Unleashed - How To Thrive As An Independent Professional

Many of us stick with the 2-3 influence techniques that we are most comfortable with. Mastering the full range of 10 ethical influence techniques is a superpower. In this short episode I briefly describe each technique.   My introduction to this range of techniques came during Initial Leadership Workshop at McKinsey, and I draw directly on a slim booklet that McKinsey provided called Interpersonal and Interactive Skills.  That book isn't published publicly, but the author is Terry Bacon and he covers this material in detail in his book "Elements of Influence: The Art of Getting Others to Follow Your Lead." 

Scheduling meetings over email is time consuming - I've spent more time scheduling a call than actually having the call.  Last fall I found a solution: Calendly.  In this short episode I share the basics of the tool. Check out the tool at: https://calendly.com/

Yogi Berra said:  "If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there." I like to step back and reflect about once a year and write down all my goals. In this short episode I describe how I approach this exercise, suggest a few variations, and the benefits I've seen. Would love to hear your thoughts, and any questions you'd like answered on the show.

Chad Oakley is the CEO of Charles Aris, an executive search firm based in North Carolina. One of the firm’s practice areas is Strategy & Corporate Development – and they’ve completed nearly 600 searches in that space. Charles Aris publishes an annual strategy consulting compensation study which is available free on their website. So Chad is one of the most knowledgeable people in the U.S. about the market demand for alums of McKinsey, Bain, BCG, and other top consulting firms. In this episode, Chad shares a perspective on how a stint of independent consulting on your resume can affect your job prospects if you plan to return to a full time role at some point. We also discuss, among other topics, resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and how to reach out to executive recruiters. You can learn more about Charles Aris by visiting the website, https://charlesaris.com/, and if you are open to new opportunities, you can send them your resume.

Our guest today is Umbrex member Kevin Nedd. Kevin is a McKinsey alum and independent consultant who focuses on running Project Management Offices, or PMOs. In our discussion, Kevin provides his perspective on when a company should set up a PMO, including examples of PMOs that Kevin has led the day to day work of running a PMO the tool kit used by a PMO, including templates and processes effective progress reviews PMO maturity levels We also discuss Kevin’s service as a township committeeman and why he walks an hour every morning. You can reach out to Kevin directly at kevin.nedd@pragmaticusllc.com

Our guest today is Umbrex member Ian Tidswell. Ian has a PhD in physics from Harvard. He did science for a few years but missed the human element and ended up as a management consultant at McKinsey. After McKinsey he worked at Vendavo, a software firm, and that is where he fell in love with pricing, which for Ian is the perfect mixture of the analytical and the human element. In this episode, Ian shares his perspective on pricing, including Why pricing is so important signs that a company has an opportunity to optimize pricing what good pricing looks like how to organize the pricing function and we walk through an example of pricing for a crop protection company. I enjoyed my conversation with Ian and I hope you find it helpful.  You can follow up with Ian at Ian@eenconsulting.com

Our guest today is Neil Booth. In our discussion, Neil shares how he became a deep expert in how to build a really well designed model – he followed what could be termed the Benjamin Franklin method. Neil then turned that skill into a career. Neil also shares some modeling best practices – such as splitting up your formulas – do one step at a time – cells are cheap. We also geek out on cell styles, how to define constants, and whether you should include macros in your model. Neil is currently working at the investment bank Houlihan Lokey where he established the firms’ Financial Modeling as a Service group. His group offers corporate training in financial modeling best practices, and will also build the financial model for you. If you’d like to follow up with Neil you can reach him at NBooth@HL.com.

Our guest today is Scott Skibell. I’ve heard from several people that video is the new thing, that video on LinkedIn gets much higher engagement, and that if you want to work on getting your message out, you need to learn how to do video. I took Scott Skibell’s course, LinkedIn Video Marketing, and I thought it was great, and so asked Scott to be a guest on this show, to discuss video in an old-school audio format. What I really liked about Scott’s course is his message: keep it simple, your videos are about creating connection, not perfection. That said, he provides some tips on how to up the level of professionalism, and shows how you can add titles, text, and B-roll to your videos, all from within the iMovie app on your phone. It isn’t too expensive to get started.  While all you truly need is your phone, it helps to buy a few accessories.  In the show notes you’ll find links to the accessories I bought, which include: Tripod for $17. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B074QV4MW7/ref=oh_aui_search_detail

Our guest today is Tim DeRoche, a McKinsey alum and independent consultant who is also the author of The Ballad of Huck & Miguel, a novel published in February 2018 by Redtail Press. The Ballad of Huck and Miguel is a retelling of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in which Tim imagines that Huck is alive today and instead  of traveling on the Mississippi with an escaped slave, Huck is living in Los Angeles and travels along the Los Angeles River with an undocumented immigrant. It is a fabulous novel with wonderfully inventive language and great fun to read. In this episode, Tim and I discuss how he came to write the novel, and how he combines this creative pursuit with his management consulting practice. Independent consulting provides the career flexibility to pursue a career as an artist in parallel, and Tim’s experience is a great example of that. I hope you enjoy this discussion as much as I did.

Our guest today is Umbrex member Susan Drumm, a CEO Advisor and Leadership Coach with over 20 years of experience coaching entrepreneurs and executives. Susan got her start in consulting at BCG, and she is the only person I know who has graduated from both Harvard Law School and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Susan often facilitates off-site sessions for her clients, and in this episode she shares with me a set of best practices for making off-sites successful – including how to prepare, what a good agenda looks like, tips on facilitation, and how to ensure the benefits are captured. Later in the episode she shares useful tips for staying focused and organized. Susan believes that her professional career is a natural offshoot of her own interest in leadership and self-improvement, and says, "If you would read a book or attend a conference on the subject matter that is your profession, and you would do it without getting paid because you want to, because you're so interested, you're in the right

Sunny Bates is a legend and one of the master connectors of the 21st century. She is one of my heroes and it was really a privilege to have the chance to meet with her at her offices in Midtown Manhattan. Sunny is on the Board of Directors of Kickstarter, an Advisory Board Member at the MIT Media Lab, a Brain Trust Member for the TED Conferences, and an Advisory Board Member for the American Theatre Wing, which means she gets to vote for the winners of the Tony Awards. Sunny operates wherever executives, thinkers, artists, creators, innovators, entrepreneurs, educators, philanthropists connect and collide around the globe. Her genius is developing networks of extraordinary people and connecting their ideas in surprising ways toward concrete outcomes. In our discussion, Sunny shared insights on what makes a great connection and how to nourish relationships.  We also discussed her idea of an ideal day, routines, habits, books, and theater. You can learn more about her work on her firm’s website, which is sunnyb

Our guest today is my good friend, Umbrex member Celine Teoh an independent strategy and marketing consultant in the Bay Area whose functional specialties include data-driven marketing strategy and execution, strategic planning and business planning. On this episode, we discuss steps firms can take to improve customer retention. We also discuss the benefits you can derive from journaling – in terms of productivity, creativity, happiness, and centeredness.  Celine has been journaling actively for years, across several different styles, and I’ve been working to put her suggestions into practice.

Our guest today is a good friend of mine, Umbrex member Paul Millerd.  Paul has experience at McKinsey and BCG as well as the Board & CEO Advisory Group at Russell Reynolds Associates, one of the top executive recruiting firms in the world. He currently has a wide portfolio of activities – he is a real Renaissance talent. He is currently an independent strategy consultant, a career coach, the host of a podcast, Boundless, an active writer who puts out great posts several times a week. He hosts Jeffersonian dinners, he is interested in the gift economy and the future of work, Paul has created a career transition playbook and other course materials including a story course. In this episode we have a wide ranging discussion covering just a few of Paul’s interests – I encourage you to check out his website and sign up to his mailing list. Visit think-boundless.com

Our guest today is Umbrex member Whit Pidot, an independent consultant who was formerly a Partner in the Travel practice at McKinsey. His clients include the CEOs of some of the top travel companies in the world including airlines, rental cars, and hotels. Whit has been fascinated by the world of travel from an early age.  As a hobby, he has been running a travel agency on the side since college.  In today’s episode, we first explore some of Whit’s favorite travel hacks for business travelers, such as: For finding the best rates on rental cars, Whit likes Autoslash.com. For hotels, if you aren’t going to book directly on the hotel brand’s website, Whit’s current favorite sites are Upside.com and Rocketmiles.com. For all travel properties, ask what the Triple A rate is: sometimes the AAA rate is better than the corporate rate. Whit once had an entire McKinsey team get AAA memberships because the AAA rate at the hotel they were staying at was better than the McKinsey rate. We discuss Whit’s travel agency, and h

Our guest today is Joachim Fischer, a mentor and good friend of mine who was an Expert in the Operations Practice at McKinsey when I got to know him a dozen years ago Joachim is the only McKinsey alum that I know who started his career as an apprentice cabinetmaker. As he explains on the show, the training he received as a cabinetmaker has been incredibly relevant to his career, probably more important than anything he learned in college. He still spends a lot of his free time building beautiful things with his hands, and that practical, craftsman knowledge informs his professional work driving improvement on the shop floor. Back in 2006, Joachim and I spent three days together on a quick operations diagnostic of maintenance workers doing A-checks on a 747 at John F. Kennedy airport, which has got to be one of the most fun things I did at the firm.  Joachim started his independent consulting practice ten years ago, and after I started my own practice I’ve regularly called him for advice, and I’m really gratef

Our guest today is Tsavo Neal, who has thought hard about how consultants can generate more client leads with their website. Tsavo has written dozens and dozens of posts on this topic and you can find all his work on his website, tsavoneal.com, which is a valuable resource. He’s got examples of best-practice consulting websites, dozens of specific ideas on how to raise your visibility, tips on how to convert website visitors into leads, and much more. Tsavo has  many valuable insights on marketing professional services, and I hope you find the discussion valuable.

Our guest today is Aner Ravon, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Zirra, a technology company focused on market analysis, using big data and artificial intelligence. Aner and his co-founder recognized a real pain point for investors and anyone else doing research on smaller companies: it is very time intensive to search the universe of sources and pull together a basic set of facts. They thought, wouldn’t it be nice if we could use artificial intelligence to scan public sources and pull together the basic information, so that analysts can spend their time on processing the information and synthesis. And that is just what they built. Zirra’s main product is a company snapshot that is built by a combination of artificial intelligence and a human editor who provides quality control. The snapshots are created on demand and take about 24 hours or less to deliver. I’ve tried out the service myself and I’ve been very satisfied.  The report you receive looks like it was created by a human.  It draws on dozens of

Our guest today is David Topus, who helps his clients turn reputation into revenue. I think that’s a pretty great positioning, encapsulating what David does in four words. And that’s what you’d expect from a professional who has been running a strategic sales messaging firm for over twenty-eight years. In the first half of our discussion, we cover personal branding, with a focus on how to enhance your LinkedIn profile. In the second half of the episode, we discuss David’s most recent book, Talk to Strangers, which is a guidebook on how to initiate conversations with strangers and includes dozens of examples of how David and those whom he has coached have turned conversations with strangers into business opportunities. I’m a bit of an introvert, and normally the last thing I’d do is to strike up a conversation with a stranger. But after my talk with David, and reading his book, I said, OK, I’ll test this out. Over a few days of skiing I went outside my own comfort zone and initiated conversations with stranger

Our guest today is Jonah Gruda, a Tax Partner at the accounting firm Mazars USA, LLP. In this episode, we discuss a wide range of tax-related topics relevant to independent professionals. We cover differences between various structures including LLC, S-corp, and C-corp. Before our conversation, I thought LLC was the obvious choice for most independent professionals, but Jonah made me realize that there are many factors that go into the equation and you really want to sit down with a professional to figure out what structure is right for your situation. We discuss bookkeeping, how to hire a subcontractor, various deductions to keep in mind, and nexus issues you want to be aware of. We also discuss the implications of the new tax law: the short answer there is that it is going to take some time for the IRS to issue guidance to resolve some of the ambiguous or even contradictory aspects of the law. To get in touch with Jonah, you can visit www.mazarsusa.com. Here is a link for Jonah's contact info:  http://mazar

Our guest today is Rak Chugh, the Founder of Byte Academy and the Architect of edChain. We met in his office in Midtown Manhattan. Byte Academy provides training in python development, FinTech, Data Science, Quant Algorithms, and Blockchain. They have a full-time program with modules that last 14 weeks, and a part-time program designed for working professionals. Their students include recent college graduates – even some with Computer Science degrees – as well as mid-career professionals who want to switch careers or just broaden their skill set. They also deliver customized corporate training programs. My belief is that as independent professionals, we need to be continuously working to stay current and build our skills, so I was quite interested in hearing about what skills Rak sees as most in demand. Right now, blockchain is a blazing hot topic, and companies in all industries and scrambling to figure out the implications of blockchain technology for their business and how to seize those opportunities. You