Consulting often gets a bad rap in pop culture.

Some consultants are portrayed as full of hot air—all style and no substance.

Others: cold, calculating, and profit-driven.

Neither represents the reality of being a Resultant consultant.

So, what makes for a great consultant? How do they think? What do they do?

We talked to two phenomenal consultants to find out.

Jess Carter, Resultant VP of Client Experience & Delivery Operations and host of the Data-Driven Leadership podcast, has spent the last 10 years leading data projects where the stakes were (sometimes) life and death.

Ryan Gould, VP of Managed Services Sales and Solutions and the unofficial “411 of IT,” has been building Resultant’s MSP practice for more than 14 years—first as a consultant and then as a leader.

In their conversation with Mark, Jess, and Ryan discuss how they built their consulting careers and “wow’d” clients along the way.

Find Jess and Ryan on LinkedIn:

Jess Carter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaccarter/

Ryan Gould: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-t-gould/

Jump in:

[02:40 - 05:22] Ryan Gould’s Resultant origin story

[05:50 - 08:37] Jess Carter’s Resultant origin story

[08:37 - 10:58] Why experience “on the front lines” helps “behind the scenes”

[11:00 - 18:30] The characteristics, approach, and purpose of a great consultant

[18:30 - 20:51] Why consulting is really anthropology and takes practice

[20:53 - 26:44] Getting fired and how to fail as a consultant

[26:45 - 32:44] The impoirtance of authentic expertise and partnership

[32:53 - 38:41] Jess & Ryan’s favorite projects with phenomenal outcomes

[38:41 - 41:24] How great consultants think about and manage time

[42:23 - 43:48] Ryan’s advice for new consultants: It’s a relationships game

[43:49 - 47:12] Jess’s advice for new consultants: Find mentors and choose what to value

[47:55 - 50:17] Why the only person who can limit your career is you

[51:19 - 57:39] Mark & Kate’s takes: Curiosity; asking questions; listening; “inspire and teach”