A Consultant’s First Year: The Blog

Note: This blog has been transformed into a platform for journaling one previous nonprofit practitioner's journey into the world of consulting. In January 2008, Parmelee Consulting Group, Inc. welcomed our newest team member, Heidi Kelly. We have asked her to chronicle her first year in this blog. We are confident we will all learn something from her experiences!

Welcome to my first blog entry, my first blog experience, and the beginning of my journey as a consultant. Then the true journey will begin – I hope you will join me. I promise it will be a mixture of entertainment, insight, education, motivation, and maybe we’ll all form some connections along the way.

I am the newest member of Parmelee Consulting Group, Inc. Ah, I hear the “guinea pig” comments beginning already. But actually I welcome the challenge and the assignment. Writing grant proposals is a highly stylized form of writing, but this blog will give me the opportunity to “free flow” a bit (within reason). It will also allow me the opportunity to share my experience of transitioning from direct practice in non-profits to consultancy. And believe me, the first four weeks on the job have already been a true learning and growing experience, which I highly value.

In the film Finding Forrester, Sean Connery’s character told his young pupil, to write well you must write the first draft with your heart and the second draft with your head. “The first key to writing is to write, not to think”, he stated. Oddly enough, I saw this movie the week I started working at Parmelee. Full-time writing requires fierce determination – to simply write. My first hurdle in switching to the “consultancy world” and writing full-time, is finding that balance between head and heart, now from the position of the consultant and not the practitioner. While I have written grant proposals for the non-profits I’ve previously worked for, sitting on the other side of the table gives the process a brand new meaning.

In my second week, I observed a program audit for a local social service agency. As the individual interviews were performed, I reminded myself of the unique situation I am now in. I have been on both sides of the interview – answering the questions in my previous position, and now, sharing the responsibility of asking the questions. I felt a bond with the clients. I understood their anxiety and desire to clearly answer the questions.

As the consultant, I learned the importance of clearly stating the goals or purpose of the interview, in order to lessen any anxiety and encourage confidentiality. I also recognized the importance of closely listening to an individual’s response to their question, as it might lead you to ask other questions. I was encouraged by the similarities this process of asking questions and actively listening shared with my previous role of counseling.

Now, if I pay close attention to this experience and others that will surely occur in the future, I will learn my own unique art of consultancy - to balance experience from “both worlds” and combine them for a profitable end result.

I want to grow as a writer and a professional consultant. I want to write with the right combination of head and heart. I want to remember my experiences in the non-profit world in order to apply them to my future as a consultant. So, stay tuned… each Monday a new blog will be posted. Follow along the journey with me – maybe we’ll all learn something!