Unlocking Your Consultant Mindset

Consultant Mindsets in Today's Workplace

Last week's newsletter began with an explanation on why we launched a newsletter. This week I want to talk about how we expect our efforts to support all of you.

The rise of AI and ongoing economic constraints are forcing companies to do more with fewer human resources to satisfy shareholders. As a result, continuous improvement is now essential across all industries.

With tight budgets limiting external consultancy engagements and fewer internal consultants at most companies, a significant opportunity arises for proactive employees who are passionate about continuous improvement and willing to make hands-on contributions to their companies' success.

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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

Even if actively driving organizational change isn't your immediate goal, learning consulting skills can significantly benefit your individual career journey. These tools are often transferable to personal development, and the solutions we'll share in the coming months offer a flexible 'menu' to help you unlock your potential.

We will provide actionable approaches – tools, processes, methods, success stories, lessons learned, and community access – enabling you to drive positive change individually or collaboratively. By becoming a change agent, you'll create both personal and collective impact, fostering an environment where raising others up ultimately benefits your own career.

The Strategic Stacey team will be here to provide tools, guidance, and support along the way. You deserve to be successful in your journey, and we want to help you get there.

P.S. We'll support you in the more straightforward, less heroic efforts too!

What Really Threatens Your Work-Life Balance?

What Puts the Greatest Strain on Your Work-Life Balance?

With all the focus on Return-to-Office (RTO) orders from large companies and governmental agencies, there has been far less focus recently on individual employees and worker wellbeing in general.

While some roles require a person to work in the office and others don’t, we often get caught up in that – what’s your status regarding WFH vs. RTO?

I’m going to say something controversial here. Stick with me, and I’ll explain myself.

There are far more factors that go into it, and they are all important. Any one of them can derail your balance, throwing the other factors into chaos.

So, let’s start with a simple question: How are you, really?

I’ll use myself as the guinea pig to illustrate what I mean as you think about your answer.

About me: I’ve worked from home for the majority of my career for at least part of each week. If someone told me I had to work in an office five days per week, I would have a panic attack. I value the flexibility of working more than 40 hours from home where I control some of the hours.

My assessment inputs:

• I assessed my work-life demands for the first time in 2022.
• I was working from home in a job that was highly demanding: 50 - 60 hours/week.
• I had additional demands coming in from my household, external family members, health and wellness requirements, friends, and a volunteer organization.
• I had no time for hobbies or relaxation, so they were not on my list. (Red flag!)

My findings: My assessment revealed a critical interplay: increased work demands coincided with heightened demands from an external family member. This dynamic, despite me working from home, significantly reduced my availability to my immediate family and the resulting stress was considerable.

While work often bears the initial blame for work-life imbalance, my experience highlighted a more complex dynamic. Though work demands were high, a family member’s anxiety surrounding my work situation created a compounding effect, further eroding my time and balance. Guardrails were needed at work and with the family member.

I’ve since refined my personal work-life balance assessment, which I now revisit 3-4 times annually. I’m currently finalizing this tool to make it available to you all within the next couple of weeks. For those struggling to find equilibrium, I hope this will be a crucial first step.

This is the first in a series addressing work-life balance, a critical challenge many workers face seemingly on their own. If you work for a company that prioritizes work-life balance and would be willing to share your story, please reach out at stories@staceyvail.com. I’d love to connect.

How is your work-life balance? Everything's great and in balance It's all at risk - I spend my time keeping up! What balance? Is that a thing?

Navigating Client Self-Sabotage: Part 2 - The Big One I Saw Coming

Client self-sabotage can be frustrating and costly, but it's often predictable. This is the story of a major project where I saw the warning signs, but couldn't prevent the inevitable.

Several years ago, I took a dream job in a company that valued entrepreneurial spirit within a corporate structure.

Two years in, I was asked to lead a high-risk strategic program: expanding into a new service area that would significantly impact the division's operations, staffing, and billing, but with the potential for stronger client relationships, new business, and increased profits.

I invested significant time in educating leadership and risk management, meticulously documenting and planning for potential risks, and securing buy-in on mitigation strategies.

Stakeholder commitment was crucial, and their potential lack of engagement was even included as a risk in the plan.

After 18 months of consistent engagement, the company's focus shifted dramatically as a series of acquisitions reached a critical mass. What had been a team effort became solely my responsibility, and resources and budget were abruptly withdrawn, despite continued verbal assurances of support.

I had seen some of this coming. The potential for all of it was in the risk plan. What had not been accounted for was what if ALL of the risks happened at once. What then?

Whether you're a consultant or an employee, watching a client's decisions derail a project—wasting invested time, money, and potential—feels deeply personal.

It's difficult to process such a situation. Was it intentional self-sabotage? A strategic shift poorly communicated? I had to step back to detach and assess my next move.

In hindsight, some truths became clear: despite thorough risk planning, self-sabotaging decisions were made. Escalation was futile; acquisitions were the company's priority for growth in a stagnant market. This shift shouldn't have surprised me.

For those with a consulting mindset or those striving to improve their workplace, it's hard to let go of a promising initiative when you have a clear vision of its potential.

However, these situations are invaluable for learning crucial lessons and developing best practices. Coping skills, mitigation strategies, and improved communication techniques are essential for navigating future challenges.

For every client lost to self-sabotage, there are others eager for positive change. Let's use these hard-won lessons to empower those clients and drive meaningful transformation.

​StrategicStacey.com | The Strategy Hub​