When a Consultant Becomes... Something Else

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 must have an exceptional awareness of their own ego and role. Because practice is often different from theory. A consultant can gradually become absorbed into the daily life of a company. This is not inherently a bad thing. Quite often an organization genuinely needs an extra pair of hands for a period of time in order to implement certain changes.
An external person who is also familiar with the purpose behind the changes being made can be an ideal fit.

However, a consultant must be strong enough not to give in to very human temptations such as:

• being the one who saves the situation;
• being the one whose recommendations must prove correct;
• being the one whose results prove their value.

These are the points that cooperation relies on. When they become blurred, roles and responsibilities become blurred as well.
The temptations can arise on both sides: the consultant may feel the urge to step in, while the client may begin expecting them to do so. This can lead to situations where the consultant:

• makes decisions that belong to the leader's responsibility – if the leader does not decide, the consultant cannot decide for them;
• presents recommendations as if they were absolute truth – a consultant never possesses all the facts, but helps reveal where uncertainty exists;
• begins managing or reorganizing the client's team and organizational structure.

Sometimes the boundary begins to blur so gradually that nobody notices. Conversations stop opening new perspectives and start reaffirming old ones. The consultant realizes they are no longer reflecting the picture, but have become part of it. That is usually a sign that roles need to be restored and a healthy distance re-established.

In most cases, the optimal period of close cooperation with a single client is one to two years, depending on the nature and intensity of the work. This does not mean the cooperation should end afterwards. Quite the opposite. A consultant can remain valuable long after that, but they should not be involved in the day-to-day details all the time. They need to move on, work with other clients and occasionally return. By then, both sides have grown – the client and the consultant alike – and new perspectives become possible again.

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.