A consultant is one who is an advisor, mentor, guide, counselor, expert, specialist, professional, authority and who is willing to share his acumen – insight, sharpness, shrewdness, penetration, good judgment, intelligence, wisdom and experience when sought for with others for the latter’s well being.

The profession of consultancy is fairly unknown and uncharted. One of the reasons for this is that it is part of the consultant’s “stock-in –trade” to wrap one self in a cloak of sagacity and mystique. The other reason is that there is no basic academic qualification that leads to a consultancy profession. And, therefore, a first move into consulting can be a culture shock: new entrants are often unnerved by the lack of structure and support in an environment where everyone else appears to be far too busy with their own tasks to pay any attention to the "new bug".

Consulting is not a particularly nurturing environment and despite the efforts of many firms, new people often feel left alone, not knowing who they should turn to or who they need to learn things from.

It is not simply a matter of acquiring operational abilities but "skills to learn" recognizing early on that the personal development will be largely the responsibility of the individual.

In order to make a real difference, experienced and accomplished consultants who in their own rights are leaders in their field and who have been chosen because of the relevance of their expertise should personally be involved in the passing on the baton. The consultancy skills can easily be developed and sharpened by observing the performance of professional advisers and other specialists in this know-how based business.

- input concepts, best practices, tools and techniques - Practice: individually or in groups - Transfer planning: how to use the learning back at work

In response to the ever growing demand for consultants, consulting skills should be developed to equip them with the skills they need to take charge of their own working lives. Only after this future career has to be attempted focusing on the following fundamental consulting skills

Listening - Interviewing skills - Needs analysis - Contracting - Report writing - Proposal writing - Making recommendations - Presentation skills - Facilitation skills - Coaching.- Persuading, selling, and negotiating - Surfacing and confront client issues - Problem solving skills - Project management skills

The context is very experiential. It is designed to provide with "hands-on" experience at: responding to requests for proposals, conducting interviews, client contact, consulting practice marketing, role playing, writing client reports, and making live presentations

Thus the overall objective will be to obtain a firm grasp of the consulting process and practice. It will be further designed and refined

- To provide with specific consulting skills necessary to either follow a career in consulting

- To be in a position to provide internal consulting services to existing employer

- To learn techniques and methods to use every day, such as forming collaborative working relationships, negotiating roles and expectations with clients

- To collect and use data effectively throughout the consultation process, and to handle difficult situations that occurs when circumstances change in the organisation

The objective in making people early in their consulting careers is not just a means of equipping them with consulting skills but also to equip them with the skills to survive and grow in a consulting practice.

This blog has been attempted with an aim to provide the consultants-aspirants with a survival kit, which otherwise they learn and know only after years of struggling and experience. Thus, in short, such an overall mastery requires the right answers / responses to the following:

- Why consultants are engaged?

- What are consultants expected to bring in?

- Qualities / traits of a good consultant

Individuals whose professional development requires the acquisition of such consulting skills include - Chartered Accountants, Cost Accountants, Management gurus, Engineers, Doctors, Legal experts and other subject matter experts

Is it not so simple? Let us get started in consulting.