“Stephen Frueh was extremely helpful in the development of our consulting team… We became much more creative and effective in designing solution processes for our clients”

-Donnel Lester, FAA OD Consultant

When a business leader recognizes that a challenge exists that is resilient to change, or is beyond the scope of the management team, an outside consultant may be useful in several ways:

Fresh perspective – a good business consultant will listen not only to the presenting challenge but will listen without the history or learning that frames the company’s way of problem solving – their problem solving style. He or she may then ‘frame’ the challenge in a way that helps the business leader to ‘see it’ or imagine it differently.

• A new framework for an existing challenge itself often opens the way to solutions that are effective as well as powerful in their implementation.
• A recurring challenge is often ‘bottlenecked with energy’ – simply waiting for an innovative response on the part of the business leader/s.
• A well chosen consultant can help shape a ‘pathway’ for not only opening the challenge or challenges to a new innovative strategy but also co – create and shape the team’s vision so that enthusiastic ‘buy in’ will happen seamlessly.
• Within that process there is, naturally, plenty of opportunity for conflict.
• Most teams need some help in learning to embrace conflict for it is a natural consequence of a change initiative.
• It’s easy to see that a well chosen consultant becomes, for a time, a part of the learning process with the team. In doing so the consultant works ‘from the inside out’ and as empowerment occurs among the team, opens the way to less intensive presence. The consultant then quickly moves to an ‘as needed’ role.

Interventions:

• A company may simply need a ‘culture audit.’ A consultant, with the full support of the business leader/s, takes a careful look at several aspects of the existing culture: communication style and bottlenecks; recurring challenges; collaborative skills; the use or avoidance of conflict; chronically unhappy team members – and the reasons for their unhappiness; the presence or absence of shared vision; tonality related to shared tasks, and more.
• A business leader’s leadership style may need exploring.
• The opportunity for new growth through a recent jump or slump in sales; an acquisition; a product line change; cash flow challenges; new hires – all calling for immediate attention.
• Each situation requires fresh thinking and this provides the opportunity for re-energizing the leader and the team.
• A well chosen consultant approaches your business with humility and transparency, looking for and articulating possible avenues to effectively help your business move to the next manifestation of its desired success.