Today's Big Issues Drive Tomorrow's Consulting Business

Do global warming, the changing political climate and Web 2.0 directly impact your consulting business? You bet.

On the heels of a year that began with the warmest January on record, a team of renowned scientists concludes it's virtually certain that human activities cause climate change and global warming. The new Democratic-led Congress passes a slew of legislation in its first 100 hours in office. Increasingly, name-brand companies are caught backdating stock options.

What does all this have to do with you? Whether you believe global warming is a serious threat or not, whether you're a Democrat, Republican or none of the above, the fact remains that these issues are center stage in American business and policy discussions. It's up to you to understand how these debates may impact your clients and prospects.

Whether your focus is strategy, marketing, organizational development, IT or finance, the world around us influences clients and the work we do for them. Consultants provide important value-add through their insight and an outsider perspective on strategic issues.

• Climate Change/Sustainability
  It's impossible to pick up a business publication or read a blog without seeing a discussion of global warming, sustainability or clean energy. In short order, these areas have spurred venture capital funding, focused legislation and regulation, and served as a rallying cry local and grassroots action. You can't be in business in California and not be impacted by this debate.
• Web 2.0/Open Source.
  New, next-generation web-based tools, technologies and services-including wikis, blogs and RSS feeds? are launching almost daily. The widespread adoption of services characterized by open communication, decentralization of authority and the freedom to share and re-use content has tremendous disruptive implications. Customers and users can now influence the direction of products, service, and support, which may change the economic model of entire industries.
• Changing Political Sentiment.
  Two years ago, this country was divided nearly 50/50 into red and blue states, Congress was solidly Republican, and it was unpatriotic to question the role of US troops in Iraq. Fast-forward to an America where our president's approval rating has plummeted, and there is widespread questioning of the ongoing American role in the Iraq conflict and our role in the world. This new direction is felt in policy and legislation on the national, state, and local levels.
• Population Shifts.
  Border vigilantes and walls to keep out illegal immigrants are juxtaposed with off-shoring, outsourcing and the aging of the American workforce. As some citizens conduct raids to catch undocumented workers, the Bank of America begins to offer credit specifically to undocumented individuals. As the population ages, many companies will be facing the imminent retirement of their most seasoned employees.
• Legislating Integrity
  We've evolved from the excesses at Enron to illegal fuel additives in NASCAR races. These excesses are increasingly less tolerated, and we're seeing policies and legislation aimed at avoiding past transgressions and at keeping businesses and individuals more compliant, at a minimum.

Ask yourself how new developments in these areas will impact your clients and prospects. What legal requirements must be met? Are there opportunities for them to seize thought leadership? Will Web 2.0 or open sources change your client's competitive environment change dramatically?

Keeping Current without Drowning.
With the incredible overload of information, it can seem overwhelming to keep up with these topics on a daily basis. Here are a few tips:

1. Think BLT
   Each day, learn something new in three areas: Business (B), including national and international affairs; Local (L) information relevant to Silicon Valley, the Bay Area and California; and Topical (T) information related to your area of business expertise. Read newspapers, books and magazines. Keep up to date with online news sources.

2. Take advantage of technology.
   Identify relevant blogs, websites and newsletters and use RSS technology to subscribe to them. Bookmark useful news sites. Stay in touch with your contacts and colleagues through social networking tools such as LinkedIn. Create Google Alerts to notify you as new information is posted on key individuals or topics of interest.

3. Surround yourself with success.
   In Silicon Valley, we are blessed with an abundance of successful, technically savvy individuals. Thought leaders who don't actually live here make it a point to visit regularly. Take the opportunity to listen to and interact with these individuals. Attend meetings and events to hear them speak, subscribe to their blogs and develop 1:1 relationships with them where possible.

4. Be a resource.
   Use your knowledge and expertise to help others. Those you support will appreciate you, and you will also build your reputation as an expert in your field. You will also enhance your credibility with your clients and prospects.

Don't expect to have the answers: there are no simple solutions to any of these big topics. As a consultant, your value-add may be to frame the issues in a way that gets clients thinking about the right questions and on the road to developing solutions. You may not solve global warming, but you're likely to sow seeds of new business opportunities for the future.

© 2007 L2M Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.

Author Bio

Linda Popky is the president of L2M Associates (www.L2Massociates.com), a strategic marketing company that helps organizations improve return on investment in marketing programs, processes and people. She is also the Director of Partnerships & Alliances for WIC. For more information, contact her at www.L2Massociates.com or 650-281-4854.

“Optimism is the foundation of courage.”
— Nicholas Murray Butler