Are You Cut Out to Be a Healthcare Consultant, Advisor or Speaker?
Category: Physicians in Business
Dear Physician Colleague,
Over 10 years ago I was a healthcare technology executive working full time for a top tier company. Even though I was successful, I was at a career crossroads. Should I stay with the company and represent their vision, or should I launch my own consulting and speaking firm and express my vision?
I had acquired special expertise that was in great demand, but my personal vision was to be a force for healthcare transformation on a broader stage and scale. I knew that staying with the company or limiting myself to working with one group would constrain my ability to build my vision. On the other hand, being part of a larger enterprise gave me a feeling of stability.
During that time I often called myself an “Advisor-on-the-Verge.”
I was on the verge of turning my expertise into a marketable service and making myself available to forward-thinking organizations, leaders and clinicians. So, in 1998 I took the plunge, and went from being on “the verge” to establishing myself as a professional healhcare consultant, coach and speaker.
And what about the option of staying with the larger company? That particular company was bought by a larger one within 6 months after I left and the entire executive team was gone 3 months later. So much for “stability!”
Are you in a similar “Advisor-on-the-Verge” point in your career?
Let’s see if any of these situations resonate with you:
- Have you achieved remarkable results in your role as a leader or liaison, and now being asked by other organizations to share your method or facilitate their teams?
- Are you currently delivering seminars or training programs “on the side” of your practice or leadership role because you find it energizing–and you’re getting rave reviews?
- Are you frequently asked to speak or deliver a keynote presentation because of your special ability to connect and inspire—and your audiences want more from you?
- Have you been the frequent confidant and sounding board for executives and physician peers—and you honor the trust they have in you, and enjoy the interaction?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, congratulations! You’re an “advisor-on-the-verge.”
The next question, though, is this:
Are you cut out to be a professional independent consultant, speaker or educator?
Here is a quick check list to see if you have the personal attributes to succeed as a solo-entrepreneur:
- You are organized or can create a structure to keep yourself organized
- You value autonomy and flexibility
- You can assume a lot of responsibility for your success and can live with some uncertainty
- You enjoy diverse experiences and variety in your life
- You are willing to go beyond your comfort zone
- You enjoy being a “thought leader”
- You want to be recognized for a method, idea or process you have created
If you checked off “yes” to each of these, you are well on your way to success!
Many people think that succeeding as a healthcare consultant or speaker means you have to make a lot of “cold calls.” Not true! (I know you are relieved to hear that.)
What you need to succeed is what I will share with you in a special event teleconference coming up in December and January:
“Leverage Your Expertise With Healthcare Consulting: Secrets to Building a Successful Business that Delivers Great Value to Your Clients, and Offers You a New Career Path With Additional Income and a Flexible Lifestyle”
This F^REE 75-minute Teleconference is for physicians and other healthcare professionals who have specific expertise, clinical knowledge, wellness methods, facilitation skills, or management approach that would benefit other organizations or audiences, but you are unsure about about how to build your business and are unclear whether you are cut out for a healthcare consulting or speaking career.
This is also a PREVIEW call of the Healthcare Consulting Academy, a new physician career training program from the Physician Coaching Institute starting in February, 2008, for those of you who are ready to move forward after the Orientation to launch or grow your consulting, training or speaking business.
This F.REE 75-minute teleconference is scheduled on these dates:
Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Time: Noon Pacific / 3:00 Eastern
Date: Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Time: 5:00pm Pacific / 8:00 Eastern
NOTE: This Teleconference is F.REE but registration is required to attend.