“It’s not enough to be a polished professional”

It was, recalls John Tibble CMgr FCMI ChMC, the most rewarding compliment he’s ever been given as a management consultant. Following the successful, but challenging, delivery of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) programme at a global drinks manufacturer, the client’s implementation manager pulled John to one side. 

“I was having sleepless nights,” the manager confided. “I was so stressed and didn’t understand how we were going to make this change, but you seemed so relaxed and gave us a picture of the path ahead, highlighted the things we’d need to think about and explained what we would have done at certain points on that path. And I went from being really worried to thinking, ‘yes, we can do this’, and I began to really enjoy the process and actually find it stimulating.”

That, says John, is what good consultants do – and it’s why he believes the Chartered Management Consultant (ChMC) award has come not a day too soon. “We might not have all of the solutions straight away,” says John, “but good consultants have the tools, techniques and frameworks that give clients the confidence that we can get to a successful outcome together.”