In any consulting work, a consultant’s purpose is to effect change (Block, 2011), and as anyone in the consulting industry may attest, change can be a daunting task. It gets even more complicated without a strategy. Combing through the literature, one will find a multitude of change strategies. Among the most famous ones is the field theory by Kurt Lewin. He claimed that change consists of three stages: unfreezing, moving, and refreezing (Burnes & Bargal, 2017). A deeper look at Lewin’s theory shows that change is not done by snapping fingers, but it is a process that requires a strategy to succeed. However, no strategy is a one size fits all; it is incumbent on the consultant to find the flawless strategy. In these lines, I will briefly talk about authenticity, a consulting strategy put forward by Peter Block, and three things that a consultant must do to be authentic.

      Consulting can seem ambiguous and convoluted, yet it is possible to be simple and error-free (Block, 2011). To flawlessly consult, one needs a strategy, and authenticity is one of the most powerful strategies. According to Block (2011), acting authentically with a client entails that you are not afraid to express your feelings and tell them the truth as you work with them. Consultants are terrified of losing a gig if they are straightforward with the client. Most of the time, the goal is to close the deal but not to inform the client of a big problem if one exists. This attitude can come back to haunt a consultant. Lying to a client makes it difficult for him to know what to expect from you as the consultant. When expectations are unclear, chaos ensues because neither the client nor the consultant knows what to expect from one another. The entire relationship is built on deception and is doomed to fail at any moment.

      To be authentic, there are three things that a consultant must do. First, be honest with yourself and direct and honest with others, which goes to the heart of how authenticity is defined (Block, 2011). Second, consult with humility, which means that you want to help, have a lot of genuine curiosity, and are willing to find out what is really on the client’s mind (Schein, 2016). Third and last, as a consultant, you must sharpen your interpersonal skills to have any chance at consulting flawlessly. Doing all three is not a sure bet of success because authentic consulting is not a panacea but rather a significant competitive advantage (Block, 2011).

                                                                            References

Block, P. (2011). Flawless consulting: A guide to getting your expertise used (3rd ed.). Pfeiffer.

Burnes, B., & Bargal, D. (2017). Kurt Lewin: 70 Years on. Journal of Change Management, 17(2), 91-100. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2017.1299371 (Links to an external site.)

Schein, E. H. (2016). Humbler consulting: How to provide real help faster. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

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