Today, I'm joined by Lindsay Lapaquette, who is a leadership communication skills specialist and the Founder of Collaborative Solutions. Lindsay had a career that's quite interesting and different from most consultants. She started working at IGA as a deli slicer and as a birthday party coordinator before moving on to university and becoming a speech-language pathologist.

She was fascinated by language and loved working with clients with complex communication challenges. Lindsay followed opportunities and eventually decided to drop her permit as a speech therapist to open her own training and consulting company, doing leadership communication skills.

Lindsay is now an expert on creating an environment where people feel supported in their work because they know that what they say will be heard and understood.

We also covered the following:
- The start of Lindsay's career
- How she puts her own solutions into practice
- Some typical client concerns
- How she handles health issues while running a business
- Working with a mentor for business development

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Get in touch with Lindsay:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaylapaquette/
Website: https://lindsaylapaquette.com/
The Workplace Communication Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-workplace-communication-podcast/id1522405366

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Get in touch with your host Diogène Ntirandekura at:
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogenentirandekura

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This week on the Consulting Lifestyle Podcast, I'm going to be talking all about power play.

If you've ever been in a situation where you felt like you had a lot of power over somebody else, or if you've ever felt like you were being taken advantage of by someone who was much more powerful than you, you're probably familiar with this concept.

Power play happens in business relationships all the time but it can also happen between clients and consultants and even between employees and their managers. It's one of the biggest challenges for B2B consulting companies.

I will discuss the five types of power play in B2B consulting and its own set of characteristics, which I will break down in the episode.

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Get in touch with your host Diogène Ntirandekura at:
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogenentirandekura

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To get in touch with Diogene Ntirandekura, the host of the show:

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Today, we'll be talking about the Offshore Delivery Model.

When it comes to implementing SAP, there are a lot of things to keep in mind. 
One of those things is that you want to make sure that your implementation plan is comprehensive and holistic. But when it comes to implementing SAP, who does the implementation?

The offshore delivery model is a way of working that has been used for years by IT consultants. It involves working with offshore teams who have their own team structure, processes, and products.

If you're like most companies, your IT team is probably the one that implements your SAP solution. That's what they do best! But what happens when you need an international team to implement your solutions? Will there be any challenges?

That's why in this episode, we'll discuss how we use this model to implement SAP software in a way that works best for our clients. We'll also talk about some of the best practices when working with offshore teams.

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Get in touch with your host Diogène Ntirandekura at:
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogenentirandekura

Get in touch with John Jordan at:
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erpco/

Support the show

To get in touch with Diogene Ntirandekura, the host of the show:

• Linkedin Profile
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We all know that knowledge sharing is one of the keys to success in any industry, but it's especially true for the SAP consulting industry. If you're trying to make a name for yourself as an SAP consultant, then learning from other consultants is going to be essential. This episode is all about finding good sources of knowledge sharing and how you can put that knowledge into practice.

The guest for today’s episode is John Jordan. John is the founder and principal consultant at ERP Corp, which provides SAP consulting and training services, particularly in Financials and Controlling. He is the author of the successful Production Variance Analysis for SAP Controlling and has written several articles for the SCM Expert and Financials Expert newsletters.

He's also published two books on SAP expertise: "The Production Variance Analysis in SAP Controlling" and "Product Cost Controlling with SAP". These books have helped thousands of people get started with production variance analysis in SAP, which can be a difficult skill to master if you've never been trained on it before.

This conversation will cover: 

• Highlights of John's SAP career
• The idea of knowledge sharing
• Writing his books
• What factors and differences enable the odds of being successful in an SAP implementation
• John's transition from being an SAP employee to becoming independent 
• Balancing SAP career and personal life
• The future of the SAP consulting industry
• What modules should you start out on
• What does it mean to have a consulting lifestyle

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Get in touch with your host Diogène Ntirandekura at:
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogenentirandekura

Get in touch with John Jordan at:
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erpco/

Resources:
Books: https://www.erpcorp.com/sap-membership/books-financials-controlling

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To get in touch with Diogene Ntirandekura, the host of the show:

• Linkedin Profile
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• for coaching
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Data Migration is one of the core services a technology consulting consultant can offer to its clients. The process of migrating data can be daunting to the uninitiated. 

There are many reasons why an organization's data needs to be migrated. In this episode, we're dealing with a fictional technology consulting project and we'll talk about the importance of data migration, its influence on the success of a project, and what is like to have a data management career. 

NOTE: The project context is usually fictive and the case is not necessarily realistic because I am doing it for a simple explanation but is proportionate to real-life data migration cases.

Topics covered:

• What is ETLV
• Fictive Project Context
• Extract 
• Transform
• Load
• Validate
• The importance of data migration in a project 
• The importance of Data Governance 
• Conclusion on having a data management career

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Get in touch with your host Diogène Ntirandekura at:
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogenentirandekura

Support the show

To get in touch with Diogene Ntirandekura, the host of the show:

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Do you know how to determine your consulting rate? 

In this week's episode, I share a thorough explanation of the different pricing models and how you should determine what price you should charge your client. As consultants, we need to stay profitable while delivering excellent value and get that win-win situation with our clients.

Topics covered: 

• What are you actually pricing
• Which pricing models can you use
• How to calculate your rate 
• What is the average revenue per consultant
• Which model should you choose

Resources: https://www.consultancy.org/consulting-industry/fees-rates

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Get in touch with your host Diogène Ntirandekura at:
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogenentirandekura

Support the show

To get in touch with Diogene Ntirandekura, the host of the show:

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In a recession, it can be hard to predict what you'll need to do to keep your business running smoothly and make sure you're invested in the long-term success of your company. But what if I told you that there are actually things that you can do to position yourself for the future? 

I love to tell you about them here today.

Today's episode is all about how to position yourself as a B2B consultant when there is a recession and what exactly that means. We'll discuss what makes the economy go down and why it affects you, as well as some of the things you can do in order to position yourself for success.

So let's get started!

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Get in touch with your host Diogène Ntirandekura at:
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogenentirandekura

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To get in touch with Diogene Ntirandekura, the host of the show:

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OK, this episode is a little bit controversial. 

A LOT of consultants absolutely hate the hourly model and urge anyone to think hard before they take it.

Most consultants hate the hourly model. They don't like it, because it's purely based on how much you work and nothing else. Some consultants see this as a disadvantage, but there are also some positive sides to working with an hourly model that pays off in the end.

In this episode we will cover: 
What it means to be an hourly consultant - 1:09
Reason 1 - 2:48
Reason 2 - 5:38
Reason 3 - 6:41
The Downside - 9:09

We're going to discuss possible downsides as well as upsides. 

We'll also talk about why you might want to use an hourly model even if you don't think it's for you. So let's get started!

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Get in touch with your host Diogène Ntirandekura at:
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogenentirandekura

Support the show

To get in touch with Diogene Ntirandekura, the host of the show:

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Welcome to Consulting Lifestyle. I'm honored and happy to restart the show.

The past 10 months have been difficult for me to create quality content, but I'm excited about getting back into the swing of things. Work and family have to come first, so I need some time to really get back into my groove.

I'm also very excited to be able to start focusing on the B2B side of consulting again, which will make this show a lot more interesting for you.

Here's what you can expect from this podcast: 
interviews with interesting people, solo episodes where I talk about my own experiences in consulting, and more! 

So if you're discovering this right now, know that Consulting Lifestyle is really about that Lifestyle and Consulting. You'll hear more about that in the coming weeks! 

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Get in touch with your host Diogène Ntirandekura at:
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogenentirandekura

Support the show

To get in touch with Diogene Ntirandekura, the host of the show:

• Linkedin Profile
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Goodbyes are not the end. People change priorities, goals change, circumstances change... 

This is the last episode for season 2 of Consulting Lifestyle podcast. It's been a great journey. Our episodes have been jam-packed with lots of actionable advice for consultants and entrepreneurs. We want to personally thank all our guests, and also the many listeners of the podcast who've contributed and continue to do so.

Thanks a lot to everyone who has been a supporter, a follower, and a friend over the years I've been doing this podcast, up to season 3 which will be out when next season starts.

Support the show

To get in touch with Diogene Ntirandekura, the host of the show:

• Linkedin Profile
• community page
• for coaching
• Instagram profile