Book Review: The Consultant's Calling

Let me start by saying that I am not a consultant. I read Geoffrey Bellman's book "The Consultant's Calling" because I am interested in moving to a consulting role within my company. I read one of Bellman's other books, "Getting Thing Done When You're Not In Charge" before I became a team lead in my area and I think that it helped me tremendously. The book helped me understand how to craft my position into position of greater responsibility and leadership without formal authority.

Unfortunately, I didn't walk away from The Consultant's calling with the same level of knowledge that I got from Bellman's other book. I do almost feel called to do consulting as the book's title suggests. The Book's subtitle "Bringing who you are to what you do" didn't really hit home with me. The book discusses Bellman's personal work/life philosophy. A lot of time is spent exploring love of work, client and partner relationships, and organizational theory. A more felicitous subtitle would probably have been "The observations and lessons learned in 25 years as an independent consultant".

Although one chapter specifically addresses making the leap to consulting, very little time is spent discussing the concrete steps that can be taken. The book almost completely discounts the role of an internal consultant or even consulting as part of a firm. This is unfortunate because Bellman has spent so much time at large corporations where both roles can be prevalent.

While I didn't get what I had hope for from the book, it was worth the read. In the end, I have come to view the role of a consultant as more of a coach than an expert or a problem solver. It's about helping people see the same old problems, the problems that all organizations struggle with, in different ways. Good consultants help people to take a step back, connect the dots, put their resources into the right things and support them through the process. Bellman's constantly emphasizes the fact that good consultants do work that they find rewarding and interesting and the money is not their primary motivator.

The most useful tips for someone interesting in breaking into consulting or building a practice are as follows:
- Join a professional support group or association
- Speak to civic organizations
- Attend or lead public workshops
- Write and publish articles
- Do internal consulting
- Attend conferences
- Meet consultants

The book is worth a read for anyone who is exploring the idea of striking out in their own to become an independent consultant. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has been consulting for 5 years or less. It's well organized with short chapters that are easily skipped or skimmed if they are not fitting to your particular place in the world of consulting.