Unleashed - How To Thrive As An Independent Professional

Our guest today is Alisa Cohn, an executive coach, a writer, and a member of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches.  Marshall Goldsmith is considered by many to be the leading executive coach in the world, and Alisa shares the story of how she got to know him and get selected to join this exclusive group. You can learn more about Alisa through her website, www.alisacohn.com, and while you’re there you can sign up for her newsletter, which she calls a “barrel of goodness.”  You can also reach out to her on Twitter, @alisacohn. The weekly Unleashed email includes transcripts of each episode, book recommendations, and consulting tips. Sign up here: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/

Today’s guest is Lindsay McGregor, McKinsey alum and co-author of the book Primed to Perform. She and her co-author and former McKinsey Partner Neel Doshi created the concept of Total Motivation – or ToMo for short. Lindsay and Neel founded a consulting firm, Vega Factor, that works with clients to help implement the ToMo principles they describe in their book. In this episode, Lindsay talks about her path to understanding what drives motivation, and the impact that it has had on her own life. Lindsay views each day as an opportunity to play, and helps organizations see how that same mindset can drive productivity and profitability.   Total Motivation is a measure of the degree to which individuals feel a sense of play, purpose and potential minus the degree to which they feel inertia and emotional and economic pressures.   Lindsay talks about how we all can use Total Motivation techniques to manage our personal productivity and aspirations, shifting our focus from numerical, outcome-based goals to performanc

This episode concludes our six-part podcast miniseries on how to improve the client experience. In this episode, I share tips on how to provide a great client experience during the post-project Episodes 129-133 cover the five phases of a project lifecycle: The proposal phase Onboarding / kickoff phase Project execution Wrap-up Post-project I learned this five-part framework from David A. Fields, and encourage everyone to visit his website: https://www.davidafields.com/ If you subscribe to the weekly Unleashed email, you’ll receive a summary checklist that includes the points from the whole miniseries https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/

This is part five in a six-part podcast miniseries on how to improve the client experience. In this episode, I share tips on how to provide a great client experience during the wrap-up phase. Episodes 129-133 cover the five phases of a project lifecycle: The proposal phase Onboarding / kickoff phase Project execution Wrap-up Post-project I learned this five-part framework from David A. Fields, and encourage everyone to visit his website: https://www.davidafields.com/ If you subscribe to the weekly Unleashed email, you’ll receive a summary checklist that includes the points from the whole miniseries https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/

This is part four in a six-part podcast miniseries on how to improve the client experience. In this episode, I share tips on how to provide a great client experience during the project execution phase. Episodes 129-133 cover the five phases of a project lifecycle: The proposal phase Onboarding / kickoff phase Project execution Wrap-up Post-project I learned this five-part framework from David A. Fields, and encourage everyone to visit his website: https://www.davidafields.com/ If you subscribe to the weekly Unleashed email, you’ll receive a summary checklist that includes the points from the whole miniseries https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/

This is part three in a six-part podcast miniseries on how to improve the client experience.  In this episode, I share tips on how to provide a great client experience during the onboarding / kickoff phase. Episodes 129-133 cover the five phases of a project lifecycle: The proposal phase Onboarding / kickoff phase Project execution Wrap-up Post-project I learned this five-part framework from David A. Fields, and encourage everyone to visit his website: https://www.davidafields.com/ If you subscribe to the weekly Unleashed email, you’ll receive a summary checklist that includes the points from the whole miniseries. Sign up here: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/

This is part 2 in a six-part podcast miniseries on how to improve the client experience. Episode 128 introduces the series. In this episode I discuss 29 suggestions for how to improve the client experience during the proposal phase. In Episodes 130-133, I'll be covering the next four phases in a project lifecycle: The proposal phase Onboarding / kickoff phase Project execution Wrap-up Post-project I learned this five-part framework from David A. Fields, and encourage everyone to visit his website: https://www.davidafields.com/ If you subscribe to the weekly Unleashed email, you'll receive a summary checklist that includes the points from the whole miniseries.  Sign up at: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/

This episode introduces a six-part miniseries on steps consultants can take to improve the client's experience across the five phases of a consulting project: The proposal phase Onboarding / kickoff phase Project execution Wrap-up Post-project I learned this five-part framework from David A. Fields, and encourage everyone to visit his website: https://www.davidafields.com/ If you subscribe to the weekly Unleashed email, you'll receive a summary checklist of all the suggestions from this client experience miniseries.  To sign up, visit: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/   

Our guest today is Ciaran Bossom, a digital marketing expert and independent consultant. Ciaran was the SVP of Strategy at VaynerMedia and most recently the Chief Digital Offier at Brown University. He has worked at several other digital agencies and held roles on the client side as well. Connect with Ciaran at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciaranbossom/ To receive the weekly Unleashed email that includes transcripts of each episode, book recommendations, and consulting tips, visit:  https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/

Not every job has a fixed location, but job-posting websites seem to think they do.   There should be an option to list "Remote" as the location.

Best-practice email introductions.

Right before Christmas, I went with my family to an open rehearsal of the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. It was a lot more fun than going to the formal, black tie performance later that evening. It made me think - how can I make my interactions with clients more like that rehearsal - loose, creative, fun, authentic, human - instead of like the formal performance. If you haven't already, consider signing up for the weekly Unleashed email - you'll receive a transcript of each episode, book recommendations, and consulting tips: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/

I discuss four quadrants on a classic 2x2 matrix Vertical axis: willingness to take the initiative Chutzah = high willness Compliance = low willingness Horizontal axis: openness to new information Humility = high openness Arrogance = low openness

Adopting a five decade time horizon allows you to make rewarding investments in skills, relationships, knowledge, and your health that a shorter time frame would suggest won't pay off.

You probably wouldn't hire a graphic designer or a wedding photographer without looking at their portfolio. Independent consultants ought to have a portfolio as well - samples of sanitized work you can share with potential clients. I've found that many independent consultants do NOT have a portfolio, however, and here are some thoughts on how to create one. To receive the weekly Unleashed email, which includes the transcript of every episode, consulting tips, and book recommendations, sign up here: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/

Our guest today is Michael Zipursky, who runs a firm called Consulting Success.  Michael has written multiple books on consulting and he serves as a coach to consultants, helping them grow their practice. You can learn more about Michael and get in touch via his website, consultingsuccess.com To receive the weekly Unleashed email, which includes the transcript of every episode, consulting tips, and book recommendations, sign up here: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/

Our guest today is Jonathan Mann, who holds the Guiness World Record for Most Consecutive Days Writing a Song. He began his Song-a-Day project on January 1, 2009, and the upcoming New Year’s Day will mark an even ten years of writing, and recording, and publishing online, one new song every day. His story is an amazing and inspiring example of how showing up regularly, creating content and sharing it with the world, can open up opportunities that we have not even imagined. In our discussion, Jonathan shares what happened on the day one of his songs was used to open a Steve Jobs press conference, and how that breakthrough moment led to him becoming the Conference Troubadour. As the Conference Troubadour, Jonathan is hired to attend conferences. He listens to the sessions over the course of the day and composes a song that includes the key messages of the event, and he closes the conference by singing the song with the attendees, since he always includes a chorus that he teaches to the audience. About 90% of so

Do the filenames you use demonstrate right-side-up thinking? That is, are you naming your files from your perspective, or from your client's perspective? Small cues matter.

We all have a choice. Is your business closed when closed? Or open when closed? How will you choose?

Our guest today is Robin Colucci, who is a book writing coach. If you are thinking of writing a non-fiction book to advance your career, Robin is someone who would help you think through the strategy of the book to increase the odds that all the effort you put into creating the book will have the impact you hope to achieve. In this episode, we discuss the questions that Robin asks her clients and how to think through who is the audience of a book, what that audience is already looking for, and how to serve that need. You can learn more about Robin’s services and get in contact with her on her website: http://robincolucci.com/ If you like this episode, consider signing up for the weekly Unleashed email, which includes transcripts of every episode, book recommendations, and consulting tips.  Sign up at: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/