Indie (1-person) consultants seem to head towards one of two stable asymptotes: presenters and executive coaches.
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Presenters do defined in-out gigs with a deliverable (usu. report+ presentation). They are impulse function inputs.
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Coaches fade in/out with no clear deliverables, just conversations. They are like continuous forcing functions that smoothly start/end at 0.
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I don't like the moral hazards of presentation consulting or the faux-therapy mode of coaching.
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I've been trying to evolve towards "executive sparring partner" -- the content of a presenter, but the form of a coach.
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It is the work I like the most. It's honest, takes intelligence, does not require the pretenses of therapy, keeps moral hazards visible.
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In fact, I like it enough that I am considering dropping other kinds of gigs entirely and specializing my branding to "sparring partner"
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It's a tough market though. Small (VPs+), and you have to cut out people with no leverage to act. Model needs feedback of live,direct action
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I imagine there are "outside director" gigs that more-or-less fit that description.
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Not really. That's usually former execs/industry vets, and a different kind of role, working for shareholders, not exec.
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Is it any better when the execs are the major shareholders, like in a lot of newer tech companies? Seems like a really valuable role.
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Yeah. Works best when you are working with 1 person with exec level equity. 2+ they have to be internal allies for it to work.
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