Valerie recently left this comment about one of our Podcast episodes:

“Hi Jaimie and Mark. Thank you for sending your recent podcast, though I have to admit, your topic is one that I have trouble with. Ultimately, if you’re a top coach or consultant, your job is to try to make yourself obsolete–not extend the contract! If you give a man a fish he eats for a day but if you teach a man to fish he’ll eat for a lifetime. A good coach gives tools so that each person can manage on his or her own with new ideas and training. Consulting the same. I’m always surprised when people try to stretch out consulting jobs. If we do our job as consultants and trainers and coaches, and our clients are successful, the work pours in. At least that’s been my experience over 30 years of consulting and training broadcasters and communicators for television, radio, and now podcasting! Best always, Valerie”

It’s an interesting perspective and on the surface might make sense but I would suggest that this is false thinking that in the end does a tremendous disservice to the client and the coach consultant.

There are a few assumptions here that lead to this false belief.

First, one has to assume the client has one static problem that requires just one solution. Solve that problem and they’re good to go. Things will run smoothly from that point forward and life will be good. Has anyone ever experienced that kind of result? I’d suggest it never happens. Problems are complex and never-ending while solutions are dynamic and constantly evolving. 

Let’s take software as an example. If I’m an IT consultant and someone comes to me with a software problem likely the first thing I would do is to check to see they have run and installed all of the updates available. If they haven’t I could suggest that or do that for them and it might solve the problem. In fact, many poor consultants would do just that. They invoice their minimum charge and then walk away. But there’s a big problem I’m sure you now see.  The underlying problem wasn’t solved. 

A “Top Consultant” would go deeper. They would find out why the client wasn’t running updates. I would suggest at this stage the consultant needs to suggest a contract for maintaining and updating the software for the client. After all, who knows IT and software better, the client who needs to focus on their area of expertise or the consultant who stays on the leading edge of their craft by reading, studying, attending learning events, etc. so they know the software better than any client possibly could or should?

This leads us to the second assumption and false belief, that the consultant has a finite amount of knowledge and skill. They may even think they know all there is to know.

This is an even bigger problem because clients often don’t think beyond the problem in front of them at the moment and if a coach or consultant is not anticipating the next problem the client will experience, and making the client aware of that, they really are failing in their role.

As a coach or consultant, it’s your job to be constantly learning and updating. To be at the leading edge of your craft. That is what your clients are paying you for! Problems never end and with the ever-increasing speed of new technologies, the demand for hard and soft skill development is never-ending too.

Let’s round back to Valerie’s last comment, 

“At least that’s been my experience over 30 years of consulting and training broadcasters and communicators for television, radio, and now podcasting!”

I would suggest this proves my point and makes her initial comment about striving to be ‘obsolete’ a contradiction in itself. How could Valerie possibly be consulting and training on podcasting if she, “{gave} tools so that each person can manage on his or her own with new ideas and training” 30 years ago? If that statement was true her broadcaster clients would never have a need for her again. They would be managing their own ideas and training around podcasting. 

I would suggest if Valerie does operate from the position of giving just what her client needs at the moment and then waits for them to ask about a new advancement like podcasting on their own she is doing two things: leaving a lot of money on the table and doing her clients a tremendous disservice by waiting for them to ask versus working for them by always staying on top of the things they need to know and learn about.