After decades of consulting, I could easily write a post titled, “The Top 10 Lessons I’ve Learned.” But I’m not here to do clickbait.

My intention isn’t to gain followers, generate leads, or chase some fleeting boost in engagement. Instead, I want to share practical insights from my journey: what has worked for clients, what hasn’t, and how I’ve approached challenges. My hope is that this offers you something useful and enlightening. I know some prefer the list format so I will include them as well.

A Reluctant Start to Consulting

A couple of decades ago, I was offered an opportunity to step into consulting. My initial reaction? “I’m not the consultant type.” Here’s why I hesitated:

1. Imposter Syndrome: I doubted whether my knowledge and experience were well-rounded enough to serve as a trusted advisor who could jump into any project and deliver value.
2. Bad Examples: I’d seen consultants who overestimated their abilities but couldn’t deliver. Many were learning on the job, which didn’t align with my personal standards of integrity.
3. Profit-Driven Models: The traditional consulting model—focused on billable hours and revenue—clashed with my belief that consulting should prioritize the client’s success and long-term outcomes.

Back then, and even now, I see many consulting firms and agencies that prioritize profit over meaningful partnerships. After reflecting deeply on my experiences and accomplishments, I realized I had something unique to bring to the table. That realization gave me the confidence to dive in fully.

The Turning Point

My first consulting engagement was supposed to last two weeks. The client had a time-critical problem, and I was tasked with finding a solution. Within the first week, I tackled the issue with an out-of-the-box approach that worked where others had struggled. The results spoke for themselves: the client extended my engagement for over seven and a half years, involving me in every major project.

Why did they keep me around for so long? Here’s what I brought to the table:

1. Creative Problem-Solving: I quickly identified solutions that had eluded the client.
2. Ownership: I fully embraced responsibility for every project I was assigned.
3. Respect: I valued the client’s time and adhered to their organizational structure.
4. Active Listening: I sought to understand their needs and asked meaningful questions that addressed both immediate concerns and broader contexts.
5. Holistic Thinking: I connected the dots to identify and address potential blind spots beyond the immediate scope.
6. Clear Communication: By blending technical and functional language with a touch of humor, I reduced tension and improved collaboration.
7. Client-Centric Approach: I prioritized their success and long-term partnership over short-term metrics like billable hours.

The Results

Since then, I’ve worked with numerous clients and always maintained this approach. Here’s what I’ve observed:

1. Corporate Politics: Allowing internal politics or drama to seep into client relationships almost always leads to tension and failure. Maintaining integrity and focusing on shared goals fosters trust and collaboration.
2. Leadership by Example: Demonstrating accountability, respect, and positivity creates a ripple effect. It not only strengthens client relationships but also elevates team dynamics and corporate culture.
3. Creating Safe Spaces: Encouraging a supportive and transparent environment empowers teams and builds deeper connections that transcend the “job” mentality.

Final Thoughts

There’s so much more to say, but I’ll leave it here for now. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read. I hope these reflections inspire you to think about your own approach and offer ideas you can apply to your success.

If you find this helpful, feel free to like, comment, share, and repost it to help others who might benefit from it.

hashtag#chatgpt hashtag#AI hashtag#artificialintelligence hashtag#biologicalintelligence

hashtag#thoughtoftheday hashtag#hrairtcholakian

Back in 1991, I went to an auto show, and they had this ‘machine’ that evaluated handwriting. Here are the findings of my handwriting analysis:

·       You are adept at putting matters in their proper perspective
·       You investigate situations carefully you like all the facts
·       You are sympathetic and a good listener
·       You have a creative mind
·       You prefer to do things by trial-and-error method
·       A change of pace does wonders for you
·       You have a tendency to try to cover too much territory
·       You express yourself well

#throwbackthursday #tbt #handwriting #analysis

Just because we can hear doesn’t mean we’re great at listening. And even if we’re good listeners, there’s always room for improvement. There’s a ton of info out there about why listening is so important, but let’s dive into a fun example.

Remember when AI models used to mess up simple tasks like counting the Rs in “strawberry”? They’ve come a long way, and so can we with our listening skills. Besides that, to get better, more accurate results, we need to provide additional details (parameters, prompt engineering). We need to ask ourselves, what other details we need to provide for the AI engine to better understand what we are looking for.

It got me thinking about this while listening to my music library with my various headphones. Each type—wired, wireless, in-ear—has its perks and quirks. Depending on the music genre, I pick specific headphones. Classical, jazz, live pop—you name it, I’ve got the perfect pair.

Listening to music this way has sharpened my listening skills. When I focus on different instruments like the guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards, I’m not just hearing the music; I’m dissecting it. I analyze the production, the mix, and the arrangement to understand what the artists are trying to convey. This deep dive into music helps me listen better in conversations too.

When I talk to someone, I try to break down what they’re saying, how they’re saying it, what they’re NOT saying, and the emotions behind their words. It’s like listening to a song in a different language—you need to understand the culture and background to get it.

Growing up, I learned a few languages, which helped me keep an open mind and absorb details better. Whether someone’s speaking French or Armenian, I don’t just switch on my mental translation mode. I also switch to thinking in that language, turn on my knowledge of that language/culture, and tune into their unique way of expressing themselves.

Now, about the AK47 and M16 firearm sounds—yeah, I can tell them apart. Growing up and surviving through my teenage years in a political and civil conflict in a third-world country, I had to learn these sound signatures. This is my way of trying to take something positive from the terrible years and events of my teenage years. I do NOT condone gun violence. I learned from this experience that one aspect of listening is categorizing sounds with minimal emotional biases.

The point is, we learn from our environment, experiences, and open-mindedness. When we listen, we should minimize our biases and expectations to make others feel safe and open up. It’s like listening to someone in a different language; we need to understand their words and where they’re coming from.

So, let’s keep working on our listening skills. Listen with an open mind to better understand, ask the right questions, connect, and improve our listening skills.

#AI #listening #music

Here’s the link to the previous post: https://eksperts.net/speaking-of-being-passionately-curious/

Why work with Eksperts when there are those larger consulting firms?!

Eksperts try harder to build long term relationships and not driven by stock prices and profit margins!

#clientadvocate #clientsuccess #clientrelationship #consulting #humuor

The CEO of Spotify, who does not know how to play any instruments or arrange a piece of music or write a song, just posted that for Q1 of 2024 Spotify posted $1 billion in profit. Then, announced that they are raising the monthly subscription fees and none of that is going to the artists. Also, introduce a minimum threshold of 1000 streams before the artist can qualify to get paid the very low (pennies) amount per stream.

one of many examples: Peter Frampton recently posted: “For 55 million streams of, ‘Baby I Love Your Way’, I got $1,700,”

I know it’s not just up to the CEO for a publicly traded company.

Still.

Talk about greed and out of touch.

I am posting this because music has been and is one of the most important aspects of my daily life. Music has helped me through some very hard times. Too many to count.

There are so many amazing new and old artists and music out there. All it takes is just a little effort with many modern tools to discover, listen and purchase. I buy directly from artists whenever it’s available or purchase CDs, Vinyl, or digital downloads to better support the artists.

I am aware that it’s not that simple and we have to be more actively involved, but it seems that there is a lot of money left on the table from the Spotify model. The system is broken. There are many other similar business models that are in the same state of “growth” that take advantage of talents. We tend to fall into the convenience of things for the short-term benefit, but we pay for it in the long run. We should do better as human beings. We can do better.

#spotify #music #artist #streamingmusic #fairpay #wecandobetter

We’ve been working on a few things.

New product Coming this summer. Hopefully sooner!

#new #product #integration #implementation #software #comingsoon #announcement #transformation

We’ve been working on a few things.

New product coming this summer. Hopefully sooner!

#new #product #integration #implementation #software #comingsoon #announcement #transformation