Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

For executives who are thinking about becoming a consultant in a year or two, a time investment of two hours per week now can dramatically improve your chances of success when you launch your practice.

Our guest today is Jim McEachern, an independent consultant who has been working with the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (or ATIS) on developing technology to cut down on robocalls. For years I've been wondering why telecommunications companies haven't done more to eliminate robocalls, so when I saw Jim quoted in a New York Times article about this work, I reached out to him. I was so pleased that he agreed to be on the show to talk about his work and explain to me how spoofing works and why the existing technology has made it hard to fight robocalls. I also learned a practical tip: whenever I get a robocall, I have been blocking that phone number on my phone. Jim explained to me that I'm probably just wasting my time, since robocallers often use a different spoofed number on each outbound call. In the show notes, you will find a link to the NYT article where I first heard of Jim's work, a link to the ATIS website that has more info on the protocols Jim discusses on this show, and Jim's LinkedIn profile https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/22/technology/personaltech/robocalls-call-blocking.html https://www.atis.org/sti-ga/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-mceachern-9644591/

In this video edition of Unleashed, Michael Sorrentino provides Will Bachman with an introduction to media training. No one is a natural in front of a videocamera, because you need to speak in an unnatural way and hold yourself in an unnatural position if you want to look normal. If you have invested time and effort to build up your visibility and expect to be appearing on camera, it is a worthwhile investment to obtain media training from a professional so that in your few minutes on screen you make a good impression. (Will Bachman will need a lot more than 1 session.) Michael Sorrentino's studio is located in the heart of Manhattan, and if you are interested in getting training from him for yourself or a member of your team, visit his firm's website: https://www.sorrentinomedia.com/

Our guest today is Liliana Petrova, who runs The Petrova Experience, a consulting firm that helps brands build differentiated experiences and leverage technology to increase customer loyalty, efficiencies and revenue. Liliana was previously the Director of Customer Experience at JetBlue Airways, and on this episode we discuss some of the culture driven behind-the-scenes decisions that set JetBlue apart – including the blue potato chips and the free wifi. Then we discuss some of her more recent work, including an effort to map out and then improve the experience of fans at a sports arena. To learn more about her firm visit thepetrovaexperience.com Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lilianapetrova/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/LilianaPetrova Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepetrovaexperience/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Petrova-Experience-419743838814954/?view_public_for=419743838814954

Today's guest is McKinsey alum and Umbrex member Tineke Keesmaat, who is based in Toronto. Tineke's firm works with ambitious leaders and she is known for her unique blend of world-class strategy, organizational change, and people leadership. Tineke was recently awared with a MacKay Canada CEO's Trusted Advisor Award, recognizes the contributions that Trusted Advisors make in the leadership field to enable Canadian businesses to succeed. You can learn more about her firm's work on their website, which is extraordinarily well designed: http://tiltco.ca/

In my conversations with independent consultants, a common question I get is how to generate more business. There are a lot of things one could POTENTIALLY do to generate more revenue, and some people flail around putting effort into initiatives that may have a low return on investment. Of course we all want to put our time and energy into areas with a relatively high return on investment, and I've found that it is useful to break down all the possible factors into what I call the Consulting Revenue Equation. Also check out Episode 221, in which I discuss with David A. Fields some ways to increase your conversion rate.

Our guest today is Michael Ryan, whose headline on LinkedIn is a great example of a fishing line: "Helping B2B Manufacturers Optimize Inventory and Operations to Increase Cash Flow" In this episode, we explore Michael's work on inventory issues. Michael is certainly in the top 1% of people I know in how he has been using LinkedIn to build a brand. Michael has posted every day on LinkedIn for six months, and his posts are always on-brand, always related to inventory management. In the second half of this show we discuss how Michael has been using LinkedIn, and the impact this investment has had on this business. Definitely check out his profile – it is a fantastic example of someone who really gets LinkedIn and social selling: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isolveproblems/ To learn more about his business, visit www.mryangroup.com

Today we welcome back David A. Fields, the author of The Irresistible Consultant's Guide to Winning Clients: 6 Steps to Unlimited Clients & Financial Freedom. David was my very first guest, on Episode 1, when we covered many of the topics in his book. https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed/episode-1-david-fields-on-winning-clients/ In Episode 170, David shared tips on how to make outbound calls: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed/episode-170-david-fields-on-how-to-make-outbound-calls/ In Episode 172, David explained how to set up a CRM system for a small consulting practice: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed/episode-172-david-fields-on-how-to-set-up-a-crm-system/ And in Episode 190, David discussed what makes for a successful consulting partnership: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed/episode-190-david-fields-on-what-makes-for-a-successful-consulting-partnership/ In today's episode, David and I riff on tips to increase the chances of converting a possible consulting opportunity into a confirmed project. Definitely buy David's book if you haven't already, and check out his website, davidafields.com. I love his weekly blog posts and if you visit his blog and scroll down, you can sign up to get his blog posts delivered right to your inbox – it is the first email I read every Wednesday morning.

Our guest today is Paul Millerd, who has been on the show before, on Episode 62. It was great to welcome Paul back to hear what he has been up to. I'm so inspired by Paul, who has been incredibly deliberate about designing a life. He has built a practice that allows him to work completely remotely, and recently left home in Boston to spend a stretch of time working in Bali and then in Japan and now in Taiwan. He has developed several online courses with over 4,500 students on Udemy alone, he writes a very popular weekly newsletter that I love, and he is incredibly generous with his time: on his website you can book time to have a "curiosity conversation" with Paul; he has spoken with hundreds of people around the world who have reached out to him in this way. Check out Paul's website, think-boundless.com Follow him on Twitter @p_millerd Check out the consulting skills course he created at strategy.co https://strategyu.co/ Paul has written one of the most authoritative articles on the evolution of consulting talent platforms, and I'll include a link to that piece in the show notes: https://think-boundless.com/the-failed-promise-of-freelance-consulting-talent-platforms/ Email me at unleashed@umbrex.com and I'll add send you the weekly Unleashed email that includes a summary of each episode and bonus material.

Ripa Rashid is the Managing Director at Culture At Work, which works with Global 500 organizations to build cultural change strategies to maximize their Diversity and Inclusion efforts while generating positive business results. Ripa is the coauthor of three books: Disrupt Bias, Drive Value (Center for Talent Innovation, 2017), Growing Global Executives: The New Competencies (Center for Talent Innovation, 2015), and Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets: Why Women Are the Solution (Harvard Business Review Press, 2011) She is featured often in the media as a thought leader, and has appeared on BBC, NPR, CNN, CNBC, Harvard Business Review, and Bloomberg. She is cited widely in mainstream and management publications such as The Economist, Forbes, Huffington Post, Newsweek, New York Times, Washington Post, The Times of India, Hindustan Times, HR Matters and South China Morning Post. In this episode Ripa explains to me what the research shows on the benefits of increasing diversity in the workplace, and what diversity and inclusion initiatives tend to be the most successful.