Strategic Consulting

A few different reasons.

1. It does sadden me to see people who are less competent at their work, progress because they are good at knowing how to play the game, and / or building the right relationships. If I can help more ‘quiet’ people progress in their careers that actually care about their work – that makes me happy.
2. I wish someone had taught me all this 15 – 20 years ago.
3. Finally, I like helping people, and I like strategy – I really enjoy working through this progression and coaching people through different stages. Watching the ‘Ah-ha’ moments on clients face’s is something I get a lot of joy from.

To be honest, I never intended to be a consultant, I always enjoyed helping others, but this all happened a bit accidentally. It is a bit of a long, so if you are interested in more details feel free to ask me anything you would like in the free introduction call. In short…

Overtime throughout my own career three categories of my experiences overlapped, which ended up providing a foundation of knowledge that aligned for strategic consulting – plus I also had the below mentioned experience of running a recruitment advertising website, which led to my first consulting clients.

The first category of experience is technical and operational – I started my career as an apprentice electrician and since then have worked in various roles in the resources industry, recruitment industry, automation / robotics industry, travel industry, finance industry, and e-commerce industry. I know it sounds like an odd mix, but there is a related thread that runs through them all, and each provided multiple learnings to take to the next.

The second category of experience is business and finance – I started share market investing (studying companies and reading annual reports) over 20 years ago. I have also studied Accounting for Business and have a Diploma in Financial Planning. I have worked or overseen projects in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and the UK; I have read innumerous resumes, interviewed and hired candidates across a wide range of careers; I’ve sat in on countless Annual General Meetings; I sit in a monthly Board Meeting and have read many Annual Reports. Studying the workings and finances of many business types has provided me with an insight into what companies and management teams need in their key people.

The third category of experience is human nature – I started to learn about this aspect initially from trying to understand human biases and decision making processes to better understand myself, for the continual improvement of my investing work. Over time I also completed Level 1 & 2 courses in coaching, and slowly built up a personal library of 300 or more books in multiple categories, many centred around human nature. I have also travelled to over 40 countries; lived with over 50 people and worked in over 50 companies (mostly due to short term contracting works) – this has provided me with a lot of opportunity to hone these observations.

And then about 12 years ago now I ran a recruitment advertising website in the resources & construction industries. Every second day we had someone contacting us asking how to get a job in the mines or on a construction site. Being lucrative industries many are attracted to them, but can struggle to break in. Due to the nature of our work I was speaking to and meeting with recruiters and HR Managers every week and learnt the background of that industry. This demand and knowledge led to us putting together a detailed ‘Kickstart’ program where we consulted with clients to help them break into the resources industry. I still remember the first person we helped, it was rewarding to hear the feedback and how it helped their family to set themselves up. Ironically, since this time I have also helped people transition out of working in the resource industry into other industries.

These experiences and my own personal experiences have helped me to create the processes and strategies you have read through above.

Ha, yes I know. But it is actually the opposite.

By learning about human nature and the different biases, strategies and tactics used we can aim to avoid the more aggressive sides of human nature and focus on doing meaningful work, really well.

If we don’t understand these aspects we will often end up dragged into them and / or suffer from them and be none the wiser to what really happened, or why we got left behind or cast aside.

Understanding these aspects of human nature provides us options.

This is a really good question, with an interesting answer that highlights the importance of, ‘Step 1 / Understand Your Position & Clarify Your Direction and Goals’.

I do also work full time, which is partially why I will only take on 6 – 10 clients per year. Consulting is something I do, because I find it really enjoyable and rewarding. I currently have a role that many would consider a dream job – I lead a great team, have a lot of autonomy and we do really rewarding and interesting work across the Asia Pacific Region. But any further next steps means moving internationally, more flights, more hotels and ultimately more time away from my family, which is not for me. I would rather continue in my current role, and help others find the same opportunities, satisfaction and rewards in their career that I have.

It depends.

I have been involved with assisting a number of inter-company immigrations and I can help you to position yourself in your career or company to do this, pending a few details.

But, if you are looking for an expert on the legalities and details of individual countries immigration policies, that is not me. There are many consultants out there that specifically do this as a specialty. I recommend you do your research with the government of the country you are looking to immigrate to, and then look into consultants if you think you may then require them. If this is you, I wish you all the best, it can be a long journey and I have a lot of respect for those that take this path to provide opportunities for their family.

Focus on getting good at something.

Plus learn about commerce.

Plus learn about human nature.

Plus have lots of experiences.

Plus learn to enjoy focused work.

Plus read lots, apply the lessons and learn from the feedback.

Plus learn and avoid the main setbacks that catch people out.

Then do this for 10 to 15 years through your twenties and into your thirties (and then the rest of your life) and you should end up in a nice place / do well.

And stick with it. The confidence, independence and feeling of freedom you will gain overtime is definitely worth it.

If you begin to work through the above and after a time can afford this support, feel free to reach out and I can help you progress more efficiently and effectively.

I wish you all the best!