Executive-Consultant initial conversation - an imaginary exercise in empathy and building trust
This time of the year I usually find time to reflect on the past few months and sometimes even further back. And I rejoice in some successes and positive experiences that randomly (or is it?!?!) come to mind. I also cringe at some of the opportunities that I missed, sometimes despite the fact that they were staring me in the face! So let's "rewrite" some of those "close encounters of the third degree" together over the next couple of pages right here. Setup - consultant Ted walks into the office of Mary, Head of Line of Business XYZ at a large financial organization. Ted was recommended to Mary by another executive at a similar financial institution in the context of business improvements that resulted in clear, demonstrable positive trends on the balance sheet of the organization and specifically for a similar LOB. The two are sitting in Mary's office, on a frigid Monday morning in early January. The view out the window is filled with the top of the downtow...