On Thursday and Friday last week, eight of us got together for the “Great Insiders 2 day Intensive” . We packed in so much that on the morning of the second day, one of the delegates said – “You need to stress the Intensive bit”. From that perspective, the two days certainly do what it says on the tin.

The delegates were a mixture of Internal and External consultants. (We’ve found lately that more and more externals are joining us, as they find they need very similar support to you). We covered a wide, yet focused, syllabus and adapted it to suit the people in the room. Because of this, each Intensive is unique.

We started off looking at the difference between Internals and Externals and decided that each can be more effective in different circumstances. The roles we take are equally important – if you’re using one of the 10 consultancy roles and your client is expecting you to be taking a different role – then major misunderstandings can happen. So light-bulb moments started to happen even before the first coffee break.

The most effective Internals often work as if they are running their own consultancy practice. Skills they use to do this include:

• Using the right role at the right time
• Having a Consultancy Process or Cycle which works for you and your client
• Educating your client – this was a big one for this group
• Being able to ride the roller coaster
• Understanding when to use your authority
• Negotiating which pieces of work they will do, when and how effectively
• Influencing the stakeholders and end users to ensure appropriate uptake
• Listening – lots

Combined with their 360 feedback, each individual attending was able to develop skills, practice them on the day and take away some key things they can implement immediately.

If you’re finding you’re less effective, visible and appreciated that you would like and know you can do even more of your business than you already do – then come along to the June Intensive . Places are limited to 12 people, and there is a 25% early bird discount if you book now.



Plus the earlier you book, the more time you'll get to make the most of the 360 feedback process.

Learning through discussion and play

This would have been a much longer briefing, if things had gone to plan today. I (Lou) am working at home because we’re having a new boiler fitted and my key task for the morning was write this email. I started the first draft at 11:09. By then we had found a gas leak, had a burst pipe and found the stop tap had seized up and mopped out a flooded cellar. Although we try to be consistent about when we send this weekly email, it’s not the end of the world. However, if I’d had some client work to get done by lunch time then it could have been a whole different ball game.

If you've got hints and tips on how to deal with situations like that, they could be your contribution to the Great Insiders book.

The Great Insiders Book – By you for you

Caroline Ruiz is doing a great job of editing the Great Insiders book and we will be putting a first daft online very soon for you to take a look at. This is a collaborative book and anyone from the tribe can join in. You may want to get involved for a number of reasons:

• You’ve always wanted to be published and this would be a great start
• Being able to say you’ve contributed to a published book, and give people a copy, is a great way to demonstrate your expertise
• You have something you’d like to share with the tribe
• You’ve found one or more of the LinkedIn discussions especially useful and would like to summarise it so that other people can get the benefit too
• You like getting involved in tribe projects and think this one is great fun

The theme is “by the tribe for the tribe” so you can talk on any topic which you think has relevance and interest for Great Insiders. If we get more than one distinct theme going on then we’ll publish more than one volume. Whatever your reasons for getting involved, it’s easy to join in. Just reply to this email letting us know whether you:

• Have an article which you have already written which you’d like us to consider including
• Would like to write something and have an idea
• Would like to write something and would like help with the idea
• Don’t feel confident writing, but know you have lots to say and would like someone to interview you and turn it into an article
• Would like to summarise one of the LinkedIn discussions as a chapter in the book

The plan is that chapters will be short. We will group them together into themed sections of the book – possibly around the 7 mistakes, or possibly around themes which emerge during the editing process.

There’s no Freebie Friday this week, as we were on the Intensive on Friday. Normal service should resume next week. As you know we’re always open to include your offers, or those of your friends. So if you know of something coming up which the tribe might be interested in and would like the tribe to promote a special offer, then just reply to this email