“The goal of all leaders should be to work themselves out of a job.” – Jocko Willink. I believe this axiom stands true for consultants also. While there is a case to be made for an ongoing relationship, potentially in the form of retainer type of agreement. I believe hiring a consultant is similar to hiring a personal trainer. It’s a necessary thing to do in the initial stages because even though all the information is available, it is beneficial to have someone with the prerequisite knowledge and experience to guide the process. After a few months with a personal trainer you should have enough knowledge to keep on the path to healthy exercise and eating. It is nice to check in and have accountability from time to time, but the trainer should no longer be, “needed.”
How long should a consultant be in a business? Although there isn’t a concrete answer that works in every situation, my attitude is it should be the shortest duration possible. In my opinion, if the consultant is creating a recurring need then they are not being beneficial to the practice. They are becoming a burden instead of lifting the burden off of the business owner’s shoulders. They should be trying to train their replacement. Additionally, they are contracted to do the things the owner isn’t capable of doing due to time or knowledge constraints. This doesn’t mean the owner shouldn’t be actively learning, only that they are making money working IN the business and the consultant is assisting with them working ON the business.
As with business owners, consultants should be experts in their craft and as such couldn’t possibly be expect to impart all the wisdom and experience they have absorbed over their years of coaching in a couple months. With that said, it should still be the goal. In most jobs there are key tenets that synthesize the majority of the knowledge. The key to being an effective coach is to be able to communicate the lessons in succinct, bite size bits of information, describe scenarios in which the lessons would be used, demonstrate the trait and then guide the leader to utilize what they learned. The goal should be to share as many tenets as possible in the contracted time to allow for the owner to receive a crash course in leadership.
Hiring a consultant should not be taken lightly and should be heavily evaluated to determine what exactly is needed. The person or team selected should be the right personality and skill fit for the business and have the specific skills needed to overcome the biggest hurdles. The duration of their stay in the business is a mutually agreed upon timeline and should be backed up by a list of projects that should be completed. It is important to recognize real change takes time and can’t be rushed, while still having an end in sight.
If any consultant is trying to convince you of the need for years of their service or act like they want to become a fixture in your business, look elsewhere. Consultants charge, and should earn, a premium price due to their expertise. They should be catalysts for your business and not regular employees. If they claim you need them long term then offer to pay them the going rate for your employees and see if they accept. Most likely they will leave you alone almost immediately because they don’t want to get tied down to the commitment even though they are asking the same of you.
