At Sage’s partner conference, Insights, I will be presenting a session entitled The Two A’s of Consulting: Authenticity and Altruism (GEN28)  on Wednesday at 9:30am.

In order to begin the conversation even before the conference begins, I am posting the abstract and inviting all possible participants to share their ideas and questions.

This session will be dedicated to the possibility that consultants can improve the life and business success of their customers. Consulting (and this session) is (are) not for everyone. Achieving the goal is not easy as it requires us to look deep into ourselves and examine our beliefs as people. When you distill it down consulting is more about behaviors than technical skills. You are hereby invited to open a dialogue on the two behaviors of authenticity and altruism by Ed Kless who will facilitate this session.

Authenticity will be defined as putting into words what you personally are experiencing. Very often, this means stating your emotions in an emotionally neutral way.

Altruism in the context of this session will be defined as other-centeredness. Our willingness to help others create value is one of the high points of being a consultant, but that does not mean that this is done without recompense. In fact, George Gilder has said that, “Profit is an index of our altruism.”

These are heady topics, but necessary ones to fully understand if we are to be great consultants. In order to prepare for our dialogue, I would recommend reading Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting and George Gilder’s Wealth and Poverty.

Also, please post thoughts, questions, comments below.