May 2008

"You want your professionals to feel an almost irrational connection to the firm that includes the head, heart, and stomach."

It's no secret that leadership books are everywhere you look these days. What's been missing is a strong, research-based book on the leadership challenges facing professional services firm leaders--and strategies for addressing those challenges.

Thomas DeLong, coauthor of When Professionals Have to Lead: A New Model for High Performance, and a Professor at the Harvard Business School, has written that book.

DeLong believes that current marketplace dynamics demand new models for leading professional service firms. We talked to DeLong about his research and his ideas about a leadership framework that can help firm leaders balance the conflicting demands of managing modern professional service organizations.

Read our interview with Thomas DeLong

In his column, "Flying Solo," Alan Weiss leaves us with the lessons of seagulls.

We're also featuring articles on how to create a persuasive presentation slide deck, trends in pricing of professional service, how to free your creative side for problem solving, and more.

Don't miss the MCNews 12 Index of Professional Services, which tracks investor sentiment about the professional services industry.

Coming Attractions

"…meaningful strategic differentiation depends not on competitors, but on the needs of the company's customers."

Next month we'll talk with Jim Champy, Chairman of the Perot Systems consulting practice, and recognized throughout the world for his work on leadership and management issues. His first book, Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, upended traditional thinking about managing an organization.

Champy's latest book, Outsmart!: How to Do What Your Competitors Can't, illustrates six ways that "smart" organizations achieve breakthrough growth in the toughest markets while others don't.  We'll ask Champy how consultants can apply these ideas to their clients and practices.

Look for the next issue of Management Consulting News on June 3, 2008.

Guerrilla Consulting

Don't forget to click over to the Guerrilla Consulting site where you'll find the recent issues of our newsletter, The Guerrilla Consultant. And check out the award-winning Guerrilla Consulting blog for frequent posts on the world of consulting.

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