Climb In Consulting

Today’s guest is Adil Khan. Adil was one of the founding team of Boxwood, the business transformation consultancy that following years of successful growth was acquired by KPMG in 2015.

Since leaving Boxwood Adil now spends his time advising Consulting entrepreneurs on how to successfully grow their businesses and focusing on his own start up, Lifefyle.

The goal of Lifefyle is to provide people with a simple, organised platform for their life admin, to give them the freedom to unlock their potential and thrive. You can find out more about Lifefyle at www.lifefyle.com

Adil’s story is rather different to what you might consider the typical journey of a Consulting entrepreneur. Unlike most, he didn’t have a long track record in Consulting, having only spent a short time in the indsutry before stepping out to found boxwood with his co-founders who had spent equally little time in Consulting.

This limited time in the industry proved to be the key to their success as they set out to create something very different from the typical Consulting model that was common at the time.

We go in to detail on some really key parts of the Boxwood journey that I know you’re going to find really interesting including:

The importance of culture and how Adil and his co-founders defined their culture from the start and what they did to ensure it remained a core focus as they grew.

The challenges of being responsible for both people and finance as Adil was. The natural tensions these functions often come up against and how Adil managed this. 

The Boxwood approach to working with clients, why this was so unique and what Consultants in today’s Market could learn from it.

And Adil’s contrarian view on building a Consulting business to sell, why expanding internationally can actually reduce the value of your business and the sale of Boxwood to KPMG. A process I know a number of you have wanted to hear more about.

I really enjoyed this conversation and it was great to get the perspective of someone who took a less orthodox route to success in Consulting. If you’re not from the typical ‘big 4’ Consulting background and want to know how you can turn this to your advantage or even if you are and want to know how you can use the principle from Boxwood to grow your business or practice area I know you’re going to get a ton from this interview.

You can get in touch with Adil through his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adilkhan/

Or drop him an email - [email protected]

-----------

This episode is brought to you by Create Engage the Digital Marketing agency for the disruptive Management Consultancy.

Digital Marketing has moved forward, but most consulting firms haven’t. Many Consulting firms still see their corporate blog as their sole Digital Marketing channel and find themselves frustrated when these blogs yield little if any results.

To help those of you who want to harness the power of Digital Marketing to grow your Consulting Business but don’t have the knowledge, capacity or in-house capability to do so I launched Create Engage, the first Digital Marketing agency for the Management Consulting Industry.

If you’d like to find out more about how Create Engage can help you use Digital Marketing to take your business to the next level then drop me an email at [email protected] or go to our website www.createengage.co.uk where you can download our free case study that breaks down down the Digital Marketing strategies used by one successful Consulting firm to help them grow over 400% in just 3 years and gives you the secrets they used, so that you can apply them in your own firm.

Today’s guest is Lyndsey Oliver, AKA the Chief MsChief Maker

Lyndsey is the founder and director of M4 Coaching and creator of Back to Work without a Bump® and Making MsChief®, the groundbreaking programmes designed to help retain, support and unleash the true potential of all human beings regardless of their labels.

Lyndsey is a champion of working Mums and an advocate of gender balance in the workplace. She’s passionate about helping parents (both male and female), female leaders and female business owners become the best versions of themselves, both in and out of work.

I was introduced to Lyndsey by a former colleague and listener to the show who had worked with her through their parental leave and said that I had to get her on the show.

The challenges that Lyndsey helps Consultants with are ones that many people in our industry deal with every day but ones that rarely get the attention they deserve. Knowing the positive impact that Lyndsey had had on this listener and others in my network I knew she’d make a fantastic guest and she certainly didn’t disappoint.

We cover some really deep topics in this interview including:

The barriers that hold women back from climbing the career ladder - both structural and self imposed - and what Consulting firms and female leaders themselves can do to break through these.

The relationship challenges that can face some Consultants as a result of the job and the conversations you should be having with your partner to ensure you’re able to manage them.

The challenges that parents face when it comes to building a career in Consulting and what their firms and they can do to manage these to help them achieve the balance of home and work life they’re looking for.

 And finally, What those of us who are white men, like me, can do when it comes to diversity and inclusion in Consulting and how we can help improve it.

This was a fantastic interview and we go in to detail on all of these topics. So much so we got carried away after the interview and kept going. As you’ll hear towards the end of today’s episode I’ve actually put some of our post interview conversation back in because I thought it was such an important topic for you to hear.

For any regular listeners you’ll also know that I often ask my guests for resources that they’d recommend you check out if you want to work on any of the things that we discuss.

To help you with this Lyndsey has created a free workbook that you can use to help you identify your own biases - both conscious and unconscious - and start to think about how you can make positive changes to reduce these in day to day live. 

Whether you’re a senior leader who is looking to be the best role model they can be or a junior consultant looking to understand more about themselves I’d highly recommend checking this out.

 If you want to download the workbook you can find it on Lyndsey’s website - www.makingmschief.com/free-workbook and I’ve put the link in the show notes for you.

You can get in touch with Lyndsey through her LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndsey-oliver/

Or check out her website - www.makingmschief.com

This episode is brought to you by Create Engage the Digital Marketing agency for the disruptive Management Consultancy.

Today’s guest is Adil Khan. Adil was one of the founding team of Boxwood, the business transformation consultancy that following years of successful growth was acquired by KPMG in 2015.

Since leaving Boxwood Adil now spends his time advising Consulting entrepreneurs on how to successfully grow their businesses and focusing on his own start up, Lifefyle.

The goal of Lifefyle is to provide people with a simple, organised platform for their life admin, to give them the freedom to unlock their potential and thrive. You can find out more about Lifefyle at www.lifefyle.com

Adil’s story is rather different to what you might consider the typical journey of a Consulting entrepreneur. Unlike most, he didn’t have a long track record in Consulting, having only spent a short time in the indsutry before stepping out to found boxwood with his co-founders who had spent equally little time in Consulting.

This limited time in the industry proved to be the key to their success as they set out to create something very different from the typical Consulting model that was common at the time.

We go in to detail on some really key parts of the Boxwood journey that I know you’re going to find really interesting including:

The importance of culture and how Adil and his co-founders defined their culture from the start and what they did to ensure it remained a core focus as they grew.

The challenges of being responsible for both people and finance as Adil was. The natural tensions these functions often come up against and how Adil managed this. 

The Boxwood approach to working with clients, why this was so unique and what Consultants in today’s Market could learn from it.

And Adil’s contrarian view on building a Consulting business to sell, why expanding internationally can actually reduce the value of your business and the sale of Boxwood to KPMG. A process I know a number of you have wanted to hear more about.

I really enjoyed this conversation and it was great to get the perspective of someone who took a less orthodox route to success in Consulting. If you’re not from the typical ‘big 4’ Consulting background and want to know how you can turn this to your advantage or even if you are and want to know how you can use the principle from Boxwood to grow your business or practice area I know you’re going to get a ton from this interview.

You can get in touch with Adil through his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adilkhan/

Or drop him an email - [email protected]

Today’s Guest is Harry Gaskell, Chief Innovation Officer for EY UK and Ireland.

What is a Chief Innovation Officer? Well that’s something we discuss in today’s show but at it’s most basic, Harry is responsible for identifying emerging technologies to launch new platforms and products to help EY improve its clients’ businesses.

Prior to taking this role Harry was the Managing Partner of EY’s UK & Ireland Advisory business which he grew from zero to £250m during his time at the helm.

In addition to his work with EY Harry is the Chair of the Employers’ Network for Equality and Inclusion, Chair of the Finance Committee for the University of the Arts, London and an angel investor and mentor to a number of innovative start ups.

Harry was a fantastic guest with a truly unique perspective on the Consulting industry and how it’s going to change over the coming years. If you’re looking to understand how you can future proof your career and get to the top of the industry, or any industry for that matter, then you’re going to love this conversation.

We cover a whole host of topics including:

What the Consultancy of the Future will look like and how the skills needed and the approach to working with clients is going to fundamentally change.

The impacts these changes will have on the traditional Consulting Business model and the real world examples of how EYs use of emerging technology is resulting in them having to look at these questions now.

How to foster a culture of innovation within your organisation and the common mistakes that Consultancies and large corporates make when it comes to innovation.

 And why taking some time out of Consulting could actually be the best thing for your long term Consulting career.

Harry was as open as he was insightful and this episode has a huge amount for everyone. Whether you’re a consultant just starting out or a managing partner running your own firm I know you’re going to get a lot from what Harry has to say.

You can get in touch with Harry through his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-gaskell-ab94271/

This episode is brought to you by Create Engage the Digital Marketing agency for the disruptive Management Consultancy.

Specific things we discuss in the show:

Christopher Brooker’s theory of the 7 basic plots for all stories - https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-seven-basic-plots-9780826452092/

Kim Paykel - EYX Programme Director - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimpaykel/

EYX - https://www.ey.com/uk/en/services/specialty-services/ey-taking-innovation-to-the-next-level

George Orwell - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell

My country Right or Left by George Orwell - https://www.amazon.co.uk/George-Orwell-1940-1943-Collected-Journalism/dp/1567921345

Today’s episode is a little different and I’m really excited to be sharing it with you.

Instead of my normal interviews where I’m the one asking the questions, today’s interview is taken from an event I attended last month, hosted by my good friend James Mitra at JBM Consulting.

For those of you that don’t know, JBM are an executive search firm that place top talent into high growth tech firms, fintechs and consultancies. They are also the talent partners to the Fintech focused Private equity firm Motive Partners which is where this event was held.

When James told me who the speaker was going to be I said that we had to record it for the podcast and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

I’m a big believer that you can, and should, learn from the best. Regardless of their field. As you’ll hear in today’s interview, there are so many fantastic insights that are equally applicable to Consulting firms, and their clients, as there are to this guest’s specific industry.

For those of you listening to this outside of the UK, or for those of you in the UK who may have been living under a rock for the last 10 years, Moonpig are the UK’s largest online card retailer with over 15 million cards sent through their online platform in 2017 alone.

Iain was one of the early members of the Moonpig team and over his time as MD grew the business from a team of just 8 people, turning over £2,000,000 in to a team of over 160 turning over £60m a year.

This phenomenal growth ultimately led to Moonpig being acquired by Photobox for £120m in 2011

James and Iain cover some really interesting topics in their conversation and the questions that follow including:

Iain’s journey to becoming the MD of Moonpig and the unorthodox approach he took to get there.

The importance of using data when it comes to Marketing and how this helped Moonpig achieve it’s rapid growth.

How Iain and the team ensured they hired the best talent for the business and their unconventional approach for rewarding their team.

The sale to Photobox and the steps they took from deciding to sell through to integrating the business with their new owners

And the one I know many of you will want to know. How they decided on the name Moonpig and where the jingle came.

It was great to meet Iain and I really enjoyed hearing his story and advice for those looking to grow their business as successfully as he did.

This episode is brought to you by Create Engage the Digital Marketing agency for the disruptive Management Consultancy.

Through my new Agency, Create Engage, I’ve been speaking to a number of Consulting leaders about how to improve their Digital Marketing and wanted to share the answers to two of the most common questions I get to help you improve your own marketing activity.

The two questions I discuss in today’s episode are:

Where is the ROI from Digital Marketing?

How can you develop effective content that delivers results?

Both are great questions and critical to think about before you start investing your Marketing budget and creating content.

If you have any questions about what I share in today’s episode and would like to talk about how it applies to your own Digital Marketing activity then drop me an email. I’d love to talk to you.

This episode is brought to you by Create Engage the Digital Marketing agency for the disruptive Management Consultancy.

Elixirr - https://www.elixirr.com/

11:FS - https://11fs.com/

11:FS FinTech Insider Podcast - https://fi.11fs.com/

Nigel Walsh - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelwalsh/

David Lancefield - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidclancefield/

Create Engage Insight Piece on Elixirr’s Digital Marketing Secrets - https://www.createengage.co.uk/insights/

22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout - http://a.co/d/hEDbIz2

Buzz Sumo - https://buzzsumo.com/

Today's guest is Michael Zipursky. Michael is the co-founder of ConsultingSuccess.com which provides training, guidance and mentoring to those looking to launch and scale their Consulting businesses.

Through their support Consulting Success has helped 1,000s of Consulting entrepreneurs grow their businesses - some by 6 and 7 figures - and Michael shares a number of these secrets in today's episode.

Prior to launching Consulting Success Michael founded, grew and sold a number of Consulting business learning first hand what works and what doesn't. This led him to launch Consulting Success, initially as a blog to share his own experience, before demand for his insight and advice led him to turn it in to a business.

Michael has also written a number of books on how to grow a successful consulting business including the best seller The Elite Consulting Mind and his most recent book Consulting Success: the Proven Guide to Start, Run and Grow a Successful Consulting Business

Michael was a great guest and we discuss some really interesting topics in today's conversation including:

How Michael successfully grew his Consulting firm's Japanese office from a standing start and his advice for others looking to expand internationally.

The biggest barriers that stop people scaling their Consulting businesses and how to overcome them.

Michael's advice to those thinking about launching their own Consulting business and what you should consider before you do

and why it's critical to get out from behind your laptop when growing your business and the common mistakes many people make in doing this.

I really enjoyed this conversation and it was great to get Michaels perspective from both his experience of running and growing his own businesses as well as his insights from having coached 1,000s of Consultants to achieve their own success.

You can find out more about Michael on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zipursky/

You can find out more about Consulting Success at https://www.consultingsuccess.com/

Specific things we discuss in the show:

Eat That Frog by Brian Tracey - http://amzn.eu/d/370DEjj

The Elite Consulting Mind by Michael Zipursky - http://amzn.eu/d/cCAdzbm

Consulting Success by Michael Zipursky - http://amzn.eu/d/cwgze9g

Straight Line Leadership by Dusan Djukich - http://amzn.eu/d/hQlOVxg

Living The 80/20 Way by Richard Koch - http://amzn.eu/d/7INSq0M

Michael’s Consulting Blueprint - https://www.consultingsuccess.com/consultants-success-blueprint

Today’s guest is Seb Chamber Managing Partner of CIL Management Consultants.

Seb was introduced to me by a previous guest of mine, Dom Moorhouse, as someone I must get on the show and Seb certainly didn’t disappoint.

Seb’s route to Managing Partner is a really interesting story and one that while uncommon, gives an insight in to a lesser travelled route that I know many of you will be fascinated by.

Instead of climbing the ladder to Partner Seb bought in to CIL, something that we discuss in detail in today’s episode, and grew the firm from there. Before you think ‘well that’s okay if you have plenty of cash’, Seb didn’t and there’s a lot you can learn from Seb’s approach here for those of you with aspirations to buy in to a business yourselves.

But this is only part of Seb’s story and we cover a range of topics in addition to this including:

Growing a Consulting firm where the head office is based outside of London and why Seb sees their Froom head office (a town 30 minutes outside of Bath) as an asset to the firm.

Seb’s advice to those looking to climb the Consulting career ladder as well as those with aspirations to build a career at the top of their firms for as long as he has.

The CIL meme wall, yes you heard me right, meme wall - the first I’ve seen in any consulting office – what this says about CILs culture and why culture is critical when starting and growing a business.

I really enjoyed this wide ranging conversation with Seb and it was great to dig in to topics that I’d not discussed with any other guest before.

Whether you’re just starting out in Consulting, looking to climb to Partner in your firm or you have aspirations to buy in to a firm and be a part of growing a business there’s something in here for everyone.

You can find out more about Seb on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-chambers-3ba205a/

Or drop him an email at [email protected]

If you’re interested in finding out more about CIL you can check out their website - http://www.cilconsultants.com/

This episode is brought to you by Create Engage the Digital Marketing agency for the disruptive Management Consultancy.

Specific things we discuss in the show:

Bounce by Mathew Syed - http://amzn.eu/d/9LTUgvI

Ted Talks - https://www.ted.com/talks

Elyn Saks TED Talk – A tale of mental illness – From the Inside - https://www.ted.com/talks/elyn_saks_seeing_mental_illness?language=en

Today’s guest is Gian Power. Gian is the Founder of TLC Lions and Unwind London.

Having started out in Consulting, Gian’s life was turned upside down in 2015 when his father was murdered while on a business trip to India.

Following the 3 month investigation to find out what happened to his father, a period that Gian says was ‘the most difficult time of his life’ he returned to Consulting but found it just wasn’t the same for him. That’s when he set out to do something different and that decision ultimately led him to found TLC Lions.

Since launching TLC Lions, A collection of motivational speakers who share their inspiring stories to help organisations improve employee engagement and well-being, the business has gone from strength to strength, working with clients such as Deloitte, BDO, Amazon and Just Eat to name but a few.

We cover some really interesting topics in this interview, a number of which I haven’t discussed with any other guests before including:

The story of how Gian founded TLC Lions and his advice to others thinking of launching their own business outside of Consulting.

Why being busy is just an excuse and what you should be asking yourself instead.

How Gian makes decisions and the importance of trusting your gut when deciding whether something’s right for you.

The importance of mental health or wellbeing as Gian calls it and Gian advice for both individuals and corporates on ensuring their wellbeing or that of their employees is as good as it can be.

and much much more!

I really enjoyed speaking with Gian and hearing how he’s managed to come back from such a terrible tragedy to create a successful business and happy life for himself and I’m sure you’ll get a lot from what he has to say!

You can find out more about Gian on his LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/giansinghpower/

If you want to find out more about TLC Lions and Unwind you can do so at the links below:

TLC Lions - https://www.tlclions.com/

Unwind London - https://www.unwindlondon.com/

Specific things we discuss in the show:

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss - http://amzn.eu/d/ftLXivO

Derek Sivers - https://sivers.org/

Anything You Wnat by Derek Sivers - http://amzn.eu/d/9YZqQiD

Paul Obershnider - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-oberschneider-61694a59

Dr Kamel Hothi OBE - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamel_Hothi

Calm app - https://www.calm.com/

Mo Gawdat - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Gawdat

Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat - http://amzn.eu/d/2NMXTVf

Mental Health First Aid Course - https://mhfaengland.org/

Today’s guest is Nigel Walsh. Nigel is a Partner in Deloitte Digital and leads the firms proposition for InsurTech disruptors and how they engage across the insurance sector.

Nigel is a respected industry commentator and influencer and is regularly featured in industry trade news sharing his take on the latest trends in innovation and InsurTech. He is the co-host of his own podcast, InsurTech Insider, where he shares the latest news, insight and debate within the InsurTech space. If that wasn’t enough he is also co-author of the recently launched InsurTech book sharing a chapter on ‘frictionless insurance in a land of utility’ which focuses on the intersection between customer experience and the rise of the sharing economy. 

We cover some really interesting topics in this conversation including:

What successful innovation looks like and how corporates should be approaching innovation to deliver results.

What really matters when it comes to selecting your insurer and why there’s more to think about then a toy Oleg.

Disruption in the Consulting industry and what changes our own industry is facing.

Collaboration in Consulting and the story behind Nigel’s industry leading podcast which he co-hosts with another Consulting firm.

And much much more!

It was great fun speaking to Nigel and getting his perspective on innovation within the Insurance industry and beyond.

If you’re looking to move in to the start up space or want to understand how you can work with innovative tech businesses as a Consultant then this episode is a must listen!

You can find out more about Nigel here:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelwalsh/?originalSubdomain=uk  

Twitter - www.twitter.com/nigelwalsh

And get in touch with him at [email protected]  

Specific things we discuss in the show:

The InsurTech insider podcast -  https://ii.11fs.com/  

The INSURTECH book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1119362210/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_4NZXBbJ3Q14W5   

Pocket app - https://getpocket.com/  

'InsurTech top 50 influencers' - https://InsurTechnews.com/influencers  

Denim Labs - https://denimlabs.com/  

Bold Penguin - https://www.boldpenguin.com/  

Chris Cheatham - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrischeatham/