Working with Clients

The values and approach I bring to my clients reflect the learnings and experience from a long career in mission-focused organizations. Today, four themes frame the way I do my work, and represent what I strive for in every engagement:

• Professionalism: Though this word means different things to different people, and is often used casually, it represents for me a critical and interconnected set of values and behaviors, much of which are traceable to my years at McKinsey & Co. The most important elements include:
• integrity and always trying to “do the right thing,” whatever the situation
• client interests ahead of my own
• a focus on performance—always helping clients excel in their strategy and execution
• fact-based analysis—driving for answers from data, objective assessment, and a perspective freed from political agendas or personal bias
• continuous improvement and learning from practice, and bringing that knowledge to what I do and what I offer to clients
• confidentiality—discretion and respect for client situations
• cost-effective—charge on the basis of value, and only what’s required, and seek efficiencies whenever possible. (As a solo practitioner who works through networks, and is not maintaining the overhead of a consulting organization, I am able to be more cost-efficient than many alternatives)
• long term relationships—engage in any client situation with the belief that both parties benefit from a working relationship that deepens over time on the basis of mutual learning and benefit
• Capability and Impact, Not Just “Answers”: Though many consultants see their final deliverable as creating a presentation or a report, I strive to “think implementation from Day 1” and work with clients to help them get to actual performance results. In practice, that means preferring to work with client organization members as integral parts of the team which I assemble for an assignment. I also seek to involve in solution development and planning as many key stakeholders—and relevant managers—as possible. My goal is to catalyze change and action, and not just deliver a new blueprint.
• Collaboration, Development and People Networks: Through first-hand experience in both serving and leading organizations, if there is any irrefutable lesson, it is the power of teamwork, collaboration, and cross-boundary networks of people to address any performance challenge. In style and orientation, such an approach is central to how I work. Whether it is the teams I form in working with clients, the care with which I select partners, or the diversity of networks I seek to engage in solving a problem, the impact of excellent and knowledgeable people working together is what I will always strive to effect and offer. It is also equally clear to me that when you are able to help others do better, learn more, or develop their own skills and experience, the performance impact of any project rises. Devoted to that, I am always helping to develop others with whom I work.
• Seek the Higher Good: Feedback from clients, former colleagues and staff often emphasize “Brook’s interest in looking for the best in a situation” or “ focusing on the common good.” It does indeed how I always try to work, and reflects my enduring interest in helping organizations with a social conscience or a mission-focus that somehow improves the human condition. Such a vision does not constrain me to “only do charity work.” Because of my belief about the value of markets, and the power of discipline and innovation to create value, I work with many for-profit as well as not-for-profit organizations, and indeed believe the boundaries between these sectors are increasingly blurring (and all for the better that they are). My interest is not to define work by a tax-code boundary, but rather purpose—is this organization somehow striving to make the world better, and can I do something to help them in that quest?