Consulting Mastery: How the Best Make the Biggest Difference [Hardcover]

Keith Merron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2005

Keith Merron believes that most consultants follow a consulting model that may make a lot of money, or add value, without making a real and enduring difference. In Consulting Mastery, he argues that the most powerful element in making that difference is the consultant's inner stance - those attitudes, assumptions, beliefs, goals, and strategies that underlie his or her consulting practice. Each of the book's five sections guides the reader through a journey of self-exploration fueled by the wisdom of master consultants. Section one, Understanding Consulting Mastery, lays the conceptual foundation of the book. Sections two through four explore different aspects of Mastery in Action, from how to create a mutually satisfying, empowering relationship, to how a master consultant applies knowledge, to utilizing self-awareness in consultancy. Section five provides a road map for learning - guidance for readers who want to deepen their ability and become not only more successful, but more masterful.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 265 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (May 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576753204
• ISBN-13: 978-1576753200
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,413,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, Powerful and Timely, September 22, 2009

By 

R. A Schmidt (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Consulting Mastery: How the Best Make the Biggest Difference (Hardcover)

If your primary aim is to build short-term wealth doing consulting, this is probably not the right book for you. At least not today. On the other hand, if you are a lifelong-learner committed to your personal and professional growth and you have a strong desire to make a lasting impact as a consultant, you will find this book insightful and powerful.

The book is a timely exploration on what it means to be approach true greatness as a consultant in today's era of transparency, authenticity and partnership. It begins with a brief history of the consulting profession, including the well-intentioned and financially successful approaches most firms and consultants have used with clients over the past 100 years. The author explains the drawbacks of this model and how and how it usually fails to make lasting changes in client organizations (but keeps the consultants coming back).

Consulting mastery, Merron contends, has a lot to do with the character of the consultant -- particularly integrity, honesty, self-knowledge, courage, humility and emotional connection. Mastery centers on the consultant's relationship to his or her clients, to knowledge and to self. The author introduces the Masterful Consultant's Principles of Conduct in Chapter 2 and explores them throughout the book:
1. Always tell the truth, at the deepest levels
2. Commit to learning -- for self and for the client
3. Bring my whole self in full partnership
4. Play a big game

Supplemented by sometimes brutally honest case studies, fictitious examples, excerpts from master consultants and interviews with clients, the author paints a clear picture of a master consultant's way of being. Merron shows remarkable courage and vulnerability sharing situations in his practice where outcomes were less-than-optimal for the client or where he was not in integrity with himself.

If you have been a consultant for at least a few years (as I have), reading this book may cause you to reflect on how you have interacted with clients in the past. You may gain insights on how well you and clients were served, and how you might handle the situations differently in the future. I also came away with desire to further explore embodying the Masterful Consultant's Principles in my life.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MASTERFUL INSIGHTS INTO THE HEART OF GREAT CONSULTING., December 11, 2005

By 

Yvette Borcia and Gerry Stern "Stern's Manage... (Culver City, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Consulting Mastery: How the Best Make the Biggest Difference (Hardcover)

This book is for consultants who want to learn beyond the usual methods, techniques and how-to's. Merron focuses on change consultants: those who "aim to change organizations as a whole in some significant way." He delves into what makes a masterful consultant. The qualities he has discovered, through his own experiences and interviews with others, are the subject of this insightful, absorbing book. Strong relationship to the client (ultimately viewed as the whole organization), potent application of knowledge, and strong character are key qualities. But a few words do no justice at all to the substance and value of this work.

The book closes with some guidelines for those seeking to achieve the masterful level, which is a life-long journey. This is a terrific book; one that delves into the deepest levels of what makes for consulting mastery. As consultants ourselves, we feel Merron fully succeeds in conveying the spirit and inner-most realities of what is masterful consulting. Very strongly recommended.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond and deeper than "How to be a Consultant" this is a compass for the soul of a consultant., August 6, 2005

By 

Jeffrey Young (San Francisco Bay Area, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Consulting Mastery: How the Best Make the Biggest Difference (Hardcover)

As stated in the preface, "This book is directly aimed for serious consultants committed to improving their craft.", and I found that the author's aim is right on target.

Not only is the material well thought out, useful, and relevant, the author also practices his style of consulting in the book by calling into question deep assumptions about the process of consulting and focuses on what will make the most difference. To read this book is to get an experience of hearing a deeper truth about consulting that goes beyond the techniques and tools, just as he recommends that consultants stand for in service to their clients.

I am seeing this book as a deep and influential compass that I will keep returning to in my practice to hone my inner stance to work, family, community, and life. Well worth the investment in time and money if you are serious about stepping up to the challenge.