Consultant Ethics and Responsibility

The word consultant sounds great and is used in various ways.
In this series of articles, however, we will look at a role that has largely faded into the background – because the original meaning behind the word has been diluted by job titles such as sales consultant, software consultant and many others.

A consultant puts their own interests and opinions aside and becomes a guardian of the client's interests – that is the foundation of consulting ethics.
The consultant's role is to create clarity: gather information for the leader, work through it, identify the decision points, outline the available options and clarify the likely consequences of those decisions.
But the consultant does not make those decisions.

A consultant may – and really should – make recommendations. However, they must understand the limits of their authority. Trying to influence a leader toward a particular choice does not fall within those limits. And when a leader makes a decision that the consultant personally disagrees with, the consultant continues to do their work faithfully. They support the decision, gather new information and maintain clarity until the next decision point is reached. This does not mean a consultant cannot be persistent – even to the point of conflict – if they genuinely believe it serves the client's interests.

What a consultant can do
Although a consultant must not make decisions on behalf of a leader, they can act as a tool of the leader. They can help explain decisions, communicate them and ensure they are carried through within the team. From the outside, this can sometimes look as if the consultant is doing the leader's job. In a sense, that may be true – but only to the extent that the leader has given them the authority to do so.

A consultant can work with people even when the leader is not present, but they must not act as an independent leader. Their responsibility is to carry forward the meaning behind the decision and ensure that its logic reaches people without distortion.

This requires a consultant to possess leadership qualities and leadership skills as well. Within their own organization, they use those abilities to implement their own decisions. Within a client's organization, they use those same abilities to help implement the leader's decisions. It is a subtle distinction, but a decisive one. A consultant does not implement their own will. They help implement the will of the leader – guiding people and processes without taking control of the organization.

Tarkma's DNA is not a product to which consulting is added. It is the opposite: consulting first, from which a tool emerged.
That keeps the focus in the correct order: clarity first, then the tool to carry it.