<img src="../Media/fulcrum_text.gif" alt="" height="51" width="169" align="top" border="0">: Tools for the Professional Consultant

from Advance Consulting - A professional development company that teaches technical experts how to broaden their expertise, partner with their clients, and turn business relationships into long-term partnerships."> , advance consulting, consulting skills, training, partnering, management, consultant, reinforcement, consultative approach, workshops, seminars, book, experiential, business strategy, professional development, employee, custom workshops, organization development, customized, courses, business, skills, communication, customization, professional service development, building business partnerships, solve client problems, achieve business goals, strategies, practical, sales, opportunities, focused, coaching, teach, learn, conflict strategy"> Our Approach | Publications | Who We Are | Training & Consulting | Client Solutions | Home

Knowledge is power, and information is the first step. These publications will put you on the road to success.

Our Book
: Partnering for Results! In bookstores now.

What We're Reading
Books to broaden your business perspective.

About Our Book:
: Partnering for Results!
by Virginia LaGrossa & Suzanne Saxe
Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer 1998

Read our Online Executive Summary of the book.
Steve Brock recommends our book in MSN's Books and Reading Community.
Read our ExpertRadio interview about the book.
Review reprinted from Consultants News.
Review reprinted from Quality Management Journal.

The Changing Workplace
As a professional, you can't just apply your expertise anymore. You have to be able to work effectively with a wide variety of people: from team members to subject matter experts to top executives. You must present solutions in ways that your clients can understand and appreciate. And you often need to stay on to help them to implement those solutions. Doing all these things well--while keeping an eye on budgets, schedules, and results--requires a collaborative outlook. is a comprehensive guide to partnering with others so that you can build the trust and commitment that ensure business success.

A Handbook for the Next Decade
The book grew out of Advance Consulting's seven years of work training thousands of people in a wide range of industries. Principals and authors Virginia LaGrossa and Suzanne Saxe recognized the need for a practical, memorable, common-sense set of tools and techniques that speaks to today's--and tomorrow's--workplace. They focus on the subtle differences that make someone an exceptional professional, including:

Knowing how to work effectively with all types of people
Paying attention to both information and insights
Applying expertise in ways that show value
Understanding clients' needs and outlook
Working to build trust and commitment
Using a strategic and collaborative process

" height="225" width="215" border="0">Click to order from amazon.com

"
provides the context
and the tools that every
professional consultant needs
to succeed in a business
world that is rapidly shifting
to a relationship-based model
of partnering and collaboration."

--Bill Rosenzweig, coauthor
The Republic of Tea:
How an Idea Becomes a Business

Concrete, Step-by-Step Guidance
The book's how-to format includes informative examples, easy-to-use assessment tools, enlightening exercises, and practical worksheets. Plus, you get flowchart-style planning guides and the Partnering Strategy Action Plan, which enables you to track your progress and next steps. Every chapter ends with a helpful list of highlights, and the book includes a resource list and a glossary that support your studies.

Add Value to Your Expertise

will give you the tools you need to be recognized as someone who combines expertise with partnering skills to produce optimum results - an invaluable combination!

Comments From Our Readers
Here's what readers and experts are saying about :

"[This book is] rich, not only with specific suggestions and step-by-step instructions, but also with commentary and illustrations from [the authors'] own client organizations. It is a useful book about a very important subject."

-William Bridges, author
Jobshift: How to Prosper
in a Workplace Without Jobs,
President, William Bridges & Associates

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"This book is as much about creating optimum results as it is about forging meaningful and lasting business relationships. It is practical, accessible, and a must-read for anyone contemplating or playing a consultative role at work."

-Bill Rosensweig, coauthor,
The Republic of Tea:
The Story of the Creation of a Business, As Told Through the Personal Letters of Its Founders

"Successful professionals today need more than technical skills--they need to know how to foster and nourish relationships with clients. Consultative skills are essential in this process. The tools outlined in have proved to make a difference for our professionals in dealing with their clients."

-Jon Olson, partner, Arthur Andersen

	What We're Reading
	One part of becoming a consultative professional is learning to think more broadly--being curious about topics outside your own area of expertise. Here are descriptions of a few of the books we've read lately and found interesting and thought provoking.	So you can find more reviews or order books, we've linked each book to

		Maximum Influence, The 12 Universal Laws of Power Persuasion by Kurt Mortensen. In his book, Mortensen combines scientific research with real-world studies to provide proven techniques for persuading, influencing, and motivating others.
		Leadership Presence by Belle Linda Halpern and Kathy Lubar. Leadership Presence reveals the secrets to having a commanding presence and ways to express yourself dynamically that motivate results.
		The Trusted Advisor by David H. Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford. The Trusted Advisor is a practical book which by using anecdotes, examples and experiences, provides the reader with useful tools and valuable insight into how to build trust and become a trusted advisor.
		Journey to Center: Lessons in Unifying Body, Mind, and Spirit by Thomas F. Crum. Crum, a motivational speaker involved with corporate retreats, discusses "centering" as a practical tool for aligning the body, mind, and spirit toward an increased sense of vitality, purpose, mental calm, and physical alertness.
		The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference By Malcolm Gladwell "The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate." (from the cover). Gladwell illustrates the tipping point phenomenon and makes us all think about how we can use these ideas in selling our products, services, influencing others, and making things happen. An enjoyable and easy read that makes you think.
		Difficult Conversations: How to discuss what matters most By Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen Difficult Conversations is based on fifteen years of research at the Harvard Negotiation Project. The authors walk you through a proven step-by-step approach for how to have your toughest conversations with less stress and more success. It is a useful book to add to any library to help hone the skills of managing conflict.
		Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting Lynn Grabhorn This book was recommended to me by a number of people. No matter what stage of life we are in, we are always struggling with what Grabhorn calls “our good life.” The focus of the book is paying attention to how we are feeling and our thoughts and therefore creating the life we desire. For anyone who is fascinated by how our feelings influence our life and life choices, this is a great read. It may shake you up a bit so be prepared!
		Powerful Conversations: How High-Impact Leaders Communicate Phil Harkins This is a good recap of the stages of a powerful conversation. Harkins takes you through the three stages: from shared feelings and beliefs, to an exchange of wants and needs, to closing with action steps and mutual commitments. The focus is on how high impact leaders communicate but the body of work applies to all who desire powerful conversations.
		Now, Discover Your Strengths Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton Now, Discover Your Strengths is the result of 25 years of research conducted at the Gallup organization. The premise of the book is the value in understanding your talents and strengths and playing to those strengths. Unfortunately most of us as the book says have little sense of our talents and strengths and instead we become experts in our weaknesses and are forever repairing these flaws. The book introduces a Strengthsfinder profile (you get a code when you buy the book/ tape) to be taken on the internet. As a result you end up with your top 5-talents/ strengths. Once you know which themes you lead with, you can leverage them for powerful results for personal and professional development. Very insightful, but the language of the strengthsfinder is new and therefore can be confusing or seen as another fad.