The fears of a consultant
Reading time: 1 minWe had the first of a multi-part Consulting Series.
Enrique stated that there are 3 main fears of a consultant.
I. Fear of losing the business
A client ultimately hire consultant to solve a problem, add value and ultimately provide a service. If a consultant is not solving, adding value then they're let go.
I can see how one can be fearful. We all want to do our best and if we feel we are still not doing well enough to keep the business, then something is not working out. The company losing another company business doesn't look good on the consultant.
II. Fear of being embarrassed
I found this interesting. A situation where I could feel embarrassed is when I feel I've asked a silly question and my peers look at me like I should know the answer. A consultant is only working with the client because they're supposed to be the knowledgeble one. This is closely linked to the next fear.
III. Fear of being inferior
This fear is closely related to Imposter syndrome that seems to affect a lot of developers. I wonder if it affects consultants more because once again, they're hired to provide more value than what the current people in the company can give. It comes back again to when what happens when you're not providing that service.
Enrique said that these fears were what consultants fell on client side, but I feel that all 3 are felt by apprentices. Perhaps the first one is slightly different.
Perhaps "Fear of losing your position". It relates to not doing a good enough job, which then makes you feel like an inferior developer which could lead to being embarrassed.
I look forward to future consulting sessions.
All participants were left with a challenge that we're not allowed to discuss with fellow participants. Very curious what is the purpose of the challenge. Should find out by next week Thursday.