McKnight Mentor Program

Now William brings consulting to the consultant.

My six-month retainer-based Mentor Program offers access to help the individual or organization create total business transformation. With my focus on your success, I provide you full, end-to-end solutions leveraging where the practice is and where it needs to be.

Designed to support independent consultants, consultants employed at consulting firms, those who operate as consultants but without the title and entire firms, practices and project teams, this program allows you to gain insight, advice, mentoring and knowledge transfer. Be ready for business transformation.

Topics covered during the program include any of the following, with a focus on your issues:

• Client management
• Staffing decisions and issues
• Marketing challenges
• Client engagement
• Engagement execution
• Reputation building
• Publicity ideas and outlets
• Social media and internet strategy
• Business instantiation
• Long-term planning
• Fee strategies
• Service planning
• Exit strategies
• Life balance
• Goal-setting and achievement
• Image makeover
• Collateral review
• Critical business decisions
• Managing capital

There are two options.

Option 1 is access via scheduled phone calls and guaranteed-response email as needed.

Option 2 is less client-directed. With Option 2, I will create a program of consulting mastery for you, based on your situation. The program will consist of milestone-based structure and review towards those specific goals. It is designed for complete and intense acceleration of your concept.

I propose a conservative approach to business spending in my book, but I can see no better place to invest for consulting success than in the McKnight Mentor Program I’ve designed.

Given the personal nature of the Mentor Program, space is limited. Contact me today to discuss the option that is right for you.

"I wanted to thank you for the mentoring that you have given me over the past few years and helping me mature as an entrepreneur. In my opinion, the program will improve the quality of consultants and ultimately benefit the clients better.

William has been Mercury's go to person for shifting the perception of our value and empowering us with the tactics needed for success. He offers an unbiased opinion and cuts a lot of the noise.

Mercury in turn passes on this valuable advice to our clients uses it to build the organization to support the industry trends, ultimately helping us grow stronger."

Vinay Balasubramanian

President

Mercury Software Consulting,Inc.

“My consulting business, Netra Technologies, Inc., has benefitted tremendously from William’s advice on a variety of topics including adoption of a better business model, improved profitability, business expansion, etc. It was really nice to get mentoring from someone who has been there and done it like, William McKnight. The value we received has far exceeded our costs and we look forward to continuing the mentoring service for the foreseeable future.”

Madhur Limdi

Managing Principal

Netra Technologies, Inc.

The benefits of working at a System Integrator/Consulting

The following question came into me some years ago at one of the forums I blog at in my industry.  It contains some industry jargon, but I thought the main points would be interesting to anyone in consulting.

The Question:

I am currently a principal data architect with a System Integrator (SI). I feel that being with a SI limits our involvement in client organizations' data architecture decisions. In turn, this limits our exposure to broader areas of data management, and subsequently the career path.


We are more driven by the client architecture team's decisions. I feel that if I been in the client organization, I probably would have had much more exposure and potential for growth in the data management field.

I feel beyond a certain role. Should I move out of the SI companies and shift to being part of the business organization's data management function?

The Answer:
Hello, and thanks for your question about data architect careers. System integrators do a variety of things for their clients -- from strategy through implementation and production. I certainly believe that there is no better position than a strategy consultant for contributing to important data architecture decisions at client organizations. You are probably part of implementation teams and yes, by then, many broader decisions have been made. You should always feel free to contribute your ideas for change and progress to your project leaders and clients. More importantly, with a System Integrator, you should be getting exposure to and understanding how and why decisions are made in a variety of environments, which is the best experience for enhancing your credibility, which will enable you to contribute to client decisions. In my experience, credibility is the number one factor that will enable you to contribute to decisions, not your organization or title. Be sure to work that end of the spectrum.

So, in general, looking at SI organizations versus client organizations, I disagree that being with a client organization is better for your goals.

Chapter 8: The Role of the Consultant available free of charge

I've made "Chapter 8: The Role of the Consultant" available free of charge at http://www.williammcknight.com/filedownload.html.

Keep that card in your pocket, ref

I had a soccer game last night. We were winning 4-3 late in the game and I had been having a pretty good game. I had 2 goals and 2 assists and was feeling pretty good.

An opposing defender who had been called twice previously for pushing me in the back had just pushed again – and was called for it again. He had been talking to the referee the whole game about my pushing, but I had not been called for anything. Frustrated at this perceived inequity and yet another foul, he decided to talk to me. I foolishly talked back, the referee heard me and pulled out a card on me. I was off to the sideline for the remainder of the game. That’s where I got to watch the other team score their tying goal.

What are the lessons in this?

1. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you. ‘Nuff said.
2. You can’t ride on your past success. Just because I usually keep my mouth shut during games does not mean that the time I do open it that I should not get a card pulled on me.
3. It’s a slippery slope you can go down. I will remember the penalty and what ‘may have been’ from that game, more than the 4 points I logged.
4. Ignorance is not bliss. Even if I knew the referee was intently listening, I would not have believed he would pull a card for some non-curse words. Wrong! The words I spoke were not helpful to any aspect of our team objective. They did no good. There was only downside.

The answer is knowledge (which I now have), experience (which I now have), reflection (which I did) and commitment (I’ll post again if I ever get a card for my words). If sport is a microcosm of life, there are definite parallels to consulting. Face the reality of your situation, deliver frequent huge results for clients, keep your game on in tough times, learn your ropes and don’t make the same mistakes twice.

Interview on Technology Today

This podcast is a 15 minute interview in which I was asked about my background, the book, staying current in your field, the consulting market, where I make my income, and the difference between a consultant and a contractor.

http://www.philsimonsystems.com/content/tech-today/consulting-business/

Gartner: Thought Leadership is Key to Marketing Consulting Services

Here's a link to an article that references a column of mine and refers to thought leadership as a key to marketing consulting services. "Gartner: Thought Leadership is Key to Marketing Consulting Services; Consulting service expertise is reflected in client marketing but needs to be an organized discipline".

Information Management Online, February 1, 2010

Party with the Cowboy

I’m watching a television commercial where the mother is all set for a pirate themed birthday party for the kids. Well, almost all set. Here comes the cowboy mascot and the insinuation is that the party is doomed. In the idyllic commercial, this was no problem. She is able to call in a real pirate (a real fake one that is) and the party is saved. The solution fits into the 30 seconds.

Maybe I’m just being too practical or like to pick my battles. First, I think it would have been fun to have a cowboy at an otherwise pirate-themed party. Second, if you make it out to be fun and no big deal, the kids would go for it. But finally, and most of all, the chances of getting that changed at the last minute and having the pirate make it to party with the kids with any time at all left in the party is slim and none. I would make the call and try, but when you see the writing on the wall, you might as well party with the cowboy.

How many of us are being sidetracked spending time working on enhancements to projects that ultimately will not materialize into productive work effort towards the project goals and deadlines? Many projects I review are immensely burdened by such activity. Instead of partying with the cowboy (reality), we keeping calling for the pirate (impractical wishisms) while the kids (clients, internal customers) get increasingly annoyed at not having a mascot (project deliverables).