Hopefully, my job is going to be obsolete! I will have done all I can do as a consultant for nonprofits. I will lock up the office and figure out what’s next.
Some consultants want you to be dependent on their expertise. They come in and do the work for you and want to be hired over and over and over again. But this model of consulting leaves you no better than before- with little understanding, tools and processes for your own organizational health. I want you to learn it all, own it and live it. Don't worry, I will find something else to do when we are done.
Here is the secret that nobody wants to talk about:
a consultant’s purpose is to help you learn so you do the work on your own in the future. Hiring a consultant to help with visioning and strategic planning, leadership development, change initiatives, conflict etc., should help you (as the client) learn to assess, get all constituents on the same page, together determine steps, make changes, behave differently and measure the outcomes. All this work is in service to your organization becoming healthier, more vibrant, and effective. I want you to bring more impact to the world, make it a better place.
As a consultant, I will teach you how, give you tools, processes, language, strategies and a new way to think so, as organizational leaders, you can do this on your own. It’s a little like parenting. My job is to instruct, model, direct and create opportunities for on-the-job training with my twin 16 year-olds so they can go into the world with some skills, knowledge and ability. (Let’s hope anyway).
I’m here to help organizations like yours bridge missional clarity and identity for an inspired life of purpose through Organizational Assessments, Leadership Development, Change, Conflict, Vision/Strategic Planning. My goal is to help you learn so you don’t need me anymore. I want to work myself out of a job. Want to help me with this dream? Let's get to work.
-Kristin Wiersma, Consultant Team Lead, The Joshua Group | kristin@thejoshua-group.com