Connector Newsletter February 2022

Message from the Chair/CEO, Julia Demkowski CMC®

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Welcome December - January New Members!

• Joshua Bohlke, Northwest, Oregon & Washington, Pasco, Washington 
• Jeff Mays, Northwest, Oregon & Washington, Vancouver, Washington
• Irving Allen, National Capital Region, Blacksburg, Virginia       
• Kieron Marks, Philadelphia, Downingtown, Pennsylvania        
• George Grigorakos, Chicagoland, Skokie, Illinois      
• Melissa Blair, At-Large, Mukwonago, Wisconsin                         

Member Stories: What IMC USA Means To Me

David Norman CMC^®, FIMC
President
David Norman & Associates

Membership

Building Relationships with our Omega Notes Community Platform – Invitation Email

A key focus for 2022 is to help members connect with each other and strengthen relationships. IMC USA will have some introductory webinars on creating your profile and joining Omega Notes communities. Questions? Email: [email protected]. 

Welcome to our Affiliate Partners

The following companies have partnered with IMC USA to offer resources to our members.  Each partner will offer 4 sessions during the year to help you better understand their services and how they can benefit you and your consulting practice. Watch for more information to come.

Are you new to consulting? Our QuickStart program provides a customized experience to help you define your consulting practice and includes a workbook with exercises  followed by a live seminar to get feedback from experienced consultants and your peers!

• Episode 1 - Consultant Preparedness
• Episode 2 - The Business of Consulting 
• Episode 3 - Handling back-room operations

Each episode starts with a 30-minute recorded session to help attendees complete the corresponding workbook exercises. During the following week, there will be a 90-minute live seminar for each of the three episodes. All registrants will be invited to join an IMC USA Special Interest Group, facilitated by experienced consultants, to kick start your consulting practice!

If you are interested in attending the QuickStart program, please email Loraine Huchler, Chair, Professional Learning and Development ([email protected]). We will survey all respondents to select the best time to conduct the live sessions. We expect to have pricing and more information about the curriculum in early February; the program will launch in March for six weeks.

Are you an early-stage consultant? Do you want to improve your skills – and your confidence in your consulting practice? We are updating our most-highly-rated educational program, owned by IMC USA, “Mastering Management Consulting (MMC).” Experienced consultants teach the fundamentals of management consulting based on the IMC USA Competency Framework in a seminar-style format. The upgrade includes a new case study and updated participants’ workbooks, instructors’ guidebooks for each topic, and associated PowerPoint slides. Participating “live” in these 16 sessions, offered every other week, is the best way to gain skills and peers.

If you are interested in attending the MMC program, please email Loraine Huchler, Chair, Professional Learning and Development ([email protected]). We expect to have pricing and more information about the curriculum in early February; the program will launch in March.

NEW: Industry and Business Trends, Emerging Technologies. Management consultants can better serve their clients if they have a broad overview of industry and business trends and emerging technologies. We will begin our offerings in April with a seminar series about Unconscious Bias and other aspects of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Want to help? If you have experience in creating or evaluating curriculum for adult learners, delivering management consulting training, are a subject-matter expert in one or more consulting competencies or just interested in a new challenge – we have a place for you.

Questions? Please contact Loraine Huchler, P.E., CMC®, FIMC, Chair, IMC USA Professional Learning and Development, [email protected], 609-865-8151 (cell), 757-442-5308.

By Certification Committee Chair, Gregory Lunde, CMC^® Emeritus

Currently, I am filling in for Carl Potter, CMC® Certification Chair, who recently stepped aside while reevaluating his business goals and commitments. We want to thank Carl for his dedication, leadership, and service while chairing the CMC® Certification position.

As your interim CMC^® Certification Chair, I will be preparing a succession plan for the CMC® Certification Chair that concentrates on:

• identifying and working with CMC Certification Committee members who will be available to serve as exam panelists.
• advancing mentoring and “how to” programs such as Mastering Management Consulting (MMC) with a roadmap to certification; and
• preparing for and conducting CMC Oral Examinations (review orientation and examination questions that serve as guidelines for exam panelists).

Let’s keep in mind that “CMC^®” is our core IMC business product and marketing identification. Thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to building a volunteer team of CMC® Certification Committee members who are enthusiastic about promoting our CMC® appellation.

Congratulations to Dr. Tom Hayashi, CMC^® for earning the Certified Management Consultant^® designation recognized globally.

Dr. Tom Hayashi, CMC^®
Chair/Program Director
Saybrook University

Do You Know Someone Who Deserves to Be Recognized?

Recognizing our colleagues is an important aspect of being a member of the Institute of Management Consultants USA. IMC USA has several ways to acknowledge the extraordinary contributions of its members, including the FIMC (Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants USA) and the Lifetime Achievement Award. If you would like to sponsor a colleague for either of these prestigious awards, please review the requirements on the IMC USA website. There, you will also find other awards for which your fellow members may qualify. It’s not too early to begin the application process; it often takes longer than you might expect to collect all the signatures required for submission of the application. Also, please be sure to make your intention known by contacting the IMC USA office so that we on the Recognition and Awards Committee will be expecting the application. 

It is always a gratifying experience to see a deserving colleague recognized as the result of your efforts. Please consider taking the time and making the effort to sponsor a colleague for either the FIMC or the LAA. If you have any questions, you may call or email Joyce Gioia [joy-yah], Chair of the Recognition and Awards Committee at [email protected] or 336-210-3548.

My answer:

• Expand your perspective. Leadership often takes you outside of your comfort zone, giving you an opportunity to work with new challenges, people, politics and interpersonal dynamics. You gain new perspective on priorities by learning what matters to other consultants. Hanging out with consultants that have different life experiences encourages you to tackle challenges from different angles and learning new skills. You realize that the world is a much bigger, richer place that you imagined.
   
• Hone your influence. Hmm. Leaders have power – and frankly, there is a benefit to power. Do you understand your leadership style? Here’s an opportunity to practice your leadership and hone your effectiveness in influencing others. Being a volunteer leader levels the playing field. Will people still follow if they don’t have to? How must you show up differently to make that happen?
   
• Gain the freedom to experiment. Here’s a safer way, outside of your business world, to take risks at work. There’s an opportunity to experiment and try new things.
  
  
• Build a larger network. Who couldn’t use a larger network? At IMC USA, you’ll be hanging out with a crowd of folks with diverse experience and expertise; different leadership styles and different perspectives. It’s an incredible opportunity to broaden your understanding of issues – and gain a strategic view of your own expertise.

Service as a leader changes you. Most importantly, it changes your WIIFM to WIIFTO: What’s in it for the Organization? Making a difference within an organization is a win-win: WIIFM to WIIFTO. 

Please consider nominating yourself or an IMC USA Member for the National Board. Here are some attributes of successful candidates for the IMC USA Board of Directors.

• Commitment to the goals of IMC USA
• Willingness to invest time and energy to serve
• Understanding of the role and responsibilities as a board member: governance of the organization and executing on board-approved projects and initiatives
• Good communication skills
• Sound judgment and integrity

We encourage both professional and certified members to consider serving. The IMC USA by-laws require a majority of certified members on the Board of Directors; therefore, we especially encourage certified members to serve so we can maximize the number of qualified, non-certified members who can be placed on the ballot. 

Please submit nominations to the IMC USA Executive Director, Gregory Brooks, at [email protected]

• February 18, 2022: Nominations close at 5 pm EST.
• February 21, 2022: Completed questionnaires are due no later than 5 pm EST.
• February 28 - March 21, 2022: Interviews of qualified candidates and their references
• NLT April 1, 2022: Announcement of Slate

Questions? Please contact Loraine Huchler, P.E., CMC^®, FIMC, Chair, IMC USA Nominating Committee, [email protected], 609-865-8151 (cell), 757-442-5308 (office).

C2M Live! webinars are facilitated discussions where consultants learn, connect, and grow their consulting practice.

Our next C2M Live! Zoomcast on February 18, 2022, 2-3 PM ET is titled "Selling Above the Lines: How Sales Differentiation, a Customer-Focused Sales Lens and Other Innovative Tools Can Win Us More Business and Higher Fees."

When engaged in sales, we consultants, like any other sales reps in other industries, face fierce competition today in the pursuit of winning great deals. As differences in service features and functions get slimmer by the minute, they become less meaningful and attractive to buyers. So how can we stand out from the competitive pack and not only win new accounts but at prices that will make us and our clients happy? Two knowledgeable sales thought leaders will show us the way. Hosted by Ken Lizotte CMC^®. 

C2M Live is a value added benefit included in membership. Not a member? Please attend C2M Live for a modest fee of only $49 per session.

More in Information and/or Register Today

By Ed Potter, CAE
Chair, IMC USA Nonprofit Consultants Network

Mark your calendars for the upcoming Nonprofit Consultant Network events:

Sponsored by the Nonprofit Consultants Network of the Institute of Management Consultants USA

Nonprofit Strategic Planning: Balancing Impact and Selling for Consultants
Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST

Register: https://bit.ly/3IB85VA

Strategic planning is always in demand from nonprofit clients. But it can be a tricky service to deliver and sell. Gary Romano of Civitas Strategies and Gregory Nielsen of Nielsen Training and Consulting will share their experience in generating and delivering strategic planning services. Specifically, attendees will learn the key points of value for strategic planning projects to ensure you have an impact with clients as well as best approaches for selling this key service.