Are you a Consultant or an Advisor?
Very often I have asked myself this question and tried to get the correct answer. It so happens that both the titles are used as Synonyms, though I feel that there is a certain amount of subtle difference between the two.
Who am I?
During my working career in Engineering Consultancy Organizations that spread over a few decades, I used to tell others that I am a consultant. I took pride in trying to know everything in my field to justify the term Consultant. During that period, nobody called me an Advisor.
My Dilemma
I often wondered why some of my clients chose to discuss with my senior colleague on specific issues while I had better knowledge of the subject. I used to feel that it is so because the client doesn’t know that I know the subject better. As time flew by, this used to recur frequently, and sometimes I used to lose confidence in myself. My senior colleague, being more balanced than I was, used to call me also for the meeting and let me explain the details to the clients. However, at the end, when the client had a query, it was not addressed to me but to my senior colleague. I often wondered why!
Perceived Transformation
With years trickling by, I occupied a senior position in the organization and had several meetings with clients. I started calling my colleagues who were junior to me but more knowledgeable in certain fields for the meetings. Strangely, I found that after my colleagues explained the details, the clients used to ask my opinions on the subject. Only then I felt that the situation wanted me to be an Advisor and not Consultant.
Did I actually graduate from being a Consultant to Advisor?
More such occasions as above, made me feel that I have graduated to be Advisor from being a Consultant. This feeling was only short-lived, as when we had a meeting with a common acquaintance along with my senior, who had retired by then. I was quite surprised that the Advisor in that situation was still my senior colleague and not me. Only then it struck me that the position of Consultant or Advisor would depend on the context than the qualification and experience of the person. How do I sell myself to the potential client? If I had this dilemma for nomenclature for such a long time, it was expected that the clients who approached me for the above services.
Changing Caps of Consultant and Advisor:
It is then that I realized that I have a dual personality of Consultant and Advisor and the success in my role in either of them would depend on how well I perform the role required for the position. After my retirement, I could get a few opportunities to advise some clients. One client had a small team of Consultants who were preparing the details of the projects proposed. I first wondered why does he require me then? It then struck me that when the Consultant gave the client various ideas and proposals, he was not sure which one to accept. I then realized that my role, in this case, is an Advisor to analyze various proposals of the Consultant and recommend the most optimum alternative to the client. The role of the Consultant and Advisor was getting clearer.
Full Conversion from Consultant to Advisor:
With age, the capacity to do detailed work started coming down. Simultaneously, my capacity to visualize an overall picture of problems increased substantially. I started feeling like a Superman viewing the earth from above. It is this stage of Nirvana that made me feel that I am no more a Consultant and I have become a full-fledged Advisor.
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