In this episode, co-hosts Ashka Wirk, CMC, and James Grieve, CMC, chat with Martin Bell, CMC, about Urban Systems' unique employee-owned business model. They also touch on what's next for Martin as he transitions out of the role of CEO he's held for the past 16 years.

Martin Bell, CMC, ICD.D is the Principal of MBCI. He led Urban Systems Ltd. as CEO for over 16 years and built a 15-time national, Top 100, Great Place to Work and one of Canada’s largest fully employee-owned professional service firms.

Martin’s professional practice as a management consultant focuses on strategy, governance, ownership and leadership for local governments and firms in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industries.

In this episode, co-hosts Ashka Wirk, CMC and James Grieve, CMC chat with Heidi Hamilton about the important connection between coaching and consulting. 

In this episode, co-hosts Ashka Wirk, CMC and James Grieve, CMC sit down with Michael Zipursky, CEO and Co-Founder, Consulting Success®, to discuss how to build exceptional consulting practices.

Many management consulting leaders possess extensive expertise in various fields but many lack the sales and marketing skills needed to start and grow their consulting businesses.

Michael Zipursky has been helping entrepreneurial consultants grow profitable, predictable, and strategic consulting businesses for over 20 years. In this podcast, he reveals essential best practices for management consultants to consistently expand their businesses and attract their ideal clients.

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Key Takeaways:

Here are some of the key takeaways from Episode 11:

Hosts: James Grieve, CMC, Ashka Wirk, BSc, MBA, CMC, ACC

Guest: Michael Zipursky

In this episode, co-hosts Ashka Wirk, CMC, and James Grieve, CMC sit down with Kate Fagan Taylor, CMC to discuss how to build exceptional company cultures that can support and propel your business strategies.

Fagan Taylor is a management consultant and organizational culture strategist, with over 20 years of experience as a strategic leader and executive across a wide range of industries. 

The topic of workplace culture can be overwhelming for executives and management consultants alike. 

In a fascinating discussion, Fagan Taylor explains the importance of ‘culture with intention’- and how management consultants can help raise awareness of workplace culture with executives, so that it can be assessed, improved, and celebrated. 

Key Takeaways:

Here are some of the key takeaways from Episode 10:

In this episode, James Grieve, CMC and Flavio Caron, Flavio Caron Business Consulting, discuss what management consultants – and everyone – should know about Truth and Reconciliation.

This important conversation explores the role Reconciliation plays in economic development in the Canadian consulting industry – and how starting with Truth, and understanding Canada’s mistreatment of Indigenous communities, is crucial to creating a more inclusive environment for all, nation to nation, neighbour to neighbour, business to business.

Indigenous communities contribute billions of dollars to the Canadian economy annually, and there are growing opportunities for both Indigenous consultants and non-Indigenous consultants to support these communities in a wide variety of sectors with preparation.

Learn more about how education is the right place for non-Indigenous consultants to start to achieve better partnerships, outcomes, and economic opportunities. 

Key Takeaways:

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In this episode, James Grieve, CMC and Ashka Wirk, CMC talk with three consulting award winners about their stories of resilience and renewal:
Paul Burgener, FCMC – Lifetime Achievement Award
Kurt Pregler, CMC – Excellence in Collaboration Award
Michael Rosen, CMC – Rising Star Award
Following the CMC-BC Institute's Awards Night, our hosts sat down with these consulting leaders to hear their deeply personal stories about the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and associated challenges. Hear how these leaders stayed resilient in the face of adversity and what advice they have for up-and-coming consultants.
Here are some of the key takeaways from Episode 8:

In this episode, James Grieve, CMC and Ashka Wirk, CMC talk with Nik Nanos, CMC about CMC-Canada's latest study of the management consulting industry in Canada.

In this episode, host James Grieve CMC talks with coach and consultant Ashka Wirk, BSc, MBA, CMC, ACC. Ashka introduces the concept of coaching, what it is, how it differs from consulting, and how she uses coaching and consulting to serve her clients.

On this episode of Your Expert Advantage: A Higher Level of Management Consulting:

Host: James Grieve, CMC

Guests: Ashka Wirk, BSc, MBA, CMC, ACC

More on Ashka's Wirk

In this episode, host James Grieve CMC and Louise Harris, PhD, CMC, CCMP discuss the valuable role consultants play in helping their clients create and execute great change management initiatives.

Louise aims to equip consulting leaders with great tools & techniques to help them in their change management efforts. That includes how to use empathy and clarity to execute your change initiatives with much less effort and stress.

On this episode of Your Expert Advantage: A Higher Level of Management Consulting

Host: James Grieve, CMC

Guests: Louise Harris, PhD, CMC, CCMP

Resources

Resources: 

1. Change by Design Certification Course, Module 1: How to Manage Change for Success

More information and training on enabling successful change 

In this episode, host James Grieve, CMC is joined by Keleigh Cormier, FCMC and Pierre Cormier, CMC. They discuss their fascinating career arcs in management consulting, and what inspired them to get started in the profession.

Their stories provide inspiration to the next generation of consultants looking to get started in this challenging but rewarding field.

On this episode of Your Expert Advantage: A Higher Level of Management Consulting, you’ll learn:

Additional Resources:

ClearThink™ Group

To read more about the case studies for the Constantinus International Award, please see the links:

ClearThink™ Business Coaching Program – Town of Sylvan Lake, Alberta

Back to Business Coaching Program – Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Alberta