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One of the biggest myths in organizations today is "everyone is a leader." Sure everyone needs to take full responsibility for themselves and their work as well as become an influencer regardless of positional authority. 

But having the ability to be an influencer or possessing good self-management skills is not the same as having the gift of leadership. The “everyone is a leader” myth, which has been blindly accepted as truth, actually waters down the significance and uniqueness of the gift of leadership and keeps people who don’t have that gift from finding out what they actually are great at doing.  It’s like telling an athletic team that all of its members are star players, when that is far from the reality. If all of the team members believed they are stars and their coaches manage them as if they are, there would be no teamwork, chaos would reign, and success would fly out the window.

Why You Need to Listen In...

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I’ll never forget the moment of joy and accomplishment when I was hired as an internal consultant at Walt Disney World back in 1999. It feels like yesterday when I was walking out of Team Disney with my offer and the potential to work for arguably one of the most premier companies in the world.

During my first few weeks, I began to fully appreciate why I, along with my 20 other teammates were hired and what we were there to do. A few years prior, the company engaged on one of the most massive (and successful) culture changes I had ever witnessed.

This initiative which became know as Performance Excellence, was led by visionary change leader who knew that the company’s formula of success which only focused on the guest wasn’t going to create lasting value. The lasting value was to balance guest satisfaction alongside other organizational components: leadership excellence, employee performance AND business results.

My team was...

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In this week's podcast, I share with you what I learned from my years at Disney about what creates amazing experiences that turns customers into raving fans and brand loyalists.

Why You Need to Listen In

As consultants, everything we do ultimately affects customer satisfaction. And customer satisfaction holds the key to a company's immediate and long-term profitability.

Satisfied customers:

• Are more likely to spend more money with the company
• Will buy additional products and/or services
• Recommend the company to others

Regardless of your area of expertise, you have to be able to connect the dots between your solutions and the impact they have on the customer experience.

If after listening to this podcast, you want more Disney best practices...

My FREE and highly actionable eBook "Making Good on Your Word" show you the very process I used to help the Disney team take their already legendary customer and employee engagement to new levels of...

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If you want to land contracts but hate sales and the idea of asking for higher fees makes you queasy - I got great news for you. You don't have to.

In my podcast from my series Consulting Matters: Mastering the Art & Science of the Business I am going to introduce in a better way to land contract which is through establishing a strategic partnership with a future client. 

When you listen in - you'll discover the three steps to take in order to position yourself as a peer and your consulting against the most significant business issues your future client is dealing with.

You'll discover that you can win both business AND trust and that is possible to make great money WHILE making a difference.

Where You Might Get Stuck

After listening to this podcast you might be thinking to yourself, "This is great and all, Betsy, but what the heck do I even do to land a client? What do I actually do and say in these phases?" If that sounds like you, grab...

One of the best things about mentoring other consultants is the opportunity it gives me to reflect on what I do as a consultant and why.

This week our group was exploring the topic of gaining and retaining leadership buy-in and it caused me to stop and really think why this matters so much and it all boils down to this - 

The one thing that we all really want from others in order to trust them is confidence that when they make decisions they take into account what's in our best interest.

When I train consultants on the importance of doing an assessment and taking the time to deeply listen to stakeholders (whether they are executives, managers, employees or customers) it's not just about a consulting approach that generates revenue for them. It's about being a a conduit to help those people in the organization be heard and have a voice on issues that effect them. 

What most leaders (and even consultants) don't get about creating employee engagement is that it's not...

If you’re a high-achiever SURELY, you’ve considered starting your own consulting business by now (if you haven’t already.) There is no shortage of advice and mentors that can help you learn how to market and sell yourself. But the reality is…

…Growing a consulting business is unlike any other business!

To achieve sustainable success, you have to think broader than just finding clients.

You needs to implement a system that will can empower you to predictably and consistently:

• Attract and connect with your exact perfect client who has needs and challenges you are passionate about solving
• Establish a relationship with those future clients and demonstrate your credibility that can and will provide relevant and meaningful solutions
• Convert those leads not just into buyers but long-term strategic partners that will position you to do your best work

Positive self-talk or shameless self-promotion won't transform your mindset and your fears about...

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I want you to land your next (or first!) six-figure contract with confidence.

Are you optimizing your earning power? Are you getting paid what you're worth?

In this video from my eCourse "Contacts to Contacts: How to Land Clients & Establish Long-Term Winning Partnerships" I let you in my insider secrets to transforming a small request for a tactic such as a training or short-term coaching assignment into a larger and long-term consulting engagement.

I am passionate about about this topic because how you well you handle contracting conversations defines your consulting potential in terms of:

• Your earning potential
• Your labor intensity
• Your client positioning and credibility

My partnership set up approach to landing clients has been the key to my success. Within 18 months of leaping from my high-profile role at Walt Disney World into full-time consulting business ownership, I grew my revenue from $0 - $300,000. I didn't achieve...

Interview Transcript:

Betsy Jordyn:     Well hello there everybody it's Betsy Jordyn of the Consultants Institute, and I am so excited to finally be interviewing Michael Zipursky of Consulting Success.  So Michael and I met how many years ago was it, Michael?   

M. Zipursky:      Oh, wow. 

Betsy Jordyn:     About three years?  Four years ago?  

M. Zipursky:      It's been awhile. Is it?  Time flies.

Betsy Jordyn:     So he was so gracious to interview me for his podcast series, and I've been waiting for an opportunity to return the favor, and this is my opportunity.  So without further ado let's just jump in.  So tell me a little bit about you.  So you have your own business consulting success.  So tell me about this business.

M. Zipursky:      Yeah, ConsultingSuccess.com is where we work...