Maintaining External Awareness PESTLE Copy

The experienced and competent consultant should remain current in every aspect of the environment that affects his/her work: This covers Political, Environmental, Social/ societal, Technical, Legal and Economic aspects and relates to all the domains of competence:

  • It is imperative to remain aware of developments in the management, specialist and consulting fields.
  • The certified consultant needs to prove this through a continuing professional development (CPD) record.

Specialist competencies

Specialist competencies are those on which the consultant provides leading edge advice and may be split into two broad categories:
1. Functional and technical competencies include finance, Strategy, HR, project management, production, marketing, IT etc.
2. Industry specific or sectoral competencies – financial sector, public etc.

Continued learning and development

  • A consultant needs to have a lifelong learning mindset. In order to achieve this, he/she needs to:
    • Set appropriate personal objectives.
    • Proactively seek development opportunities.

Professional Competencies – (Personal and Interpersonal)

This is about acting, communicating and thinking as a management consultant ought to.

ACTing like a Management Consultant

This is the behavioural aspect of the consultant and has much to do with the “attitude” as competence. Remember, competence was defined as a combination of knowledge, skill and attitude.

The consultant needs to be emotionally intelligent (25 competencies – eiconsortium.org), an above average communicator, a good listener, astute, self-driven, motivated, be able to solve problems, be politically astute, and remain independent and objective in difficult situations and much more.

  • This requires an all-rounder who can perform well in different contexts.
  • Professional Attitude/behaviour.
  • The provision of the required professional advice
  • Professional conduct/ethics.
  • Ability to deal with client culture and diversity.
  • Ability to motivate and develop people and Lead.
  • Ability to manage conflict.
  • Ability to Facilitate, Mentor, Coach and in essence apply the required intervention at the correct time.

Communicating Effectively

  • Interpersonal and communication skills (listening/verbal/written).
  • Convincing proposals and oral presentations.
  • Marketing and selling skills.
  • Influencing and Rapport building.
  • Well-structured client communications and concise reports.

Thinking

The consultant needs to be a multi-dimensional thinker, who can perform under difficult circumstances by using a variety of techniques.

  • Empathising.
  • Creativity – “out of the box thinking”.
  • Problem solving.
  • Lateral and linear thinking.
  • Seeing the end from the beginning.
  • Being able to plan for contingencies.
  • Having a flexible approach.
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