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Ricardo,
The Big 4 consulting firms are almost single-handedly responsible for the sometimes piss-poor reputation of the consulting profession. Why? Because they do hire recent grads who may have a fancy degree but no life or industry experience to work on big-ticket consulting gigs with complex and sticky problems. These young people are incredibly bright, but they are put into a churn-and-burn industry where they are supposed to squish their clients into ready-made one-size-fits-none solutions developed by the firm.
It’s a disservice to these young people.
It’s a disservice to their clients.
It’s a disservice to the profession.
(And, yeah, it pisses me off.)
I went to a fancy school for law school. The hardest thing about it was getting in. I learned a whole lot more and was challenged a whole lot more at my mid-tier college.
Your kindreds (your true kindreds) won’t give a hoot that you didn’t work at McKinsey or Gartner. You get results for your clients. That’s the bit that matters.
Now to answer the question you *actually* asked!
My most direct competitor is Dorie Clark.
She is *literally* a genius.
I am not a genius.
She has written a bucket of business books.
I haven’t written any business books and don’t plan to (though I am working on a novel).
She’s been published in Harvard Business Review.
A lot.
I haven’t been published in Harvard Business Review, and I don’t really care to be.
But we approach our work *very* differently.
She focuses on turning people into “recognized experts,” so it’s about writing articles and books and doing social media and speaking and getting a TEDx talk. Her program is a DIY program with a community on Facebook.
My program is focused on writing articles for publications (picking the right publication, figuring out what you’re going to write about, writing the thing, pitching the thing, and then using the thing to help you achieve your goals). My core program is a six-month, small cohort program where we meet as a group every week for the first three months, and in the second three months we have a one-to-one meeting, writing workshop, and editing workshop every month. Dorie Clark’s program teaches people how to do things and gives them a *huge* community on Facebook. My program dives deep into this one thing and builds implementation right in while giving folks access to a small, intimate community.
Some of my clients were Dorie Clark’s clients first. Because these two approaches are very different. Just like some of your clients worked with the Big 4 first.
I don’t care where you went to school or where you worked when you were in your 20s. I do care what you’ve done lately and how you’ve helped your clients.
- This reply was modified 11 months ago by Erica Holthausen.