focused, energized, and engaged in your practice? Draw on research in the field as well as your self-knowledge of your work style and motivation.

Be sure to cite references, provide examples, and weave personal experiences and insights into your responses.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA formatting: Your paper should be formatted according to current edition APA style and formatting.
• Length: 35 pages typed, double-spaced pages.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 3: Analyze the legal, ethical, cultural, and professional competencies necessary for effective psychological consultation.
• Develop a vision that identifies specialty area and target clients of a consulting practice.
• Identify strategies that support the specialization or niche as well as the knowledge and skills relevant to a successful consulting practice.
• Craft a marketing action plan for a consulting practice.
• Develop strategies that ensure personal success as a consultant.
• Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the psychological professions.
• Use grammar, punctuation, and mechanics expected of graduate-level composition and expression.
• Use current APA format and style.