Climb In Consulting

One of the great things about running this podcast is I get to speak to inspiring leaders in our industry to get their inside track on what it takes to succeed in consulting.I try to interview guests on this show that I look up to and know others do too, so it was great to have a chance to interview one of my old mentors. Someone who taught me so much about consulting and who’s career has gone from strength to strength since I worked for him.Today I go back to my old consultancy to interview Alex Gurr, Partner and Head of Insurance at Baringa Partners.I worked closely with Alex on a number of projects during my time there and learnt a ton from him. Over the last five years, Alex has gone from junior partner to Head of Insurance, and working with his fellow partners has grown the insurance team from around 15 when I left to over 50 of them now.There’s so many things that I’d always wanted to ask Alex, to find out how he did what he did and how he’d been so successful. It was great to get the chance to sit down with him and go in to detail on many of these topics for the podcast.We cover a whole host of things in today’s conversation and there’s so much valuable insight for you including:How Alex turned a series of fortunate opportunities in to a successful career and his advice for you if you’re looking to climb to the top of the consulting ladder.How Alex’s upbringing influenced his approach to leadership and the values that he sees as key for any successful leader.And the importance of Diversity and Inclusion in consulting; what senior consulting leaders need to think about when it comes to D&I and what Baringa are doing to promote diversity and inclusion across their business.I really enjoyed going back to Baringa to speak with Alex. It’s been almost 5 years since I left and, while it only feels like yesterday, it’s been great seeing how the business and the insurance practice has grown in that time. Alex has a ton to share and this interview was a chance for us to sit down and get some of the great insights that I benefited from when I was at Baringa out there for all of you to hear.You can find out more about Alex on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-gurr-8ab82310/You can find out more about Baringa Partners at https://www.baringa.com/

In today’s episode I speak to Ian Price, the leading sales expert , performance psychologist and author.Ian is a CEO-turned business psychologist specialising in helping organisations both develop effective sales processes and build the mental toughness needed to achieve it.Having previously worked in consultancy and in a number of executive roles across the telecoms and technology industries, Ian has become an expert in selling and business development. Specialising in helping professional services businesses improve their own internal sales capability.This is an episode I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Sales is often seen as a ‘dirty’ word in consulting but it’s a key skill for anyone who has ambitions to get to PartnerIn the increasingly competitive business world, the ability to sell is essential for success. However, sales can often be an intimidating task for consultants so it’s great to have professionals such as Ian to help take that fear away and provide a fresh approach to selling.During our conversation we discuss a number of topics that will help you improve your selling including:The difference between zero sum and positive sum selling and how it can help you get over your fear of selling.Ian's practical advice for building an effective lead pipeline - even from a standing start.And the processes and systems you can use to help supercharge your selling, whether you're running a whole firm, running a practice or just trying to sell more yourself.It was great to meet with Ian and hear his thought-provoking views on how best to approach the often-daunting task of selling. I hope you enjoy today’s episode and that Ian’s advice will encourage you to develop your own effective sales process, boost your own business development pipeline and help you to grow your career.You can find out more about Ian on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ijprice/You can find out more about Recludo Consulting at https://www.recludoconsulting.com/

In today’s interview I speak to Irene Molodtsov, CEO of Sia Partners UK,Having started her career in manufacturing Irene quickly found her calling in management consulting and moved to KPMG to pursue her passion.When KPMG was sold to Atos, Irene and her co-founder decided the time was right to strike out on their own and do what they loved, helping organisations deliver major business transformation project. This led them to launch Molten which was subsequently acquired by Sia Partners in 2016.On joining Sia Partners, Irene took on the role of CEO of their UK business, continuing to build on the great work that she’d begun at Molten.In this conversation we dig in to a whole range of topics including:How Irene fell in love with consulting and how she decided to make the jump from a comfortable career at a global firm to launching MoltenIrene’s take on Diversity and Inclusion in Consulting and what the industry needs to do to help improve it.The future of the consulting industry, why it needs to be regulated and the importance of what Sia Partners have termed, Consulting 4.0, the next generation of consulting.I really enjoyed this conversation with Irene and it was great to get her candid take on where Consulting is going and what firms across the industry need to be thinking about as we enter the next decade.You can find out more about Irene on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/irenemolodtsov/You can find out more about Sia Partners at - https://www.sia-partners.com/

In today’s episode I bring you not one but two guests as I speak to Rob Ferrone and Adam Blomerley of Quick Release.Having started out as contractors, Rob joined forces with his co-founder, Adam Grant to launch Quick Release in 2003. In Rob’s own words they were ‘two Excel types who saw a gap in the market and wanted to create a fun company of like-minded data geeks’.It was shortly after this that Adam Blomerley joined the business with his famous ‘5 year plan’ - something we discuss in today’s show. This saw the start of the transformation of Quick Release, moving them from a provider of quality automotive Change Management resource to a fully-fledged Product Data Management Consultancy.Over the following two decades Rob, Adam and Adam set about scaling firm to help them achieve their goal of ‘world domination’, growing from a team of four into a global consultancy of over 200 people.Rob and Adam were fantastic guests and share some hugely candid insights into their journey and what it takes to grow a successful consulting firm.In this conversation we go into detail on a whole host of topics including:The early days of QR and how they were able to go from day rate contractors to building and scaling a successful consulting firm.The lessons they’ve learnt over the last two decades building Quick Release and the key steps that helped them grow to the size they are today.And Rob and Adam’s detailed advice for anyone looking to build a successful career in consulting.I really enjoyed this conversation with Adam and Rob. One of the key values of Quick Release is that they are ‘Quite Refreshing’, that they dare to be different, bringing a new approach and a fresh perspective and they certainly delivered that in this conversation.You can find out more about Rob on his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-ferrone-quick-release/You can find out more about Adam on his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-blomerley-338a2a48/You can find out more about Quick Release at - www.quickrelease.co.uk

In today’s episode, the first of 2020, we’re heading back to our usual format as I chat with a fantastic new guest.I was introduced to today’s guest by our mutual clients, Stephen Aldrige and Denver McCann at Numeritas who, having worked with him first hand, knew that he’d make a great guest for the show.So, who is he!Today’s guest is Rob Garner, serial consulting entrepreneur, board advisor and most recently founder of Garwood Solutions, the advisory enablement and delivery consultancy focused on performance improvement in the professional services sector.Having climbed the ranks in KPMG Rob left to launch his first business, Avail, with his business partner Martin.From a standing start they grew the business to over 70 people in just 5 years. Ultimately selling the business to the Tribal group in a rather unique deal that we go in to detail on in today’s show.In joining Tribal Rob took another step up, taking on the Managing Director role for their newly formed, 350 person consulting business and faced the daunting task of consolidating a collective of previously distinct public sector consultancies while also steering the business through one of the worst markets the sector had ever seen.Having started his own firm, built and sold a second and now advising a range of consulting business on how to successfully grow, Rob’s seen a lot and has wealth of experience that he shares in today’s conversation.We cover some really interesting topics in today’s conversation, including:- The unique deal that Rob and his co-founder created with Avail and the importance of building the right operating model when it comes to scaling a consulting business.- How Rob and his management team were able to successfully navigate the public sector downturn during his time with Tribal and his lessons to others facing tough times in their businesses.- And the advice Rob gives to the consulting businesses he works with and what you can learn from his experience to help you grow your own business and career.I really enjoyed speaking with Rob, he has a ton on of advice and insights to share from his journey and it was great to get the chance to dig in to these and learn the key principles that have helped him build the career he’s had.I hope you enjoy todays conversation and that hearing Rob’s story will encourage you to take that next step in your career, be it within your firm or striking out on your own.

Today’s episode represents a huge landmark for the show and I can’t believe we are here already.Today is episode 50 of climb in consulting and it’s crazy to think that something I started as a little side project almost two years ago has grown to where it is now.To celebrate episode 50 and do something a little different I decided to turn the tables and take a dose of my own medicine.Today’s episode is taken from a live YouTube recording we did a couple of months ago and sees me interviewed by my good friend, create engage client and host of the fantastic 40 minute mentor podcast, James Mitra from JBM.Over the last two years I’ve spoken to countless listeners on all sorts of topics relating to climbing in consulting. Everything from my advice for getting in to the industry to the reasons I left and more recently, people asking for my advice on how to start their own businesses.I wanted to bring all of this together and give you a chance to find out a bit more about me, find out about my journey and hopefully learn a few things that may help you.As this was being recorded live for youtube there are a few audio hickups at the start so please bare with it. After the first 10 minutes or so, everything is just as you’d expect from an episode of climb in consulting.Likewise, James and I had had dinner, we’d had a few non-alcoholic beers and were both nicely relaxed by the time we came to the interview. We jump around a little but stick with us, we cover some hugely important topics and ones I know many of you will be struggling with.

Today’s episode is one that I’ve been meaning to record for almost a year!Since starting the podcast I’ve had so many people ask me about how to launch their own podcast and my top tips from almost 50 episodes of Climb in Consulting.to answer these questions and help you if you’re thinking of launching your own podcast I recorded today’s episode.In today’s show I walk you through the exact process you’ll want to follow if you’re thinking of launching your own podcast including:How to develop your own USP and a podcast that will appeal to your target niche.How to get yourself a killer guest list that people will want to listen to.Everything you need to know about the technical side of producing a podcast and the tools you can use to do it all for free.And the most important part of all, successfully launching your podcast and making a splash - This is the exact strategy I followed to get in to the iTunes top 100 business charts when I launched Climb In Consulting.I hope you take a ton away from today’s episode and feel inspired to launch your own podcast!if it’s already on your new year’s resolutions list let me know. I’d love to support you and share your show when you launch.If you’re looking for any of the links i reference in the show you’ll find them below, just scroll down.Specific things I mention in the show:Tim Ferriss -How to launch your own podcast - https://tim.blog/2016/04/11/tim-ferriss-podcast-business/The detailed overview of the kit to use for your podcast - https://tim.blog/podcast-gear/the video overview of the exact Kit tim uses - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRxVEcbh-DkSquarespace - https://www.squarespace.com/Canva - https://www.canva.com/Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/MS Teams - https://products.office.com/en-gb/microsoft-teams/group-chat-softwareAudacity - https://www.audacityteam.org/How Noah Kagen launched his podcast - https://sumo.com/stories/how-to-launch-a-successful-podcast

Today’s interview is one that’s been a while coming, having recorded it back in August and I can assure you it’s been worth the wait.I’ve had a number of listeners ask for more guests from the strategy end of consulting and I always try my hardest to give you the guests you want.Today’s guest is Jess Frame, Partner and Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group.Jess was introduced to me by former guest Lyndsey Oliver after I asked her for recommendations for inspirational female consulting leaders that I could interview for the show.Jess has had a fascinating career that’s taken her across two continents and seen her move out of and back in to consulting, not once but twice. Having left consulting to work for Tesco she went on to run two multi-million pound businesses before going back to consulting as Partner and Managing Director in BCG’s Retail and Consumer practice.Jess was a brilliant guest and we had a great time recording this interview. In today’s conversation we cover so many important and impactful topics in including:Planning your career and how moving out in to industry can actually help you progress within consulting.Understanding why you’re pursuing the career you are and the questions you should ask yourself before committing to the road to Partner.Jess’s advice to junior consultants looking to set their career up for success.And Jess’s take on diversity in consulting and what the industry needs to do to improve it.I really enjoyed this conversation with Jess. Whether you’re male, female, just starting your career or have already made partner, I know you’ll take a ton away from this and I hope Jess inspires you just as much as much as she inspired me when we were having this conversation.You can find out more about Jess on her LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaframeceo/You can find out more about Boston Consulting Group at - https://www.bcg.com/

LISTEN ON ITUNES - HTTPS://APPLE.CO/2GM29CKLISTEN ON STITCHER - HTTP://BIT.LY/2BYEYF6LISTEN ON PLAYER FM – HTTP://BIT.LY/2M3M4SKLISTEN ON TUNE IN RADIO - HTTP://BIT.LY/2JJTLLJToday’s episode is a first for the show as I get to give you part two of the story that one of my guest’s started way back at episode 2 of Climb in Consulting.If you’ve been with the show since the start you’ll know that my second ever guest was Dom Moorhouse, founder of Moorhouse consulting. As Dom explained in his interview he eventually sold the business to BT before departing in 2011.I know that many of you have wanted to find out what’s happened to Moorhouse since then and to tell part two I reached out to today’s guest to see if he’d come on the show to share it with you.Today’s guest is Richard Goold, Managing Partner at Moorhouse, the dynamic consulting firm, focused on delivering change.Over the past 8 years Richard has spearheaded the people and talent agenda at Moorhouse, championing the focus on developing extraordinary leaders.He is known for his commitment to developing agile and courageous companies that have the ability to recruit, develop and excite their people.Having joined the firm as one of their new leadership team in 2009, Richard was part of the group that successfully led a management buyout from BT in 2014 with the goal of growing the business and taking it to the next level. This growth led to Richard and the team selling Moorhouse to Expleo in 2018.In our conversation Richard shares journey he’s been on with moorhouse and how he and the leadership team have continued to grow the firm since Dom left.As my first guest who has been part of a management buyout we go in to detail on this and spend a good chunk of our interview talking about how this process worked and Richard’s advice for you if you’re thinking of doing the same for your firm.This interview isn’t just focused on the financial side though and we also dive in to Richard’s management philosophy, his approach to leadership and his advice on developing a successful career in Consulting.I really enjoyed this conversation with Richard and I’m sure you will too!You can get in touch with Richard on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gooldy/You can find out more about Moorhouse at - https://www.moorhouseconsulting.com/This episode is brought to you by Create Engage the Digital Marketing agency for the disruptive Management Consultancy.Digital Marketing has moved forward, but most consulting firms haven’t. Many Consulting firms still see their corporate blog as their sole Digital Marketing channel and find themselves frustrated when these blogs yield little if any results. To help those of you who want to harness the power of Digital Marketing to grow your Consulting Business but don’t have the knowledge, capacity or in-house capability to do so I launched Create Engage, the first Digital Marketing agency for the Management Consulting Industry.If you’d like to find out more about how Create Engage can help you use Digital Marketing to take your business to the next level then drop me an email at Nick@CreateEngage.co.uk or go to our website www.createengage.co.uk where you can download our free case study that breaks down down the Digital Marketing strategies used by one successful Consulting firm to help them grow over 400% in just 3 years and gives you the secrets they used, so that you can apply them in your own firm. Specific things we discussed in the show:The 100-Year Life by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott - https://amzn.to/2m0gVazCareer Rocket Fuel by Brian Fetherstonhaugh - http://bit.ly/2m8JHWf Clear Water International - https://www.clearwaterinternational.com/ukMorgan Lewis - https://www.morganlewis.com/

For regular listeners you’ll now that I ask my guests the same question at the end of each episode of Climb In Consulting. I find these answers hugely beneficial for my own career and I know that many of you do too.Earlier in the series I did a recap episode where I distilled all of my guests advice in to one, consise, episode. Last time I did this it got some great feedback so I wanted to do it again to give you a second dose of career advice from some of the best in our industry.As a recap, or for those of you who may not have listened to any of my other interviews before, the question that these guests are answering asks for one piece of advice for three different people:The first is someone who's just starting their career in Consulting - anywhere from 0 to 2 years in.The second is for someone 'in the middle' of their Consulting career - 4 - 6 years in to Consulting.The third is for someone who's approaching Partner or considering going out on their own to create their own business.In today’s episode you’ll hear from:Jeff WelsteadDavid LancefieldMatt RoganTony RestellAndrew DentonKarina Brown & Jim StitchburyGian PowerSeb ChambersMichael ZipurskyHarry GaskellAdil KhanLyndsey OliverCharles Vivian andMichael MahonyThere are so many great pieces of advice in this episode and some really interesting common themes and principles that have helped my guests get to the top. I hope you enjoy it.

Today’s guest is Dave Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Storm Consulting, Chairman of CiteAB and non-executive director at I Am compliant.Storm are a software consultancy that help clients create web apps, digital platforms and website designs to engage their audience, elevate their brand, and ultimately grow their business.Dave’s story is a truly unique one and having got to know Dave over the last couple of month I knew he’d make a fantastic guest for this show.Unlike many of my guests who’ve started their businesses having spent years in their field Dave and his co-founder Adam launched Storm, straight out of university, deciding that they’d give it a go and if it all went wrong they’d call it a gap year and go back to the graduate milk round.Needless to say it worked out for them and Storm is now a thriving consultancy with clients ranging from cutting edge start ups to global brands including Samsung, Yamaha and UbisoftI regularly get messages from listeners considering what to do after they leave university and in this interview Dave shares some great insights on launching your own business and why doing it straight out of university may be one of the best opportunities you have.This interview isn’t just for new graduates though. In growing Storm Dave and his co-founder Adam have built a successful business based on practices that many would not think could work in Consulting, including not working Friday afternoons and unlimited holiday allowances. We go in to detail on Dave’s management philosophy during this conversation and why practices like these and the principles that underpin them have helped Storm achieve the success it has.I really enjoyed this conversation with Dave and it was fascinating to hear how he’s successfully built the business that he wants and a business that clients love while shunning the norms of the traditional consulting model. I hope you enjoy it.Specific things we discussed in the show:Ryan Carson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryancarsonTreehouse - https://teamtreehouse.com/Executive Foundation - https://www.executive-foundation.com/Shaw & Co - https://www.shawllp.co.uk/Jim Shaw - https://www.shawllp.co.uk/about-us/our-people/jim-shaw/Turning the Flywheel by Jim Collins - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1847942555/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_oXH-CbKEK4GXTYena - https://joinyena.com/Storm - https://stormconsultancy.co.uk/And their address if you want to go and get your copy of Turning the Fly Wheel - https://stormconsultancy.co.uk/contact/

Today’s guest is Charlie Hodgson, former England international and Saracens number 10 and founder of Charlie Hodgson Performance, his leadership coaching business.As a professional rugby player Charlie achieved everything you could want to over his 16 year career. He won multiple premiership titles with his club Saracens, played for England and went on the 2005 Lions tour. If this wasn’t enough, he is also the all-time record point scorer in the premiership with 2,625 points scored. To put this into perspective if you don’t follow rugby, the closest player too him who’s still playing professionally has 1,569 points – almost a 1,000 points behind Charlie.As I’ve said before on this podcast I’m a big believer that you can and should learn from the best, regardless of their industry, and sport is no different. Given the hyper competitive nature of elite sport, teams are always looking for an edge and given Saracens success over recent years it was fascinating to sit down with Charlie and get his first-hand insights and advice of what led them to be so successful.Since retiring from professional rugby Charlie has combined his experience of developing winning teams at the top level of elite rugby with his coaching training and launched Charlie Hodgson Performance to help executives and their teams leverage the leadership principles from professional sport to develop their own high performing cultures.Charlie shares so many fascinating insights from both his sporting and business careers in this interview including:How his club Saracens were able to go from a midtable side to the best team in the league and the off field changes they made that were critical to this success.The importance of developing a positive and supportive culture in your organisation and the key elements to consider if you want to develop your own high performing team.How you can break down barriers between the different areas in your organisation and start to help your teams work together better.And much much more!It was great to get the chance to sit down with someone who has spent so long at the top of elite sport and learn what it takes to succeed at that level, both individually and as a team. There’s so much in this conversation that you can apply to your career and your business and I know you’re going to get a lot from what Charlie has to say.You can get in touch with Charlie via email at charlie@charliehodgsonperformance.comAnd you can find out more about Charlie Hodgson Performance at https://charliehodgsonperformance.com/

Today’s guest is Julie Baddeley.Julie is one of the UK’s most experienced female business leaders having held numerous executive and non-executive positions on the boards of many well known FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies over the last 20 years.Julie is currently non-executive director of Ebiquity plc and Senior Independent Director of Marshall of Cambridge. In addition to these roles she has established the Hughes Hall Centre for Climate Change Engagement at Cambridge University, something we discuss in today’s show.Before moving in to her portfolio career she was a partner at Accenture, Executive Director at The Woolwich and has been on the boards of Harvey Nash, Greggs, and the Department of Health to name but a few.I was introduced to Julie by former guest of the show Harry Gaskell who worked for Julie before she left Consulting. Given her wealth of experience and current area of focus he thought she’d make an excellent guest for the show and he was certainly right about that.Today’s episode is rather different to some of my other conversations and instead of going in to detail on Julie’s career we focus on an important topic that Julie is hugely passionate about and one that will be critical for Consultants and their clients over the coming years and that is climate change.In addition to her non-executive roles Julie is currently leading a series of initiatives with investors, scientists and advisors to help Board chairs and non-executive directors recognise the impact that climate change is going to have on their businesses and the importance of doing their part to reduce the environment impact of their businesses.With her substantial board level experience Julie brings a pragmatic business lens to the climate change conversations and in this episode we go in to huge detail about why helping tackle climate change is a sound strategic business decision and why Consultants should be focusing on this as an offering for their clients.Our conversation really opened my eyes to some of the challenges that businesses are facing when it comes to climate change and how Consultants can, and should, be looking to support their clients with this, both to help the planet but also to help their profits.You can get in touch with Julie on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-baddeley-675a2011/or drop her an email - juliebaddeley@gmail.com

Today’s guest is Michael Mahony, Co-Founder of the Berkeley Partnership.Michael was one of four founding partners of The Berkeley Partnership, growing it from an idea to where it is today. In 2018 Michael retired from Berkeley and now works with a number of consulting firms, helping them shape their business strategies.Founded in 1990, The Berkeley Partnership is an independent Management Consultancy who work with many household names and global organisations helping them to develop strategies and transform their businesses.The Berekely partnership are unique in a number of ways and have successfully grown their business whilst doing the opposite of what most people would consider conventional consulting wisdom. They are industry agnostic, only recruit from the upper grades in Consulting, have an extremely low partner to Consultant ratio and are heavily focused on limiting the amount of travel their consultants have to do when delivering for their clients.The fascinating thing about Berkeley is that they’ve been able to build a thriving business by doing all of this and as Michael explains in our conversation, they’ve create a place that the partners and consultants want to work.Knowing some of the Berkeley story, I had always been intrigued by their model and how they’d been so successful while pursuing such an unorthodox approach. So when I was introduced to Michael, I jumped at the chance to get him on the show.We cover so many interesting topics in this episode including:What led Michael and his Co-founders to Launch Berkeley and how they managed to survive their early years, launching the business just before the 1991 recession.The Berkeley Partnership business model and how the team decided to set the firm up as they did.And Michael’s advice to others thinking about launching their own consulting businessI really enjoyed this conversation with Michael and it was great to get so much advice and insight from someone who has been involved in the industry for as long as he has.If you’re a partner thinking about how to improve your own business or a Consultant thinking about going out on your own then this interview is a must listen.You can get in touch with Michael through his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmahony1/Specific things we discussed in the show:The Berkeley Partnership - https://www.berkeleypartnership.com/Trust Based Selling by Charles Green - https://amzn.to/2Uynsc6Managing the Professional Services Firm by David Maister - https://amzn.to/2D0OcYAOn the Psychology of Military Incompetence by Norman Dixon - https://amzn.to/2K613PjWhat we talk about:00:04:59 - Michael’s early career and what led him and his co-founders to launch the Berkeley Partnership.00:16:14 - The importance of optimism and how to overcome the fear of launching your own business.00:19:09 - How Michael and his co-founders balanced their different wants and desires for the company in the early days.00:20:08 - How the Berkeley Partnership survived the 1991 recession and what this taught Michael and the team for future recessions.00:23:04 - The importance of building relationships with your clients and how to do it effectively.00:24:40 - The Berkeley Partners business model and their unique approach to running a Consulting business.00:32:00 - How Michael and the leadership team had to adapt to ensure the guiding principles of Berkeley endured as the business grew.00:33:52 - How the leadership team made decisions without a Managing Partner.00:35:14 - Why Michael and his co-founders decided to build Berkeley as a business for the long term and not with the goal of building it to sell.00:36:43 - How the workforce is changing and the impact this is going to have on Consulting firms and their clients.00:40:12 - How the Berkeley Partnership built a successful business without creating a ‘pyramid’ structure and how they were able to sell this proposition to their clients.00:56:14 - The major inflection points on the Berkeley Partnership’s growth journey and how Michael and the leadership team overcame them.01:05:06 - How the Berkeley Partnership ensured they recruited the best people for the firm.0:1:10:00 - Michael’s advice to anyone thinking of launching their own Consulting business.01:15:58 - Michael’s book recommendations.01:19:20 - Michael’s closing advice for you whether you’re just starting out in Consulting, in the middle grades or approaching Partner level.01:21:55 - How to get in touch with Michael.

Today’s guest is Charles Vivian, Managing Director and Portfolio Group Lead at North Highland.Charles leads North Highland’s UK and north eastern US practices, a $100 million dollar consulting business.While you might be expecting the typical consulting career journey, Charles has had the complete opposite and has a hugely varied career that has spanned working for a global consultancy, founding his own start up, working for a boutique consulting firm and then working his way up to where he is now.Outside of work Charles has undertaken some phenomenal adventures including climbing Mont Blanc and running the Marathon De Sables, the world’s toughest foot race. In fact the reason that there was a slight delay on releasing this episode was that Charles was flying out the day after our interview to trek across the Artic!Charles’s approach to growing a business, growing your career and enjoying your life were fascinating and no matter where you are on your journey there’ll be something in here for you.We cover so many interesting topics in this conversation including:Charles’ start up journey, what he learnt from failing and his advice to other thinking of going out on their own.The importance of culture when it comes to building a consulting firm and how North Highland have created a culture that is open and supportive while welcoming challenge from all levels of the firm.The differences and similarities when it comes to working across the UK and the US and the importance of understanding the culture of the region you’re working in when it comes to building a Consulting business.How Charles fits adventures like his trip to the artic in to his schedule and his advice for others looking to balance work with doing more of the things they enjoy outside it.I really enjoyed this conversation with Charles. His unique perspective having worked across such a diverse range of businesses gave some fantastic insights and I know you’ll get a lot from this conversation.You can get in touch with Charles y through his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-vivian-2931b72/or drop him an email - Charles.Vivian@northhighland.com

Today’s episode is a huge milestone for the show. It’s the 40th episode of Climb in Consulting.It’s been a great adventure so far and I’m looking forward to creating the next 40 episodes for you.A big thank you to all of my guests who have appeared on the show so far and a big thank you to you for listening to it! Without you I would have packed this up long ago.To celebrate 40 episodes I wanted to share my advice on one the biggest challenges I find Consultants, Consulting Leaders and Consulting Marketers face - Producing content.I speak to a ton of Consulting leaders and Consulting Heads of Marketing who say that they struggle to get content from their Consultants. Likewise I speak to Consultants who are desperate to create more content.In this episode I focus on the two reasons that hold Consultants back from creating more content - Fear and time. By resolving these two issues you’ll be able to create significantly more content which will only benefit your firm and your own career.Specific people I mention in the show:Nigel Walsh - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelwalsh/Nigel Walsh’s interview for Climb in Consulting - https://www.climbinconsulting.com/podcast/2018/10/17/episode-31-nigel-walsh-deloitte-digitalNatalia Wiechowski - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliawiechowski/Natalia Wiechowski’s interview for Climb in Consulting - https://player.fm/series/climb-in-consulting/episode-19-personal-branding-with-natalia-wiechowskiThis episode is brought to you by Create Engage the Digital Marketing agency for the disruptive Management Consultancy.Digital Marketing has moved forward, but most consulting firms haven’t. Many Consulting firms still see their corporate blog as their sole Digital Marketing channel and find themselves frustrated when these blogs yield little if any results.To help those of you who want to harness the power of Digital Marketing to grow your Consulting Business but don’t have the knowledge, capacity or in-house capability to do so I launched Create Engage, the first Digital Marketing agency for the Management Consulting Industry.If you’d like to find out more about how Create Engage can help you use Digital Marketing to take your business to the next level then drop me an email at Nick@CreateEngage.co.uk or go to our website www.createengage.co.uk where you can download our free case study that breaks down down the Digital Marketing strategies used by one successful Consulting firm to help them grow over 400% in just 3 years and gives you the secrets they used, so that you can apply them in your own firm.

Today’s guest is Lyndsey Oliver, AKA the Chief MsChief MakerLyndsey is the founder and director of M4 Coaching and creator of Back to Work without a Bump® and Making MsChief®, the groundbreaking programmes designed to help retain, support and unleash the true potential of all human beings regardless of their labels.Lyndsey is a champion of working Mums and an advocate of gender balance in the workplace. She’s passionate about helping parents (both male and female), female leaders and female business owners become the best versions of themselves, both in and out of work.I was introduced to Lyndsey by a former colleague and listener to the show who had worked with her through their parental leave and said that I had to get her on the show.The challenges that Lyndsey helps Consultants with are ones that many people in our industry deal with every day but ones that rarely get the attention they deserve. Knowing the positive impact that Lyndsey had had on this listener and others in my network I knew she’d make a fantastic guest and she certainly didn’t disappoint.We cover some really deep topics in this interview including:The barriers that hold women back from climbing the career ladder - both structural and self imposed - and what Consulting firms and female leaders themselves can do to break through these.The relationship challenges that can face some Consultants as a result of the job and the conversations you should be having with your partner to ensure you’re able to manage them.The challenges that parents face when it comes to building a career in Consulting and what their firms and they can do to manage these to help them achieve the balance of home and work life they’re looking for.And finally, What those of us who are white men, like me, can do when it comes to diversity and inclusion in Consulting and how we can help improve it.This was a fantastic interview and we go in to detail on all of these topics. So much so we got carried away after the interview and kept going. As you’ll hear towards the end of today’s episode I’ve actually put some of our post interview conversation back in because I thought it was such an important topic for you to hear.For any regular listeners you’ll also know that I often ask my guests for resources that they’d recommend you check out if you want to work on any of the things that we discuss.To help you with this Lyndsey has created a free workbook that you can use to help you identify your own biases - both conscious and unconscious - and start to think about how you can make positive changes to reduce these in day to day live.Whether you’re a senior leader who is looking to be the best role model they can be or a junior consultant looking to understand more about themselves I’d highly recommend checking this out.If you want to download the workbook you can find it on Lyndsey’s website - www.makingmschief.com/free-workbook and I’ve put the link in the show notes for you.You can get in touch with Lyndsey through her LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndsey-oliver/Or check out her website - www.makingmschief.comSpecific things we discussed in the show:The DO lectures - https://www.thedolectures.com/Making MsChief - https://www.makingmschief.com/The Path of a Doer by David Hieatt and Andy Smith - https://amzn.to/2taGYfjTim Ferriss - http://bit.ly/2RMmPWWBrene Brown - https://brenebrown.com/Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown - https://amzn.to/2GsM9PCDare to Lead by Brene Brown - https://amzn.to/2WMGGsBBrene Brown TED talk - https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability?language=enThe Invention of Difference by Binna Kaandola & Jo Kaandola - https://amzn.to/2RNOUNiWomen Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés - https://amzn.to/2MU6rTmFierce Fairytales by Nikita Gill - https://amzn.to/2TJzYSxThe Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson - https://amzn.to/2GfLdyHWhat we talk about:00:07:04 - Lyndsey’s background and how she got to where she is today.00:11:04 - Why Lyndsey decided to leave her successful corporate career.00:16:46 - The glass ceiling - what holds women back from climbing in their career, both structural and self imposed.00:23:40 - Lyndsey’s recommendations for the best children’s TV shows from a diversity and inclusion perspective.00:25:25 - Why a ‘lack of confidence’ is rarely the real issue that female leaders face.00:30:20 - The Dilts Pyramid and why it’s so important for your career success.00:35:29 - The structural challenges within Consulting and what firms should be thinking about if they want to improve diversity and inclusion within their firm.00:40:59 - How can Consulting firms balance their career progression and reward structures to support both those who want to prioritise their careers above other areas of their life as well as those who are looking for more balance across the different areas.00:49:06 - The impact that social media and external validation can has on our career decisions and choices as we pursue ‘success’.00:57:52 - Why flexible working would transform Consulting and those that work in the industry01:00:51 - How Consulting leaders can support their team in balancing their career with other aspects of their lives.01:04:00 - The challenges that ‘high flying’ couples face and what you and your partner should be thinking about if you want to maintain a health relationship while climbing the career ladder.01:10:00 - The warning signs that can tell you whether your relationship is suffering as a result of your career.01:15:45 - The importance of understanding yourself and why this is critical to developing a successful Consulting career.01:18:00 - Self Improvement Books and whether they’re seen as ‘acceptable’ by our industry.01:27:53 - The challenges that expectant and new parents face when it comes to their career and how they can successfully overcome them.01:32:06 - How parents can manage the challenges of travelling for work with bringing up a family.01:38:30 - The specific career challenges that men face when their partners are pregnant and what they and their managers should be talking about to ensure they get the support they need.01:42:50 - The positive and negative impacts of company policy when it comes to diversity and inclusion.01:47:10 - How the challenges that parents face change as their children get older and how they can manage these challenges are their children grow up.01:52:42 - What ‘white men’ can do to support and improve diversity and inclusion in Consulting.1:58:37 - Lyndsey’s book recommendations.02:06:00 - Lyndsey’s closing advice for you whether you’re just starting out in Consulting, in the middle grades or approaching Partner level.02:08:10 - How to get in touch with Lyndsey.

Today’s guest is Adil Khan. Adil was one of the founding team of Boxwood, the business transformation consultancy that following years of successful growth was acquired by KPMG in 2015.Since leaving Boxwood Adil now spends his time advising Consulting entrepreneurs on how to successfully grow their businesses and focusing on his own start up, Lifefyle.The goal of Lifefyle is to provide people with a simple, organised platform for their life admin, to give them the freedom to unlock their potential and thrive. You can find out more about Lifefyle at www.lifefyle.comAdil’s story is rather different to what you might consider the typical journey of a Consulting entrepreneur. Unlike most, he didn’t have a long track record in Consulting, having only spent a short time in the indsutry before stepping out to found boxwood with his co-founders who had spent equally little time in Consulting.This limited time in the industry proved to be the key to their success as they set out to create something very different from the typical Consulting model that was common at the time.We go in to detail on some really key parts of the Boxwood journey that I know you’re going to find really interesting including:The importance of culture and how Adil and his co-founders defined their culture from the start and what they did to ensure it remained a core focus as they grew.The challenges of being responsible for both people and finance as Adil was. The natural tensions these functions often come up against and how Adil managed this.The Boxwood approach to working with clients, why this was so unique and what Consultants in today’s Market could learn from it.And Adil’s contrarian view on building a Consulting business to sell, why expanding internationally can actually reduce the value of your business and the sale of Boxwood to KPMG. A process I know a number of you have wanted to hear more about.I really enjoyed this conversation and it was great to get the perspective of someone who took a less orthodox route to success in Consulting. If you’re not from the typical ‘big 4’ Consulting background and want to know how you can turn this to your advantage or even if you are and want to know how you can use the principle from Boxwood to grow your business or practice area I know you’re going to get a ton from this interview.You can get in touch with Adil through his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adilkhan/Or drop him an email - adil@blueastral.co.uk

Happy New Year!Today’s Guest is Harry Gaskell, Chief Innovation Officer for EY UK and Ireland.What is a Chief Innovation Officer? Well that’s something we discuss in today’s show but at it’s most basic, Harry is responsible for identifying emerging technologies to launch new platforms and products to help EY improve its clients’ businesses.Prior to taking this role Harry was the Managing Partner of EY’s UK & Ireland Advisory business which he grew from zero to £250m during his time at the helm.In addition to his work with EY Harry is the Chair of the Employers’ Network for Equality and Inclusion, Chair of the Finance Committee for the University of the Arts, London and an angel investor and mentor to a number of innovative start ups.Harry was a fantastic guest with a truly unique perspective on the Consulting industry and how it’s going to change over the coming years. If you’re looking to understand how you can future proof your career and get to the top of the industry, or any industry for that matter, then you’re going to love this conversation.We cover a whole host of topics including:What the Consultancy of the Future will look like and how the skills needed and the approach to working with clients is going to fundamentally change.The impacts these changes will have on the traditional Consulting Business model and the real world examples of how EYs use of emerging technology is resulting in them having to look at these questions now.How to foster a culture of innovation within your organisation and the common mistakes that Consultancies and large corporates make when it comes to innovation.And why taking some time out of Consulting could actually be the best thing for your long term Consulting career.Harry was as open as he was insightful and this episode has a huge amount for everyone. Whether you’re a consultant just starting out or a managing partner running your own firm I know you’re going to get a lot from what Harry has to say.You can get in touch with Harry through his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-gaskell-ab94271/Specific things we discuss in the show:Christopher Brooker’s theory of the 7 basic plots for all stories - https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-seven-basic-plots-9780826452092/Kim Paykel - EYX Programme Director - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimpaykel/EYX - https://www.ey.com/uk/en/services/specialty-services/ey-taking-innovation-to-the-next-levelGeorge Orwell - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_OrwellMy country Right or Left by George Orwell - https://www.amazon.co.uk/George-Orwell-1940-1943-Collected-Journalism/dp/1567921345What we talk about:00:05:26 - How the Consulting career journey is changing and what you should do if you want to set yourself up for success.00:07:20 - Harry’s contrarian advice on making Partner.00:11:04 - Harry’s model for the Consulting firm of the future.00:17:15 - The skills junior Consultants should focus on to ‘future proof’ their careers.00:20:20 - Why diversity is one of the keys to success in today’s Consulting world and what you should be thinking about internally to ensure you hire the best candidates, regardless of background.00:23:41 - How to overcome the internal cultural challenges when it comes to diversifying your team.00:26:40 - The story of how Harry founded his first Consulting business at just 23. How he did it and what he learnt from it.00:31:48 - What Harry would do differently if he was launching his Consultancy today.00:33:38 - How to innovate successfully and why a little bit of ‘innovation theatre’ may be necessary for large corporate clients.00:40:00 - How to diversify your experience and skills to help you respond to the needs of your clients in today’s world.00:42:56 - Harry’s role as Chief Innovation Officer, what it is and how it came about.00:49:43 - How EY is trying to 'disrupt itself’ before being disrupted and the real world examples of how they’re doing it.00:53:09 - The impact these new technology solutions are having on their team and how EY are having to change their business to respond to them.00:59:42 - How the Consulting business model is going to change as a result of these technologies and the big questions that Consulting firms will need to ask themselves to remain competitive.01:02:19 - Why the EY Innovation team is based outside of the corporate head office and the benefits Harry and his team see from this.01:07:25 - The biggest challenges Harry has found in trying to change EY’s culture to help the firm become more innovative.01:10:33 - Why it’s so important to focus on broadening your horizons, particularly for senior Consulting leaders.01:13:02 - Harry’s book recommendations.01:15:24 - Harry’s closing advice for you whether you’re just starting out in Consulting, In the middle grades or approaching Partner level.01:17:50 - How to get in touch with Harry.

Today’s episode is a little different and I’m really excited to be sharing it with you.Instead of my normal interviews where I’m the one asking the questions, today’s interview is taken from an event I attended last month, hosted by my good friend James Mitra at JBM Consulting.For those of you that don’t know, JBM are an executive search firm that place top talent into high growth tech firms, fintechs and consultancies. They are also the talent partners to the Fintech focused Private equity firm Motive Partners which is where this event was held.When James told me who the speaker was going to be I said that we had to record it for the podcast and it certainly didn’t disappoint.I’m a big believer that you can, and should, learn from the best. Regardless of their field. As you’ll hear in today’s interview, there are so many fantastic insights that are equally applicable to Consulting firms, and their clients, as there are to this guest’s specific industry.For those of you listening to this outside of the UK, or for those of you in the UK who may have been living under a rock for the last 10 years, Moonpig are the UK’s largest online card retailer with over 15 million cards sent through their online platform in 2017 alone.Iain was one of the early members of the Moonpig team and over his time as MD grew the business from a team of just 8 people, turning over £2,000,000 in to a team of over 160 turning over £60m a year.This phenomenal growth ultimately led to Moonpig being acquired by Photobox for £120m in 2011James and Iain cover some really interesting topics in their conversation and the questions that follow including:Iain’s journey to becoming the MD of moon pig and the unorthodox approach he took to get there.The importance of using data when it comes to Marketing and how this helped moon pig achieve it’s rapid growth.How Iain and the team ensured they hired the best talent for the business and their unconventional approach for rewarding their team.The sale to Photobox and the steps they took from deciding to sell through to integrating the business with their new ownersAnd the one I know many of you will want to know. How they decided on the name Moonpig and where the jingle came.It was great to meet Iain and I really enjoyed hearing his story and advice for those looking to grow their business as successfully as he did.