Consult magazine - Spring 2011 issue

c The Magazine for Membersof CMC-Canada consult

What’s Changed?

Spring 2011

Gregory Richards FCMC

Consulting afterthe double dip –

“These experienced and accomplished professionals chosethe Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation tohelp them as they moved into advisory services.”

‘Trans-formers’16Jane Osler, CMC prepares for a meeting while enjoying a quiet moment at the Pantages Hotel Toronto Centre.

InsideConsulting after the double dip10

Social media15Passion in the profession22

Departments editor’s note 03 industry insights 06coast to coast 08 how’s your asset? 27 buzz 30 remembering 31 top of mind 32

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consult magazine Spring 2011 3

Publisher: Glenn Yonemitsu, CMC Editorial Board: Harold Schroeder, FCMC, Mike Appleton,FCMC, Jane Davison, FCMC, Eric Inthof, FCMC, RonKnowles, FCMC, Dianne Lougheed Keefe, CMC, GregRichards, FCMC, Tony Wanless, CMC, Mary Blair Editor in Chief: Harold Schroeder, FCMCManaging Editor: Andrea VandenbergContributing Writers: Glenn Yonemitsu, CMC, Greg Richards, FCMC, Andrea Vandenberg, Mary Blair Research: Mary Blair, Suzie Fernandes, Darlene Hoornstra,Suzie Fernandes, Lora Rossi, Hélène Théberge

Creative and Art Direction, Design: Aegis Design Inc.Photography: Nation Wong Cover Photo: Nation Wong

Consult Magazine is published semi-annually by the CanadianAssociation of Management Consultants (CMC-Canada).

Consult welcomes unsolicited manuscripts for publication,comments, letters to the editor, or ideas on themes.

Please send all feedback and address changes to CanadianAssociation of Management Consultants (CMC-Canada),PO Box 20, 2004-401 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,M5H 2Y4 or via email to [email protected]

Consult is published simultaneously on the Internet at consult-magazine.ca

Copyright 2011 – Canadian Association of ManagementConsultants. Reproduction in whole or in part withoutpermission is prohibited.

Advertising Sales and Inquiries: Andrea Vandenberg (416) 860-1515 [email protected]

Editor’s NoteNow that the economy is on an upturn and businessopportunities abound forgood management consult-ants, the prevailing wisdom is that we live in a changedworld, which will keep us allon our toes. As our thought-provoking feature article by Greg Richard argues,consultants who adapt theirthinking to the new economicenvironment are likely to findthemselves an invaluableasset for many clients, but in ways which represent adeparture from conventionalpractice. My hope and expectation is that ConsultMagazine will rapidly becomethe ‘need to read’ publicationthat will bring you the latestideas and developments toensure you make the most of these new opportunities. Enjoy the current issue!

HAROLD SCHROEDERFCMC, PMP, CHRP, CHE SCHROEDER & SCHROEDER INC.

AT CMC-CANADA

Winter 2011

The skaters are circling the ice rink at Nathan Philips Square atToronto’s City Hall. I’m watchingthem from the 20th floor of theSimpson Tower, from CMC-Canada’s new office.

The new office is modern, bright, and openand serves as a great metaphor for thechanges underway at CMC-Canada. Goneare the walls and formal offices that keep us apart from each other. Our new approachis to work outside of boundaries and thinkdifferently. Just because it has been doneone way, doesn’t mean that is how we willmanage things in the future.

This magazine is a perfect example ofbreaking down the walls. Consult is a maga-zine that is different than anything CMC-Canada has published in the past. It is designedto inform, to share our activities across thecountry, but most importantly, it is hoped thatit will build pride in our membership.

In these pages, you will read about ourmembers and our activities from VancouverIsland to Halifax. In May 2011, our Institute in British Columbia is hosting a conference,‘Innovation and Collaboration in LeadingChange.’ On the other side of Canada, ourAtlantic Canada Institute will host their ownconference, ‘Rise to the Top.’

In between, there is lots of activity aswell. Our Greater Toronto Area chapter has a plethora of events, from special interest

groups to the strategic leadership forum. Ineastern Ontario, our Ottawa chapter is alwaysactive with many events, and in Quebec,there was a conference in March, combinedwith an event honouring new CMCs.

In May, the National Board of Directorswill be hosting their face-to-face meeting in Regina, and in October, our ManitobaInstitute will celebrate the 25th year of theirProvincial legislation, recognizing the CMCdesignation, with a one-day conference in Winnipeg.

We continue to work hard at building thecritical mass needed to support our NationalAssociation – so we can build more aware-ness and recognition of our designation.Through alliances and partnerships, we canachieve our objectives.

Our strategic alliance with the CertifiedManagement Accountants is starting togenerate opportunities for both associations.This past December, we ratified the inclusionof the Certified Agricultural Consultants to ourassociation. We will be hosting the annualNorth American Consulting School this year.

Professional Development is an ongoingimperative for any professional. David Maister’sseminal article, ‘How’s Your Asset?’ is how weare raising the bar at CMC-Canada. Towardsthat end, we are strengthening our pre-certi-fication courses, like our Essentials ofManagement Consulting. We are supportingour facilitators, partnering with more Univer-sities, and updating our Common Body ofKnowledge. We are not ignoring post-certifi-cation – as we are launching our ‘Leadershipfor Professional Services’ program, in part-nership with the Richard Ivey School of Business, in June 2011.

This is just a snapshot of how CMC-Canada is raising the bar.

GLENN T. YONEMITSU, MBA, CMC

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS (CMC-CANADA)

VISITcmc-canada.ca

REGULARLYTO SEE

WHAT IS NEW

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Martin and Joy Playford are from Owen Sound, Ontario, but today, they make their homeand their Hawk Ridge Estate wine in beautiful Kelowna, British Columbia.

Colonel Playford (retired) served in the CanadianForces for more than 30 years and is a profes-sional engineer by training. As his experiencegrew, he progressed to roles where he servedas a change agent and advisor in the Air Divi-sion. After returning to civilian life, it was a naturalstep to establish The Playford PerformanceGroup, a consultancy that focuses on perform-ance management and executive coaching.

Joy has enjoyed a successful 30 plus yearcareer with the Business Development Bankof Canada. In her role as Regional Director,Special Markets, she is involved with coaching,capacity building, consulting, and strategicalliances for western Canada. Previously, Joyserved as Vice President, BDC Consulting Groupfor the Prairies and West region, and more thandoubled revenues and professional staff.

Since relocating to Kelowna, which Joy says,“we applied the planning principles we use inbusiness to our own life,” the Playfords have a

new activity that takes up much of their time –managing an estate winery on their property.

When they decided to move from Winnipeg toKelowna, Joy found a wonderful piece of landthat, “had a gorgeous lake and valley view.”There was no analysis paralysis for this house-hold of two consultants, they acted immedi-ately. Martin added, “this was the first placewe’ve been where we could grow grapes andmake our own wine.”

The Playfords didn’t do this blindly, they hireda consultant, “who helped us identify the condi-tions of the soil and the kind of grapes thatwould grow.” Today, they are awaiting their thirdharvest of Pinot Noir and Gewürztraminer andwith the help of friends, they will get out thepicker boxes, put the harvest in the destemmerand then into a hydraulic press, before goingto the tanks for aging.

It is a year-round activity, with pruning in thelate winter/spring, growing in the summer, tothe harvest and production in the fall. Martyloves the growing, spends about 10 hours aweek in the vineyard and, “loses himself in the vineyard.” Joy complements Marty as she,“digs the production.”

Running their own estate winery has benefitedtheir social and professional life. As they have

sought out advice, they have built tremendousfriendships with the growers and producers inthe region. There have been many lessons fromthe winery that has helped their consultingpractice too.

Martin believes that cultivating the grapethrough the summer is like building a relation-ship with a client. “You can’t leave it for a fewmonths and expect we will catch up. It’s anongoing relationship. You have to be focusedand follow through on a consistent basis, or inthe end, the wine will be impacted.” Joy agrees,“when developing the vineyard, you have totake a long term view.” And when consultantscontinue with professional development, “it is likeputting the investment into the right resources.”

CMC-Canada has played a big role in helpingthe Playfords settle in the Okanagan. “This iswhat CMC-Canada has brought us – its beenwonderful both to our practice and to our lifehere, when I look and see the friends and relationships we have developed, a lot of it hascome from our CMC-Canada connections.”

Grape growing and wine making is clearly apassion. As Marty says, “the most enjoyablepiece of our work is taking a bottle down to thevineyard, looking over the lake, and having aglass of wine together.”

“IT’S been wonderful boTH To our PraCTICe and To our lIfe Here…a loT of IT HaS Come from our CmC-Canada ConneCTIonS.”MARTIN PLAYFORD, CMC AND JOY PLAYFORD, CMC

A toastto paradise

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

6 consult magazine Spring 2011

INDUSTRYINSIGHTS

Fortune’s best companiesto work for and biggest pay lists

News and information about the ManagementConsulting Industry and Profession.

In the February issue of Fortunemagazine, the 2011 list of the ‘100Best Companies to Work For’ wasreleased. Boston Consulting Group(BCG) is ranked as the second bestcompany, behind software company,SAS. With 1,713 employees in theUnited States, BCG also made the top ten list for the best payingcompanies, with an average totalpay of US$154,051, for employees in the role of ‘consultant’.

Other firms included in the ‘BestCompanies’ ranking, who havesignificant management consultingdepartments, include

Deloitte, No.63Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, No.73

Ernst & Young, No.77Booz Allen Hamilton

No.85KPMG, No.86

Accenture, No.99In the ‘Best Paying’ ranking, firmswith significant managementconsulting practices include

Pricewaterhouse-Coopers

No.53/$86,826Accenture

No.54/$83,500Deloitte

No.56/$81,622KPMG

No.67/$73,300For more information visitwww.money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2011

Consulting rankings from vault career intelligenceBain & Company, BostonConsulting Group, and McKinsey& Company take the top threespots in the 2011 Vault Consulting50. Bain has been a perennialleader in this ranking and theycontinue to receive the top ratings.The group of Bain, BCG, andMcKinsey all outdistance theirpeers by a significant margin.

Vault Career Intelligence is one of the most influentialresources for MBA graduates as they prepare for their careers.It is one of the only sources for broad-based, up-to-date information on all of the majorconsulting practices.

Each year, Vault publishesthe Vault Consulting 50, which is a ranking that combines theprevious ‘best to work for’ rank-ings with overall prestige feed-back. 43% of highly credentialedcandidates rank firm culture asthe most important factor inselecting an employer.

The Vault Consulting 50weighs 25 percent firm culture,25 percent work/life balance, 20 percent compensation, 20percent prestige, 5 percentoverall business outlook, and 5 percent transparency. Vaultsurveys con-sultants who work at the major firms. Survey res-pondents are not allowed to ratetheir own firm, and they wereasked to rate only those firmswith which they were familiar.

In addition to the Consulting50, Vault publishes separate listsranking firm on prestige, best towork for, compensation, diversity,and the best within practice areas.

To see the complete collectionof lists by Vault, visit www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/ranking


Vault summar-izes the good, the bad and theugly for the con-sulting professionVault has an interesting perspective into the Manage-ment Consulting industry andpublished their analysis on what is good and bad about the profession... they also advise on what kinds ofskill/behaviours are needed to succeed in the profession.

UPPERSHigh payWide variety of projectsIntellectual stimulation

DOWNERSGrueling travelLong hoursToo much jargonUnpaid overtime

PERSONALITYMATCHPeople-oriented Well spoken Analytical Independent Creative

PERSONALITYMISSAntisocial InflexibleAfraid of flying

Strategy in uncertain environmentsBoston Consulting Group’sManaging Partner and CanadianPractice Leader, Kilian Berz,shared his thoughts on howleading organizations must com-pete in a world and environmentfilled with waves of systemic tur-bulence. Market leaders are fallingfrom grace more often and morequickly, due to much disruption.

The core axioms of strategicplanning are being undermined.

In response, BCG suggestsadaptive strategy is at the centreof a new basis for advantage.Three attributes are essential forsurvival in a changing environ-ment: Responsiveness, resilience,and readiness. But, to gain asustainable advantage, compa-nies must use a dynamic, recur-sive approach, where strategiescontinuously evolve.

Berz shared his thoughts at a sold out, joint CMA/CMC-CANADA event in Toronto.

More details on adaptivestrategy can be found at www.bcg.com/documents/file37859.pdf

Advisory services expected to grow at large firmsEach of the Big 4 professional services firms expects Advisory Services to lead the growth of their professional services practices.Major investments are being made into personnel, methodologydevelopment, and professional development, all of which indicatestrong growth prospects for the future.

Consulting magazine reports that KPMG for one, expectsrevenue in advisory services to double by 2015.

Consulting goes on to report that in the first quarter of 2011,other large firms have been taking advantage of the strengtheningeconomy. IBM’s business analytics practice grew revenue by morethan 40 percent in the second half of the year. The firm expectscontinued growth in the coming year. Capgemini also reported a strong second half of 2010, and is forecasting as much as 10 percent revenue growth in 2011.

Read more about these results and forecasts at www.consulting-mag.com and click on ‘News Briefings’.

Which categories are firms making the most/least improvements?

3.9 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5

compensation and benefits satisfaction

career development

work/life balance

culture

leadership

the job

overall

Survey Average (1-5 Scale) 2009 Survey Average 2010 Survey Average


COAST TO COAST

“Not enough consultants turntheir intellectual capital intointellectual property, and veryfew manage to translate that to income that’s bankable. The fear of someone stealingyour intellectual property ifyou put too much on the tableis a chimera. I’ve written 40books. Help yourself!” Dr. Alan Weiss, FCMCKeynote speaker, BC’s 2010‘Charting a Course to Value’conference. PresidentSummit Consulting Groupwww.summitconsulting.com

Charting a Course to Value

Last May, internationallyacclaimed consultant Dr. AlanWeiss known as ‘the consul-tant’s consultant’ was thekeynote speaker at ConsultingConference 2010, the firstmanagement consulting con-ference sponsored CMC-BC.Weiss challenged the audi-ence that we need to get moresavvy and courageous in howwe manage and build ourconsulting practices, whetherit be intellectual property, fees,or how we market ourselves.

“Organizations recognize the need for change and therelative speed and accuracythat is required for effectiveexecution. The challenge is howto do it. Traditional methodsare no longer enough. Peopleare the secret ingredient andSeth Kahan clearly offers thepath to get you there.”George A CastineirasSenior Vice PresidentPrudential Financial, Inc.

Collaboration & Innovation in

Leading Change Leadership and changeexpert Seth Kahan and one of Canada’s foremost futurists,Jim Bottomley, will headlineCMC-BC’s second conference,‘Collaboration and Innovation inLeading Change’. The VictoriaMarriott Inner Harbour Hotel is theplace to be on May 5 & 6, 2011.

Other conference topics include:• Breaking through the

Change Quagmire• Innovative Strategies

for Complex BusinessTransformations

• Balancing Divergent Needs through CreativeCollaboration

• Collaborating through Social Media

CMC-Canada members will earn 20 CPD points for the conference. To register,visit cmc-bc.ca

“Organizations are designedfor the past. How can leadersput in place systems that guarantee their organizationsare able to respond to rapidmarket changes? Eighteen-year-old Shawn Fanning revolutionized the musicindustry by creating Napster.And Apple legitimized digital distribution. Why were therecord labels incapable of reinventing their business?”Jim Harris, Keynote speakerAlberta’s 2010 ‘Pursuing Strategic Advantage’ conference.Renowned speaker on leadershipand change www.jimharris.com

Pursuing Strategic Advantage

Last October, CMC-Albertahosted ‘Pursuing StrategicAdvantage’, a showcase ofmany renowned experts, ledby keynote Jim Harris, who challenged the audience tostay nimble and aware, with a goal to helping leadersfuture-proof their operations to avoid being blindsided bychanges. Other speakerspresented the latest ideas onstrategy, change, leadership,innovation, and social media.

Fostering Excellence in Consulting

In October 2011, manage-ment consulting professionalswill gather in Edmonton onceagain for an intensive learningexperience. The ‘2011 CMCConference: Fostering Excel-lence in Consulting’ will chal-lenge your thinking, enhanceyour practice, and offer excitingnetworking opportunities asdelegates and speakers cometogether for our biggest learningand social opportunity of theyear in Alberta! Fosteringexcellence in our knowledge,our practice, and our relation-ships speaks to the high qualityof service we aspire to asconsultants, and gives us thecompetitive edge in the field.This year we are excited toopen our doors to our collea-gues who are members ofnational project management(PMI) and accounting (CMA)organizations, offering themour member pricing. Bringingthree powerful professionalgroups together will supportunparalleled opportunities for learning and growth.

Watch cmc-canada.ca for details on speakers, asthey are confirmed.

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Events, news, and happenings at the CanadianAssociation of Management Consultants.


CMC-Canada Annual General Meeting –

October 2011 | Winnipeg, MBFor 2011, CMC-Canada willtake the AGM on the road toWinnipeg, where CMC-Mani-toba will celebrate the 25thanniversary of the passing of Bill C47 in the LegislativeAssembly of Manitoba, whichrecognizes the CMC designa-tion and the Institute of Certi-fied Management Consultantsof Manitoba.

As part of the celebration,CMC-Manitoba will host aconference with a focus onSocial Media. Business leaderssuch as, Dan Belhassen, Pre-sident, Modern Earth, Chris-tine Irving, Principal, Product-Works Inc., and Peter deGosztonyi, Senior Consultant,Zanka Consulting, will speakon the importance of this nextgeneration marketing thrust.

CMC-Canada’s 2011Industry Study Results will be released and shared byCathy McIntyre of CarolynVose & Associates.

For more information onthe conference, the keynotespeaker and the AGM, visitcmc-canada.ca

“Québec est l’institut fondateurdu mouvement CMC et ildemeure crucial pour l’avenirde notre association. Cetteconférence fut un élémentimportant dans nos effortsactuals afin de redynamiser ladésignation CMC au Québec.”L’apport du CMC au sein des organisations

Quebec CMC’s Gatherfor ‘Formation CMC’

‘Formation CMC’, at CentreMont-Royal on March 31, sawQuebec based CMCs gatherfor some continuing Profes-sional Development.

A whole day of speakersand workshops culminated with the awarding of the CMCdesignation to newly qualifiedmembers.

“Teamwork is the most valu-able and crucial aspect of anyorganization – an orchestra iscertainly one of the finest andmost complete and complexexamples of teamwork thatexists in our society. Just likeany organization, we have acommon vision that is onlytruly fulfilled throughsuccessful teamwork.”Martin MacDonaldKeynote speaker, CMC-Canada’s2010 Annual General Meeting Resident ConductorSymphony Nova Scotiawww.symphonynovascotia.ca

Teamwork in the Arts and in Business

Martin MacDonald, ResidentConductor of Symphony NovaScotia, talked teamwork froma musical perspective CMC-Canada’s 2010 AGM in Halifax.Whether it be for an orchestraor for business, it requires acommon vision that must beeffectively communicated.

In true team fashion, out-going Chair, Todd Williams,CMC, VP Sales & ConsultingServices, Sheepdog Inc.,reflected on the achievementsof the past year, and incoming

Chair, Mauro Mengehetti, CMC,National Director of WesternManagement Consultants,outlined his plans for 2011.

“The Professional Develop-ment Summit 2011 is jointlypresented by six organizationsin a common effort to raise thebar in their respective profes-sions. CMC-Canada membersshould attend because it offersa unique opportunity to gainprofessional development from‘like’ organizations. No matterwhat your specific consultingexpertise, this symposium willfill your knowledge gaps inother functional areas.”

Todd Williams, CMCPast-Chair, CMC-CanadaVice-President Sales and Con-sulting Services, Sheepdog Inc.www.sheepdoginc.ca

PD Summit 2011: ‘Rise to the Top’

On May 4, 2011, there is nomore important place to be thanin Halifax. This ProfessionalDevelopment Summit is a full-day conference designedexpressly to help you ‘Rise tothe Top’. Summit 2011 bringstogether professionals, andkeynote speakers who’ve achieved remarkable successin their fields as they sharetheir knowledge, best practices,and tips. To register, visit cmc-canada.ca

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The volatility and the rate of change is incrediblearound us... the question that consultants need to ask is, are they at the leadingedge of the knowledge base in their particular area of consulting?”

Consulting after the double dipBY GREGORY RICHARDS, MBA, PH.D, FCMC

opposite: ConSulTIng under THe SPoTlIgHT: Gregory Richards has managed

a boutique consulting firm since 1997 focused on business planning, learning, and

development of performance frameworks for public and private sector organizations.

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“‘The drop-off-a-report’consulting model is dying.”—TONY WANLESS

Tony Wanless Principal, Knowpreneur Consultants

he first economic slowdown within thelast 10 years – dip Number 1 – occurredin 2001/2002. At that time, researchconducted by Kennedy Informationsuggested that during times of economicuncertainty, the client-consulting rela-tionship changes. More specifically,

clients tended to use consultants for only mission criticalprojects, they bargained harder on price and insisted onmeasureable ROI for projects. Consultancies around theworld felt the immediate effects of these changed expec-tations: in 2002, many consultancies did no hiring at all,and some actually laid off staff (an estimated 3% reduc-tion in staff occurred across brand name consultancies).

Dip number 2 occurred in 2008. A 2009 survey by CMC-Canada indicated that clients reacted by postponing proj-ects, being more demanding when negotiating contractterms, and pressing for price reductions. In short, facingeconomic challenges, clients tend to react in predictableways. The question is do these behaviours persist whenthe economy recovers? In other words, once clients getused to bargaining harder on price, insisting on ROI, andfocusing on smaller, more mission critical projects, is thisa pattern that persists? Given that, despite the current

economic recovery, many prognosticators feel that oureconomy will be facing a roller coaster ride for some time,this is an important question for consultants to consider.Our highly informal exploration of this issue suggests thatthree key client behaviours are emerging consistent withthe trends discussed above: insisting on implementation,requiring redundancy, and focusing on value.

Insisting on ImplementationWhile it was customary for clients to be satisfied withrecommendations, nowadays, clients want more than areport; they want the consultant to implement recommen-dations. According to Brendan Cunneen CMC, GeneralManager, OME Group Consultants, and former Vice Pres-ident of Consulting with the Business Development Bankof Canada, the past few years have seen an increasingtrend toward a more hands-on approach by the client, anda need for consultants to deliver results that last. “Has therebeen a transfer of knowledge, or is there just a nice, glossyreport sitting in somebody’s credenza that nobody is evergoing to open? You can only be effective if the planning,involvement, or intervention is actually executed,” Cunneenexplains, “and I think that clients are asking themselves ifthey have the leadership and management capacity toexecute. If they don’t, then they’re asking for addenda or

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additions to the scope of the work to assist in the execu-tion of the plan. That’s definitely a change.” Insisting onimplementation is one way clients can assure themselvesof measurable ROI.

Tony Wanless CMC, Principal with Knowpreneur Consultants, agrees. He emphasizes that the ‘drop-off-a-report’ consulting model is dying. “Consulting today must involve extreme collaboration with a client: it’s nolonger enough to simply provide an analysis and perhapssome high-level advice. The consultant must help the client solve his or her own problems and implement strategies and tactics that make the business performbetter in a measurable way”.

Requiring RedundancyThe second behavioural change is that clients expectconsultants to make themselves redundant. Michael KellyCMC, Principal, Mara Consulting, says “…(clients) need tobe able to sustain themselves without you, so we’re seeinga move by the clients to try to inject their own resourcesinto the transition work.” In addition, the capability of aconsultant to transfer knowledge and build capacity in theclient’s organization is becoming more important. In takingthis client-centric approach, the consultant might make himor herself redundant for a specific engagement, but willcreate additional opportunities for different types ofengagements through the client’s organization.

The point is that clients need more than a problem-solver:they also need someone who can build capacity in their organization

to continue the work once the consulting assignment ends.

Focusing on ValueIn uncertain economic situations, the edge goes to consult-ants who can demonstrate that they deliver value inresolving specific issues. “The differentiator,” says Kelly, “is whether you have specific knowledge of the client’s business or industry, a process that is specifically tailoredto the kind of problems they might have, or expertise in aparticular technology or in a particular domain area. If youdo, you’re always going to have that competitive advan-tage, and as the economy offers less growth, it’s going to

be even more critical that you can differentiate yourself.” This orientation is in keeping with the notion of client’slooking for specific ROI. If you are the only consultant whocan implement a specific piece of technology for example,the value you bring is readily apparent.

Implications for Management ConsultantsWhat does this mean for management consultants? First,consultants need to invest in their own expertise. Clientswill have to adjust their business models quickly to copewith unpredictable market conditions. Consultants willhave to anticipate continual evolution of their client’s busi-ness and get there first by building expertise in differentdomains. “I can think of a client over the course of the last year whose sales were probably 95% into the automotiveindustry,” says Cuneen, “but in reading the tea leaves andwhat was going on, today – a few years months, later –40% of their sales are with the nuclear industry, which theydidn’t do any business with at all before.” Even though thecore competency of the client was the same and they werecapable of making that switch, the company had no rele-vant contacts in the nuclear sector, so they retainedconsultants to assist in building those new networks andrelationships and in reconstituting their value propositionto a different industrial sector.

“The volatility and the rate of change is incredible aroundus,” says Cunneen, “and no matter how deep their experi-ence is, the question that consultants need to ask is, arethey at the leading edge of the knowledge base in theirparticular area of consulting? I think there is a hugedemand for continuous improvement from a learning pointof view as it pertains to their particular area and field ofexpertise. To me, that’s a critical issue.”

Second, strengthen relationships. As is the case for anyone with a product to sell, trusted relationships are vital. The people who have done a good job in building relationships during economic downturns are going to see a very positive outcome, says Ron Knowles, FCMC,Director, Western Management Consultants. “I think it’simportant to invest in building those relationships,” he says,“and enunciating the value proposition of your firm or of youas an individual consultant very clearly, such that whenyou do come out (of an economic downturn), you havesignificantly deep relationships.”

Third, be the voice of reason. Beyond the host of strategiesand skill sets that can be put into play, one of the mostimportant ingredients that a consultant can add to the mixis stability. During downcycles, “…consultants will need tobe able to take a longer view and avoid participating in allof the gloomy, negative communication”, says Knowles.“Consultants will need to be models of maintaining abalanced and objective view of downturns as just that –an economic correction that will pass.” Maintaining such aview requires consultants to exercise discipline, and it calls for being prepared. Knowing how the client-consultingrelationship will evolve during an economic future that willlikely resemble a roller coaster ride will go a long way topreparing consultants to anticipate changes in their client’senvironment, build a strong value proposition, and re-toolas needed to ensure that they deliver relevant advice inany economic situation.

Michael Kelly Principal, mara Consulting

DIG DEEPER: www.telfer.uottawa.ca/en/professor-directory/professors/richards-gregory

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Youroffice awayfrom theoffice.Introducing the CMC Business Lounge Stuck in downtown Toronto and need a place to hang your hat? Want to catch up on work, prepare, or unwind between meetings? Your business demands a higher level of communication and productivity—no more noisy coffee shops, dropped calls, and rushed emails.

Located in the heart of Canada’s financial district, the CMC Business Lounge offers 1,500 sq. ft. of modern office space available for your use. Book space for client meetings,signings, or just drop in and have a flexible place to work—whatever your need, we have you covered.

CMC-Canada members can access the CMC Business Lounge with a nominal daily fee, a monthly fee, or our best value, an annual subscription. To subscribe/for more information,please visit cmc-canada.ca or email [email protected]

cmc-canada.ca/businesslounge


How I Learned to StopWorrying and Love Social MediaAndrea Vandenberg, CMC-Canada, Toronto

@consult Canadians love their social media1

• 70% of Canadians say they use social media• Facebook is the most popular social

net-working site with 70% of peoplesurveyed currently having an account

• 47% of Canadians use Twitter • YouTube & Flickr are the most popular

social media sites with 38% & 29%, respec-tively of people surveyed using the sites

• 58% of Canadians blog• 61% of businesses said they track what

people are saying about their brand online

As a communications professional, I havealways been interested in using the latest technologies to share my messages. I soughtto embrace Social Media before I even fullyunderstood the concept, jumping on theMySpace bandwagon about six years ago.MySpace quickly fell out of favor, and wasreplaced by Facebook. Facebook led to anexplosion of ‘groups’, which allowed similarminded people to unite through a commoncause. Smart communicators, entrepreneurs,

and businesses quickly realized how importantit was to get a Facebook group up to promotetheir organization and events through word ofmouth, thereby greatly increasing the reachof their messages.

I thought I had mastered social media, until I realized I had only scratched the surface.Next up was YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter,some of the main social media programs usedby organizations today. My initial concernspertained to justifying the time investment inthese applications. Who even watches thesevideos? Reads tweets? Is linked in? Andwhat is so social about media?

“Social media are media for social interaction.They support the democratization of knowl-edge and information and transform peoplefrom content consumers to content producers.Social media utilization is believed to be adriving force in defining the current period asthe ‘Attention Age’, which is marked by theability of individuals to create and consumeinformation instantly and freely.2

reader Does social media work for consultants? @consult Is it for me?Consultants are social creatures who rely ontheir personal brand to secure employment.Successful networking is the backbone of a consulting career. With strong competitionand an improved economy, you need to

embrace what works to set yourself apart.Often, it comes down to whom you know,and how connected you are.

Social media can help expand your networkin ways attending an event cannot, but justlike going to an event, it takes energy, invest-ment, hard work, and a little creativity tocreate a social media presence.

“There is a lot of hype around social mediaand there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution.Each organization needs to assess the useof social media and the different tools based on their specific needs,” says Peter deGosztonyi, P. Eng, Senior Associate, DeltaPartners. “A bit of process, some sanity checks,and a close look at one’s current businessmodel in relationship to what can be gainedby investing into social media is critical.”

Social media is not for everyone, but it is formany. If you are looking to attract youngerclients, it’s a great way to reach them at alow cost. Don’t be scared of social media, or dismiss it as a passing fad. As more andmore age groups are using the Internet forbusiness and pleasure, you would be remissnot to participate in their online world. First,you must learn as much as you can about allof the opportunities available through socialmedia. Once you understand the reasonswhy it can help you, and see the results yourself, you will learn to stop worrying and

SocialMedia


love social media. So start preparing thatYouTube jingle today!

mashable How freelancers are using social media for real results3

Connect Your Networks to Your WorkPerhaps the most obvious advantage ofsocial media for consultants is connectionbuilding. It’s all about the conversation. Oncesocial connections are made, the distancebetween conversation and a paying gig ismuch shorter. Many cite Twitter as an idealmedium for this type of networking.

Social Networks as a ResourceSocial networks can be useful in differentways. On one hand, they are a marketingplatform where you can share and promoteyour work. On the other, they serve as richcommunity resources for freelancers. Onceyou’ve built and cultivated your network, asimple tweet or update can yield valuablecrowdsourced4 wisdom.

Share What You’re Currently Working OnSocial networks are all about sharing – theyalways have been. Share thoughts aboutyour current projects whenever possible. Thisnot only drums up practical topics that yourfollowers and friends can discuss with you,but also lets interested parties know thatyou’re actively engaged in qualifying work.

Build Credibility in PublicSocial freelancers shouldn’t be myopic abouttheir work. It’s difficult to build credibility by onlysharing your own projects and links. By sharingvaluable insights, even when they’re not yourown, people are more likely to regard you asa specialist. Blogging is a key component increating a public repository of your expertise.

online marketing blog Where do I start?Essential social media tips for beginners5

Start smallBuilding profiles for multiple social sites is hard work, so it’s best to start by only tackling a couple at first. Start small, andthen grow to other social networks as your confidence grows.

Don’t fret about follower countsDon’t believe all the ebooks out there that sell you the notion that you can attract thou-sands of followers in a matter of days. Sure,you could, but the types of followers who are

going to be following you are mostly bots. Or they’re just following you in hopes thatyou’ll follow them back.

Don’t overlook niche social media sitesWhen people think of social media, they typically think of Twitter or Facebook. Butthere are literally hundreds of social medianetworks and sites that you can use to helppromote your brand. Oftentimes targetedniche social sites can bring more targetedtraffic to your site than larger sites.

Find people within your niche to follow on TwitterThe ideal follower on Twitter is one that hassimilar interests within your niche. You canfind like-minded people to follow on Twitter.Once you’ve started following these people,start interacting with them. Participate indiscussions, and retweet things they say thatwould be helpful to your community.

consult Check out these social media experts. @reader Mitch Joel, Seth Godin, Gary Veynerchuk, Mari Smith, Shiv Singh, Clay Shirky, Guy Kawasaki

consult Here’s a list of social media sites consultants should know about (Google them!)Communication• Blogs: Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad,

WordPress • Micro-blogging/Presence applications:

Twitter, Tumblr, Posterous, Jaiku • Social networking: Facebook, LinkedIn,

MySpace, Ning • Social network aggregation: NutshellMail,

FriendFeed,dillidost.com• Events: Upcoming, Eventful, Meetup.com

Collaboration• Wikis: Wikimedia, Wikia, PBworks, Wetpaint• Social bookmarking (or social tagging):

Delicious, StumbleUpon, Google Reader,CiteULike

• Social news: Digg, Mixx, Reddit, NowPublic

Multimedia• Photography and art sharing:

deviantArt, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa• Video sharing:

YouTube, Viddler, Vimeo, sevenload • Livecasting:

Ustream.tv, Justin.tv, Stickam, Skype

consult Social media is not just a “young person’s game.” @reader Check out some interesting Canadian stats that support this notion.Internet use has increased in all age categories since 2000, seniors being thefastest growing group of users (Figure one).Furthermore, since younger and middle-agedpeople are likely to continue using the Internetas they get older, age-related differences inusage are expected to decline over time.6

Figure one – Rates of Internet Use, by Age Group,Selected Years7

DIG DEEPER: 1. Source: 2009 6S Marketing, The Canadian Social Media Survey2. Social media. (2010, June 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.Retrieved 19:29, June 16, 2010, from www.en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Social_media&oldid=3678491943. Matt Silverman, “How Freelancers are Using Social Media for RealResults,” Source: www.mashable.com4. Crowdsourcing is a neologistic portmanteau of “crowd” and “outsourcing”for the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee orcontractor, to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through anopen call. The term has become popular with businesses, authors, andjournalists as shorthand for the trend of leveraging the mass collaborationenabled by Web 2.0 technologies to achieve business goals. Crowd-sourcing. (2010, June 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved19:00, June 18, 2010, from www.en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crowdsourcing&oldid=3685090995. “9 Essential Social Media Tips for Beginners,” Source: Online Marketing Blog6. Ben Veenhof and Peter Timusk, “Online activities of Canadian boomersand seniors (4.5 Mb, 76 pages),” Canadian Social Trends, StatisticsCanada, Cat. no. 11-008, Winter 2009, No. 88, p. 26.7. Ibid.

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Trans-formers

One grew up in Atlantic Canada, another inNorthern British Columbia, and the other inOntario, but they all have one thing in common –they all had successful careers and decided tomake a left turn – to join the ranks of those who give advice, as management consultants.

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Changing DirectionOsler’s friends and business associatesalways seemed to be asking her to getinvolved in special projects. The time wasripe for a new direction and Osler seizedthe opportunity to launch a new careerthat assists clients with strategic insightsin customer experience management. PJ Osler & Associates was born.

After 20 years in healthcare, Turner changed gears, firstmoving into IT consulting with EDS, then after completingher PHD, striking out on her own with the launch of TurnerChange Management. It was, “time to really start laying thegroundwork for the organizational change company that Iwanted to create.”

To satisfy her desire for academic research and to supporther consultancy, Turner founded the International Councilon Organizational Change, a group of change manage-ment scholar-practitioners who work in a collaborative,non-competitive way to inform and advance the practiceof change management worldwide.

Lundeen took his almost 30 years of public service expe-rience and now, through SEG Management Consultants,serves as a key resource to Federal and Provincial Govern-ments by leading major business transformation initiativeswithin the public sector and in the Crown agencies.

Richard Lundeen, CMC

Richard Lundeen hails from Dawson Creek inNorthern British Columbia but his roots are nowfirmly planted in Toronto. Coming from the north,his quest for higher education took him on a cross-Canada journey, first to Vancouver and theUniversity of British Columbia, then to Toronto andYork University, where he completed two Mastersdegrees, in Geography and Environmental Studies.

As he neared graduation, Lundeen asked himself,“do I want to try to influence policy from theoutside or from the inside?” This led him to a position at the Ministry of Energy following gradua-tion where he had a successful 27-year career inthe Ontario Public Service, rising to the rank ofAssistant Deputy Minister at the ManagementBoard Secretariat.

In his final posting, he had the experience ofworking across Ministries, on Government-widetransformation projects and intergovernmentalinitiatives. The satisfaction of being able to helpgroups coalesce and effect cross-enterprisechange intrigued Lundeen and helped him to envision his future career.

Dawn-Marie Turner, CMC

Dawn-Marie Turner was raised at the opposite end of Canada from BC, in Atlantic Canada. Sheinitially chose a career in healthcare, graduatingfrom Dalhousie, with a Bachelor of Nursing.

Like Lundeen, Turner explored the vast country of Canada due to her sense of adventure, and shetook a role providing healthcare in the ‘First Nations’communities in Northern Manitoba. First posted to Oxford House, which was only accessible byairplane, she then moved to Nelson House and to the ‘Hub of the North’, Thompson, Manitoba.

It was in Thompson where she first becameinvolved in administration and change, as she took the role of coordinator of the AdolescentHealth Education Centre. From there she moved to Winnipeg, earned her Masters in Education andcontinued her career in health administration withthe Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba.

A lifelong learner, who believes strongly that,“professional development is your responsibility,not your employer’s,” Turner always knew that shewould earn a PHD, but she wasn’t sure in whichsubject. In 2007, she earned her doctorate fromWalden University in Organizational Leadershipand Decision Sciences.

Jane Osler, CMC

Jane Osler was raised in Toronto and earned adegree in Environmental Studies at the Universityof Waterloo. After University, she started her careerin market research with the Hudson’s Bay Company.In retrospect, Osler says it was this role that intro-duced her to advisory services as they helped otherdepartments solve issues using quantitative data.

Following HBC, Osler moved to Compusearch, a firm that sold statistical data. More than justproviding data, Osler developed a reputation fortaking a consultative approach. She relocated toVancouver when Compusearch acquired Info-group and she was appointed as its President.

In 1997, Osler joined Intrawest, the entrepreneurialand iconic BC company. Osler served as the VicePresident of Customer and Market Research andher clients were the various destination resortsunder Intrawest’s control. Again, she brought aproblem solving approach to the job and soon,everything that was not otherwise classified, ended up under her aegis.

But, all good things must come to an end and in2007, Intrawest was taken over by a US basedprivate equity investment company and Intrawest’sleadership team turned over.

“The opportunity was to connect with other consultantsin the field, to learn from them, and to tap into thenetwork of people who had more experience.”—DAWN-MARIE TURNER

this page: Dawn-Marie Turner President, Turner Change management

opposite: Richard Lundeen President, Seg management Consultants

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DIG DEEPER: SEG Management Consultants www.SEGconsultants.caPJ Osler & Associates www.pjosler.comTurner Change Management www.thinktransition.comOntario Advocacy Committeewww.cmc-canada.ca/provincial_institutes.cfm?Portal_ID=66International Council on Organizational Changewww.thinktransition.com/international-council-on-organizational-change.html

CMC-Canada as an AllyEach of these experienced and accom-plished professionals chose the CertifiedManagement Consultant (CMC) designationto help them as they established theiradvisory practice. With a depth of knowl-edge in each of their areas, the CMCdesignation helped provide legitimacy and a network of support.

As she had been a member of the College of RegisteredNurses for many years, it was natural for Turner to seekanother professional association as she embarked on hernew career. The CMC-Canada Uniform Code of Profes-sional Conduct helped to provide confidence to her clients that she followed the right practices. But, it was theinteraction with other CMC professionals that reallysupported her practice. “In the early stages of developingmy practice, I found myself isolated,” Turner said. “Theopportunity was to connect with other consultants in thefield, to learn from them, and to tap into the network ofpeople who had more experience.”

Osler joined CMC-Canada for similar reasons. “Given thatI was on my own, not part of a major firm, there were lotsof people who I wanted to do business with, but they didn’tknow me. The CMC designation provided credibility.” Osler believes that her affiliation with a professional association with a strong Code of Professional Conductserved as security to those who didn’t know her or her firm.

Once involved with the association, another benefitbecame clear, “the values of the association mirrored very much my own values.” Honesty, transparency, andthe focus on clients made it very easy for Osler to feel partof this group.

Lundeen readily admits that his initial reason for joiningCMC-Canada was purely financial, he had to have liability

insurance and the CMC package offered the best rates. Hedidn’t see a lot of value in the organization as it had relativelylittle profile in the Government and that was his market.

Once he became a member, Lundeen started going toprofessional development events. What really intrigued himas a member was the GTA Chapter’s initiative in 2003 topromote the creation of special interest groups (SIG). Herealized that by bringing together other consultants whoseclients were Governments had tremendous value and he,“saw the opportunity to create something that would be ofvalue to himself and other members.” With the help of asmall group of other CMC members, Lundeen launchedthe Government SIG and served as chair until 2009.

Since then, Lundeen has chaired the Ontario AdvocacyCommittee, which has been a driving force in raising theprofile of the CMC designation and CMC-Canada in theeyes of the Provincial Government. When Ontario’s AuditorGeneral issued two successive special reports criticizingthe procurement of ‘consultants’ by the public service,Lundeen was front and centre working on CMC-Ontariotask forces to help present the other side of the story.

CMC-Canada has been a valuable ally for each of thesecareer changers. It has provided different value to eachand to a person, they realize that you get out of it what youput in. Lundeen summarizes his involvement best; “I haveworked with excellent colleagues who have the best interests of the association at heart. They are working veryhard to make it as good an organization as it can be.”

“The values of the association mirrored verymuch my own values”—JANE OSLER

Jane Osler President, PJ osler and associates

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Roger Abbott, CMC

Adelana Adeleye-Olusae, CMC

Betina Albornoz, CMC

Leonard Ashby, FCMC

Mona Attard, CMC

Peter Baran, CMC

Pierre Battah, CMC

Esfandyar Bayandor, CMC

Gary Berezowski, CMC

Malcolm Bernstein, CMC

James Boyd, CMC

John Bruder, CMC

Marilyn Butland, CMC

John Callaghan, FCMC

Wayne Cameron, CMC

Donald Caplan, CMC

Marc Caron, CMC

Sheri Critch, CMC

Catherine Daw, CMC

Gerry Devine, CMC

Kamaldeep Dhanoa, CMC

Stephen Dreezer, CMC

James Dubroy, CMC

Vesta Filipchuk, CMC

Lawson Findlay, CMC

Janice Florence, CMC

Sandra Foster, CMC

Dick Frenz, CMC

Ann Gabriel, CMC

Wendy Gnenz, CMC

Michel Grillot, CMC

Andrew Hamilton, CMC

Gord Haynes, CMC

Mervin Hillier, CMC

Michael Hughes, CMC

Iqbal Jamal, CMC

Jennifer Jennax, FCMC

Bill Johnson, CMC

Ray Johnston, CMC

Mumtaz Khan, CMC

Nancy Kilpatrick, CMC

Mike Koessler, CMC

George Konstantopoulos, CMC

Rishi Kumar, CMC

Dunya Lackovic, CMC

New Certified Management Consultants (CMCs) in 2010 and Fellows of the Institute (FCMCs) in 2010

Paulette Lacroix, CMC

Greg Lamothe, CMC

Brenda LaRose, CMC

Christopher Lavin, FCMC

Darren Lippard, CMC

Stefano Lizzola, CMC

Derek MacEwen, CMC

Gord MacIlquham, CMC

Bruce Madole, CMC

Laurie Majcher, CMC

Andre Mamprin, CMC

William McClennen, CMC

Kelly McDonald, CMC

Kevin McGaffey, CMC

Sormeh Metelitsa, CMC

Alexander Milne, CMC

Karen Miner, CMC

Terry Munro, CMC

Blair Newhouse, CMC

Anita Nickerson, CMC

Greg O’Malley, CMC

Nkem Ikechukwu Onyegbula, CMC

Lesley Parrott, CMC

Allison Patterson, CMC

Jim Pealow, CMC

Anil Peer, CMC

Chantal Priard, CMC

Janet Lynne Pierce, CMC

Monica Porteanu, CMC

Minhaj Qidwai, CMC

Robert Radchuck, CMC

Douglas D. Ross, FCMC

John Sibley, CMC

Gay Skinner, FCMC

Greg Smith, CMC

Michael Stanleigh, CMC

Bill Stephen, CMC

Zeeshan Syed, CMC

Mebs Tejpar, CMC

Michael Thompson, FCMC

Dawn-Marie Turner, CMC

Faye Wankling, CMC

Timothy Wildman, CMC

Kevin Yousie, CMC


PASSION IN THE PROFESSION

Consultants wholove consulting

Mitchell TemkinCMC

PrincipalAssociatus Consulting

www.associatus.ca

Describe, in brief, how you entered into theprofession of management consulting orwhen did you decide that managementconsulting was a profession that youwanted to enter?I began my career as a freelance researcherin publishing. Then I moved to a socialmarketing agency working with organizationson communication/marketing issues – whichoften had underlying strategic issues. My worknaturally started to drift into strategy/consulting. I moved 6-7 years ago to Victoriaand have enjoyed the change of scenery.

What do you like most about consulting?I love the ability to make a difference. When youdo a good job the results are incredible. It’sgreat to transform an organization over a con-versation. You can have a tremendous amount

of impact – when it works, it’s complete magic.

What do you like least?It’s frustrating to encounter people and organizations who really aren’t prepared tochange, even when they say they are. Oftenpeople are stuck in systems that inhibit crea-tive transformation.

What has been your most satisfying engage-ment? And why?I have enjoyed any of my jobs where coura-geous, strategic conversations made the

difference. One I enjoyed most was strategywork for a foundation that provides funding tograduate students – building the strategy todevelop the relationship between academicinvolvement and public policy.

What personality trait has helped you themost in your career?I am a listener/talker. I have the ability to artic-ulate things differently, state issues clearly, and get to the core of a problem. “I like newproblems – the bursts of energy of dealing withnew situations gets my juices flowing”.

“I like new problems– the bursts of energyof dealing with newsituations gets my

juices flowing.”P

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Jim LoveFCMC

Managing PartnerChelsea Consulting

and Performance Advantagewww.chelseaconsulting.ca

Describe, in brief, how you entered into theprofession of management consulting orwhen did you decide that managementconsulting was a profession that youwanted to enter?I have always liked to accomplish things. I decided to drop out of theatre school and got into consulting to support myself. Consult-ants tackle so many issues – it’s a perform-ance industry – it’s about your ability to getideas across, intellectually and emotionally,and be a great communicator. An excellent

idea is nothing if you cannot express it – thisis what I tell my students all the time (atWaterloo and York).

What do you like most about consulting?My answer to this has changed from the beginning. At first I liked getting results, andhaving people notice my intelligence. Now it’s about helping people get results – a bigdifference. It’s not about me consulting, butabout helping others.

What do you like least?The insecurity of it. It’s like a roller coaster.Things come all at once or not at all, truly feastor famine. I have made peace with this, but you are never certain of your schedule.

What has been your most satisfying engage-ment? And why?My current one. It involves a great CEO, intelli-gent group, and real challenges.

What personality trait has helped you themost in your career?A strong desire for achievement. This desirehas both helped and hindered me. Helped inthat is has made me driven to learn, buthindered in that I have taken things on thatothers should have taken.

“Consultingis about empoweringothers, not yourself.”

THE VICTORIA FOUNDATION

Both Bert and Mitchell have been affiliated with the Victoria

Foundation through their Community Advisor program.Providing assistance beyond the grant in order to make a

meaningful difference to granteesrequires a significant investment

on the part of the funder and fosters a new type of relationship

that typically involves more frequent contact and discussion

around the work supported. By engaging qualified volunteers,

the Foundation has been able to assist local charitable

organizations build their capacity and increase their effectiveness.

This year the Victoria Foundation celebrates its 75th anniversary. It is Canada’s second oldest and

sixth largest community foundation.Since 1936 the generosity and

commitment of donors has enabledthe Victoria Foundation to fulfill

its vision of connecting people who care with causes that matter®.

The connections that the Foundationhas with the charitable sector

allows it to respond to the needs in its community through leadership,

stewardship, and granting.

Generous CMCs who have volunteered with

the Victoria Foundation

Mary Colak

Richard Eaton

David Gordon

Chris Jones

Ray Lazanik

Justin Stephenson

Mitchell Temkin

Victoria Williams

Bert Zethof

www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca

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Bert ZethofCMC

PresidentThe Surge Strategies Group Inc.

www.surgestrategies.com

Describe, in brief, how you entered into theprofession of management consulting orwhen did you decide that managementconsulting was a profession that youwanted to enter?I was aware of the field during university. I got my MBA at UBC and applied to the ‘Big8’ firms, but decided to accept a corporateplanning position in the construction industry.After finding that the construction industrywasn’t for me, I won a consulting position with one of the big firms where I cut myconsulting teeth for five years and earned my CMC designation. I left the big firm andmoved back to my hometown where I worked for the BC Government for sevenyears. During this time I realized I wanted tohave my own consulting company, which I eventually started with a partner in 1996. The best part of having my own company is that I can pursue projects that truly interestme and I can control my own destiny.

What do you like most about consulting?I like that I can make a difference for others.Consulting is a continuous learning process –I can apply lessons learned at one client andapply them to the next one.

What do you like least?Sometimes it is challenging working withgovernment because their administrativeprocesses can get in the way of a consultingengagement. Also, when working with largeorganizations, it can take a long time to seeany results from my work.

What has been your most satisfying engage-ment? And why?I really enjoyed my strategy work with theBoard of Basketball BC, a non-profit thatsupports amateur basketball in the province. I knew some board members from my univer-sity playing days and the atmosphere was very collegial. They participated enthusiasti-cally in the strategic planning process and the results of our work made a real differencefor kids across the province. The assignmentmade me feel of value.

What personality trait has helped you themost in your career?I possess a quiet confidence that helps mebuild relationships. To me, confidentiality andethics are important. I am introverted and agood listener. Where I can, I serve more as a coach who helps my clients arrive at theirown solutions.

“It fuels my passion that I can make

a difference for my client, and in turn,

for my client’s community.”

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Dorothy Milburn-SmithFCMC

Partner and Chief Executive OfficerPerfortics Consulting Inc.

www.perfortics.com

Describe, in brief, how you entered into theprofession of management consulting orwhen did you decide that managementconsulting was a profession that youwanted to enter?Early in my career, I was a director in theOntario government, but I really functioned asan internal management consultant, leading

a number of internal initiatives. I enjoyed thevariety and change of these projects, and loved solving problems. I take pleasure whenpeople tell me that something can’t be done, asolution isn’t possible – and a solution is found.While in the Ontario government, I received anoffer to go to Saskatchewan to advise SocialServices as an internal consultant, and I went.In Saskatchewan, I formed a small consultingfirm. When I moved to Ottawa and joined PriceWaterhouse (now PwC) as an IT consultant thefirst thing they did was encourage me to joinCMC-Canada. My membership resulted in threethings: It confirmed management consultingmethods and approaches; it introduced me toother people in Ottawa; and it resulted in mybeing offered consulting positions.

What do you like most about consulting?I love the variety, people, problem solving, net-

working, and learning about different subjectsand organizations.

What do you like least?I do not enjoy making cold calls, doing admin-istration, and the occasional loneliness of asmall firm as I get my energy from other people.

What has been your most satisfying engage-ment? And why?A project for the Yukon government. I wasrecommended to the Government Leader bysomeone for this project and it took some timeto get the project started. I reported to theGovernment Leader and the Cabinet of theYukon Government, but I also had to sell myideas to the Deputy Ministers and the IM/ITorganization. This project crossed organiza-tional boundaries and all levels. Many of thepublic servants initially were concerned that Iwas a political hack! The Government Leaderwanted to know if IM/IT was being deliveredeffectively – but he wanted the answers in totallynon-technical terms. But the IM/IT folks wantedto be certain I had IM/IT expertise. I developedan elevator speech that was accessible to allaudiences. I got support from every group. Andthey ended up using my recommendations,and adopting the processes recommended.

What personality trait has helped you themost in your career?I possess an innate curiosity and am a lifelonglearner. I am unwilling to be defeated and workwell with people. I believe it’s important for me, asa consultant, to have a strong ego – not a big ego.

“You should never rest on your laurels.”

Fernand CampbellFCMC

Owner and PresidentManagia Inc.

www.managia.ca

Describe, in brief, how you entered into theprofession of management consulting orwhen did you decide that managementconsulting was a profession that youwanted to enter?I got involved about 20 years ago, in the middleof a big economic crisis. I started to make somebusiness contracts on my own and, after acertain time, I realized I was made for thisprofession. I started my career in marketing,but through time became more involved withtop executive management – and my mandatesbecame much more strategic involving almostall aspects of management. I joined CMC-Canada, which helped me to become moreconfident in myself and gave me a global visionof the management consulting profession.Recently I completed an MBA, which has alsohelped to enhance my competencies instrategic management.

What do you like most about consulting?My passion for management consulting comesfrom the belief that I can help executivemanagement reach their goals and succeed incomplex business situations and very difficultmarkets. I also love that every day it’s alwayssomething new. You get to play different rolesfor your clients depending on their needs. It isa ‘helping’ relationship between people whichcan be very rewarding when you succeed.

What do you like least?It’s a tough market out there. There is a lot ofcompetition and sometimes you feel tired andlose your motivation, especially when you are just starting out. But after working with a network of senior partners it gets easier. You feel less alone as you share informationand expertise. Also, sometimes you can facecomplex problems that you are not sure if youwill succeed. But now, with more than 200mandates in 20 years in the business, I havethe experience and assurance that I will.

What has been your most satisfying engage-ment? And why?I have really enjoyed following the success ofsome of my clients – where I can see thestrategy I recommended still being followedyears later. It’s great to see them become business success stories.

What personality trait has helped you themost in your career?Confidence. It’s a tough business to be in frontof experienced managers and tell them theyare wrong when they believe the opposite. Youneed to have great confidence in yourself, agood sense of judgment, and very goodcommunication skills, which comes with expe-rience, time, and perseverance.

“I can look into ananxious CEO’s eyesand tell them, yes,

I can really help you,I’m a professional,

I’m a CMC.”

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Technology was envisioned in the early 1980’s as a panaceathat would increase our leisuretime and make long hours atwork a thing of the past. Howwrong we were. Nowadays wehave less time than ever for ourpersonal/family responsibilitiesand stress levels are at an all timehigh. Work-family conflict is anissue that is not going away.

Our research on work-life conflict spans nearlytwo decades. In the period 1989-90 wesurveyed over 25,000 Canadians on issuessurrounding work-life conflict. From 1990through to 1999 we worked with numerouscompanies that were concerned about theissue sharpening our thinking on the issue andexploring coping mechanisms and root causes.In 1999, generously funded by Health Canada,we replicated the 1990 survey and receivedresponses from over 33,000 Canadians. In2011, we are duplicating our previous surveys.

What we have learned from our research issummarized in a series of six reports. The inter-ested reader can access these reports on ourwebsite (see end of article for a list of sites).Some of our key findings are summarized inthis brief article.

Let’s look at current trends in the work. Twenty-seven per cent of our 1990 sample perceivedhigh levels of role overload. By 2000 this hadclimbed to an incredible 58 per cent. Recentsurveys conducted by us show even higherrates in 2010. Clearly the issue of work-lifeconflict is not going away.

Over the last decade companies have down-sized to be more competitive and to increaseshareholder value. Downsizing has resulted inoverworked staff with unreasonable work-loads and low levels of job security. However,just because a company downsizes does notmean that the work has gone away. It is thereto be spread around the remaining employees,who, due to their feeling of job insecurity do notsay no to more work. The result: less personaland family time and increased conflict betweenthe domains.

Organizational cultures are also behind manyof our problems. We have identified fourcultures, some co-existing, that make it difficultfor employees to balance their work and familydemands. The first, the culture of hours ispervasive in our business environment. It is the belief that one has to work long hours tosucceed. It is easy to know if your companyhas a culture of hours. Do you feel guilty if youleave the office early? If yes, you probablysuffer from the culture of hours. Do you copeby leaving a hot cup of coffee on your desk (likethe Bud Light commercial) with your door openleading others to believe you are still aroundeven though you left to take care of some familyor personal demands.

Other cultures, are also problematic. A discon-

HOW’S YOURASSET?

Work/Life imbalance?Look in the mirrorBY PROFESSOR CHRIS A. HIGGINS, PhDRICHARD IVEY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UWO

AND PROFESSOR LINDA E. DUXBURY, PhDSPROTT SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, CARLETON UNIVERSITY

So what are some of the causes of our inability to balance

work and family demands?Our research has identified

five root causes:

01organizational downsizing

02organizational culture

03changing demographics

04non-supportive managers

05technology


nected culture is one with progressive work-family policies in place that people don’t feelthey can use. In essence, management doesnot encourage their use of such policies andsubtly encourages employees not to takeadvantage of them – thus, the policies aredisconnected from practice. For example, ourresearch shows very little use of family-friendlypolicies such as flexible hours or compressedwork weeks despite them being widely avail-able. When asked, employees simply say theirmanager was not supportive of the idea.

A third culture, labeled the culture of money,occurs when budgets, not people, count. Manypublic companies have this mindset workingfrantically to make each quarter’s numbersexceed stock analyst expectations. The resultis that employees are pushed to achieve short-term targets at the expense of personal/family demands.

Finally, there is the myth of separate worlds inwhich management operates as if employees’work and family lives are separate. Theyassume that employees will forego personalplans for last-minute organizational needs.They assume employees will travel on week-ends to get to business meetings first thingMonday morning. They assume that employeeswill re-locate if offered another job within theorganization. They forget, however, that em-ployees have spouses with their own careers,and that these demands create huge conflictat home.

A third root cause of work-family conflict ischanging demographics. Thirty years ago theman worked, the woman tended the home andchildren. Now both parents work, and there isless time for the home chores and child careresponsibilities. Women especially, suffer themost for challenges at home. While womenhave now assumed greater responsibility forthe financial health of the family, men do notappear to have assumed a concomitant shared responsibility for the care of their chil-dren. This is an important observation asresponsibility for a role has been found to havea stronger positive association with stressthan has time spent in role related activities.

Looming on the horizon is eldercare which ismore of an issue in 2000 than it was in 1990when only 5% of the sample spent more thanan hour a week on eldercare. For comparisonpurposes, almost one third (31%) of therespondents to the 2000 survey spent at leastone hour per week in eldercare! As baby-boomers move through the retirement yearsinto old-age elder-care responsibilities will take centre-stage. Canada will also see asignificant increase in the proportion of theirwork force in the sandwich generation (i.e. bothchild care and elder care responsibilities).Such employees typically experience extr-emely high levels of work-family conflict espe-cially with incapacitated elders.

The dearth of supportive managers is a fourthroot cause of our problems. Our research hasfound that the presence of a supportive

manager is critical to employee perceptions oftheir ability to balance work and familydemands. Over the past ten years, workingwith scores of companies, we have developedour own measure of a supportive manager.

Our research has shown a very high correla-tion between the presence of a supportivemanager and higher job satisfaction, higherorganizational commitment, lower stress,lower intent to turnover and most importantly,

THESE ARE MANAGERS WHO

1 | give recognition for a job well done

2 | provide constructive feedback on work and performance

3 | listen to employee concerns

4 | support employee decisions

5 | share information with subordinates

6 | ask for input before making decisions concerning

an employee’s work, and

7 | provide employees with challenging opportunities.

Although this list is not rocket science, less than half of all managers

score highly on our scale.

“It is the belief that one has to work long hours to succeed. It iseasy to know if your company hasa culture of hours. Do you feelguilty if you leave the office early?”


lower levels of work-family conflict. Employeeswith non-supportive managers have highlevels of stress and are more likely to be absentfrom work or have high intentions of changingemployers. Interestingly, employees with sup-portive managers have a more positive per-ception of the organization’s work-family policiesthan do employees with non-supportive managers. This is true even though the policies arefactually the same for both sets of employees.

The final cause of our problems is technology.For example, e-mail and texting are widelyused as the primary method of communicationwith employees at all levels. There is, nowa-days, a universal expectation that everyonereads, clears and responds to e-mails on aconstant basis. Memos sent in the evening areexpected to be read and responded too thatsame day. It is not uncommon to get e-mailsfrom colleagues late in the evening. Many indi-viduals are now in the habit of clearing out theire-mails before going to bed at night. And Black-berries are ubiquitous. They are even found onthe golf course. Just look up next time you areputting – one of your foursome will likely bechecking his/her messages. Technology is nothelping us achieve work-life balance. Sixty-eight per cent of our respondents say tech-nology has increased their levels of stress.Seventy percent say it has increased theirworkload. So while technology does increaseproductivity it comes at a cost.

In summary, the facts are very clear: most ofus have a problem balancing our work andfamily demands. However, not everyone suffersfrom work-family conflict. Empty nesters haveit made. They have time, disposable incomeand fond memories (but not work) of their child-raising years. Then again they are notreading this article so let’s not waste any more

words on them. Young single people are alsonot reading this article. Perhaps they should.Then they will realize that getting married andhaving kids is not exactly a stress-free life.Perhaps the rewards are worth it. There aredays when those with young children thinkotherwise but only briefly, right?

So is there a solution to these problems? In ourreports we recommend many solutions suchas government policies to limit work hours,better work-family policies, increased family-friendly training, etc, etc. But are these realistic?Sure they will help, but do you really think thegovernment is going to enact legislation tosolve our problems? Do you believe big busi-ness is going to change their culture away fromlong hours and bottom-line results in exchangefor a family-friendly environment whereemployees fit their work schedules aroundtheir family schedules? Do you expect men andwomen to magically change their upbringingand begin to equally share in all of the homechores and child-care responsibilities? Do youbelieve that technology will slow down andorganizations will stop buying enhanced com-munication tools to keep you connected 24/7.In sum, there is no one solution.

But wait a minute. Perhaps there is. We are notquite sure who can be credited with thefollowing statement but perhaps he/she hasidentified the solution to our problems: We havefound the enemy: it is us.

Yes – we are to blame. We allow work toimpinge on our family. We willingly allow the

organization into our home through the internetand portable computers. We willingly take workhome with us, skip family meals to work late,travel on weekends, and so on.

Recently, we interviewed a senior consultantof a large, worldwide consulting group. He said work-family balance was a huge problemfor his organization and wanted to know howwe could help. Later he mentioned how no onein his organization takes weekends off – it’sbasically a 6-7 day week if you want to getahead. No kidding you have a work-familyproblem, we said.

Yes, we have found the enemy – it is us. Lookin the mirror at the enemy. It is you. Leave yourBlackBerry in the car and don’t take it into yourhome. Turn off the wireless network in theevening and don’t turn it on again until the nextmorning. Find time to relax as this is by far thebest coping mechanism. Play golf without a cell phone or Blackberry in your golf bag. Talkto your spouse without feeling like you havehundreds of priorities and why doesn’t he/shestop talking so you can get to them. Plan downtime and shoot any enemy (i.e., you) that triesto take it away.

This will be hard to do.

DIG DEEPER: Professor Chris Higginswww.ivey.uwo.ca/faculty/chris_higgins.html

Professor Linda Duxburywww.sprott.carleton.ca/faculty_and_research/lduxbury.html

Health Canada, Work-Life Balance,National Study on Balancing Work and Family and Lifestylewww.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/occup-travai

Impact, Management Research in Action – “Nero Fiddling”www.ivey.uwo.ca/publications/impact/Vol13No2-Higgins.htm

CICA – Resources, Articles on Work-Life Balancewww.cica.ca/service-and-products/members-services/work-life/item12005.aspx

Work and Family Foundation Canadaworkfamilyfoundation.org

“Yes, we have found the enemy – it is us. Look in the mirror at the enemy. It is you. Leave yourBlackBerry in the car and don’ttake it into your home.”

BUZZ

01/Atlantic Canada New Board of DirectorsThe Institute of Atlantic Canada held its 2010 AGM meeting and dinner at the World Trade Centrein Halifax. The Board is a dynamic blend of experi-enced CMC’s and very much-welcomed newmembers as we advance into the next 12 monthswith renewed vigor.

Members are:Kathy Jane Elton (President), Newfoundland and LabradorTodd Williams, (Vice President), Nova ScotiaJerry White, (Treasurer), Nova ScotiaCheryl Harrison, (Secretary), Nova ScotiaShawn Porter, (Past President), Nova ScotiaPierre Battah, New BrunswickRichard Daw, Newfoundland and LabradorAyman Elhefnawi, Nova ScotiaBrian Hurley, Newfoundland and LabradorJohn Snow, Nova ScotiaMusetta Thwaites, Nova Scotia

Atlantic Canada currently has approximately 220members and we will sustain a strong focus onbuilding this CMC membership throughout theregion. Newfoundland and Labrador in particularhas realized significant growth with membershipdoubling over the last two years to create a strongcluster and support for continued growth in thatprovince. As well, this is the first time that a CMCfrom Newfoundland will serve as Atlantic Presidentand sit on the national Board.

02/Quebec Georges’ ReportGeorges Sayegh, CMC, serves as a director of the l’Ordre des administrateurs agréés du Québec(OAAQ) and is the key OAAQ Board Director whooversees the Certified Management Consultantdesignation in Quebec.

• Policies and procedures from CMC-Canada arebeing translated and put into place in OAAQ.

• 25% of the documents have been translated andOAAQ is investigating the possibility of obtaininggovernment grants to fund the balance.

• The OAAQ wishes to formally thank JohnGelder, FCMC, and Greg Richards, FCMC, fortheir assistance in conducting CMC Interviews.

• OAAQ is finalizing its agreement with L’UQAM tooffer the Essentials in French in Quebec; the coursemust be approved as equivalent by the NCC.

• An Open House is planned with UQAM prior tothe course launch in April.

• OAAQ has been in discussion with manage-ment consultants in France, and through MikeThompson, FCMC, also with the University ofGrenoble concerning the development of a CMC Institute in France.

03/Ontario New FCMCsSouthwestern Ontario ChapterIt was a special honour to present the FCMC awardto John Callaghan. The FCMC award is accordedto less than 5% of all CMCs. It is a high honour and John is very deserving. He has been an active

member for the SWO chapter since its inception. Healso served SWO chapter’s first treasurer for manyyears until 2008. John received the President’saward at a new member reception in April 2006.John has also served on the Fellows committee.

We have tried to come up with a key theme that dis-tinguishes each of the new FCMCs. For John, thetheme is Business and Community Leadership. Johnhas been very active in a number of organizations in London as well as the Catholic Health Alliance ofCanada and the Catholic Health Association of Ontario.

Greater Toronto Area ChapterWe would like to thank Laren Stadelman, FCMC,for Chairing the FCMC committee this year. Thecommittee, which included representatives from allthree Chapters, worked hard to review and evaluatethe information provided about all candidates whowere nominated.

Congratulations to the following:Len Ashby, is being recognized in particular for hiscontribution as a Pioneer in IT Consulting. He hasbeen a practice leader in major international firmsas well as his own practice, developing people,markets and methodologies to advance the practiceof the profession and to develop its next generationof practitioners.

Doug Ross, was recognized in particular for hisideas and new approaches. He works with clientsaround the world and this year alone has beenworking with clients in diverse locations spanningthe breadth of Canada (Vancouver to Peterbor-ough) and the breadth of Africa (Cairo to Nairobi)and across Europe (Milan to Scotland).

Gay Skinner, was recognized in particular as achampion of learning. She has over 30 years expe-rience in the profession. She is a CMC and a PMP.She is also the president of her own firm, GAIAManagement Consulting Inc. Gay has had a lot ofaccomplishments in her work with the association,but one of her finest is the work that she had donewith the SIGs. We refer to her as “one of the founders”of the SIGs, but she went on to do more than foundthem. She worked tirelessly to encourage, cajole,demand and lead the SIGs to their early success.

Congratulations to Nick A. Shepherd, FCMC,FCGA, FCCA, who was awarded a Fellowship in the Certified General Accountants of Canada, and was admitted as a Fellow of the CharteredManagement Institute (of the UK).

04/Manitoba New CMCs and FCMCsCMC-Manitoba held their AGM in May and intro-duced two new FCMCs: Stu McKelvie and GinoBraha. As well seven new CMCs were welcomedincluding: Dr. Lana Adeleye-Olusae (ManitobaPublic Insurance), Marc Caron (IC Group Inc/LP),Sandra Foster (People Process and TechnologyInc.), Greg Lamothe (Meyers Norris Penny), Dr.Dawn-Marie Turner (Turner Change ManagementInc.), Faye Wankling (PCGI Consulting Services),and Dr. Tim Wildman (Sierra Systems Group Inc.).

05/Saskatchewan Member RelationsThe Saskatchewan Institute has focused onbuilding value with our members. Receptions were

held in 2010 at the grand Hotel Saskatchewan inRegina as we honoured and welcomed new FCMCand CMCs to the institute. The mid-winter doldrumswere abated with a couple of cocktail receptions inRegina and Saskatoon, where members and guestshad an opportunity to mingle with colleagues.Informal discussions about how the Institute coulddevelop were held at these receptions. The nationaloffice has embarked on a partnership agreementwith the national body representing professionalCMAs and Saskatchewan Council has met with ourprovincial CMA counterparts to partner on activities.Several professional development events will beplanned through the CMA Saskatchewan organiza-tion that will be available to CMC members. CMCs will enjoy member pricing for these events. Thepossibility of joint luncheons with speakers arebeing discussed. Plans for the remainder of theyear include conducting a membership survey tofocus on the enhancement of the Institute and thedevelopment of the CMC brand in Saskatchewan.

06/Alberta InitiativesThe agreement with the University of Alberta on the consulting component of their MBA program is almost complete. Approval of the course equiva-lency will be needed. This is in progress. TheAlberta Institute is considering a possible partner-ship with Alberta Council of Technologies for 2012.

07/British Columbia New WebsiteWe are very excited to tell you that our own ‘madein BC’ website for the Institute of Certified Manage-ment Consultants of British Columbia (CMC-BC)has now launched at www.cmc-bc.ca. This website is a key deliverable in our strategic plan to improvethe value of CMC-BC to our members. Its objectiveis to improve communications between members, chapters, the Institute and stakeholders.

For CMC-BC, the project has been a labour of love (mostly) and a lot of work. For their assistanceand guidance as the website was being developed,we would like to especially thank: Peggy Snelling,CMC, Stephanie Slater, CMC, Terry Rachwalski,CMC. As well, in the early stages of this project,thank you to the following for their support and sageadvice: Rob Shirra, FCMC, Cam Telford, CMC, Tony Wanless, CMC. And thank you also to CMC-BC Council and Chapter Chairs for providing contentand reviewing website versions during development.This includes: Deb Bourne, CMC, and John Glover,CMC. Russ Grabb, CMC, Ray Lazanik, CMC, Teri McEachern, CMC, Neill McRae, CMC, JoyPlayford, CMC, Satnam Sekhon, CMC, Connie Siu,CMC, Justin Stephenson, CMC, Mike Thompson,FCMC, Simon Wong, CMC, Bert Zethof, CMC.

To our website developers at Number 41 Media, a round of applause for a job well done – JenniferPeaker, Ian Martin, Martin Leggett, and ChrisLawder. We couldn’t have done it without you! And now that our website is finally here, pleasehelp us keep it current by sending us news andevents that would be of interest and benefit to all of our CMC-BC members as well as to the BC business community at large. Special areas for consideration include Consulting Opportunities,Helpful Documents, and Resources.

News directly from the Institutes and Chapters.


A former colleague once described StevanRalph as a businessman with “more energy inhis little finger than most of us have in our entirebodies”. Steve started his first business at theage of 12, cutting lawns and doing gardens inhis native Ottawa.

Following high school, with the intent ofbecoming a professional musician (he laterstudied trumpet under the principals of theMontreal, National Arts Centre, and ClevelandSymphony Orchestras), he started work as apipe layer and in eight months, became assis-tant to the vice president – according to Stevelargely due to his ineptitude with machinery –and wound up teaching the heavy machinerycourse he took when he first joined theconstruction company.

After two years in commerce at Queens, Stevemoved to law at Western, taking his third yearat Case Western Reserve in Cleveland.

Immediately after getting his law degree in1979, Steve became general manager of anOttawa heavy construction firm in order to gainmore experience in business and technology.At the same time, he moonlighted weekendsin Montreal searching through files andpreparing a claim for another constructioncompany that was under contract to Hydro-Quebec. This successful part-time consultingpractice became SBR International, withoffices in Toronto and Washington, DC andprojects around the globe. His personalconsulting expertise was financial analysis,strategic and tactical planning, process andsystems engineering, business turnarounds,and corporate development.

While studying philosophy at the University of Toronto in 1983, Steve became involved with the student-run Entrepreneur’s Club. Ac-cording to Influence magazine, he was quoted

as saying at the time, “As long as you havesome intelligence, drive, enthusiasm, and per-sistence, things will look after themselves”.

As well as his studies in North America, Steveattended Leuven, Louvain-la-Neuve, Oxford,Cambridge and Institute Catholique de Parisin Europe. He has served on the boards ofRegis College of the University of TorontoSchool of Theology and Opera Atelier. And hemost recently served as the Honorary Consulof the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. He wasan active member of Legatus, an organizationof local Catholic business leaders. Steve wasconferred the knighthood of both the Eques-trian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalemand the Knights of Malta.

Steve Ralph passed away August 9, 2010succumbing to cancer at the age of 55. He issurvived by his wife, Vivian Ligo, and hisdaughter Kharis.

REMEMBERING

STEVAN RALPH, CMC

Remarkable lives lived within the CMC-Canada family. Send in your suggestions for someone to profile to [email protected],and put ‘Remembering’ in the subject line.


TOPOF MIND

“Are Change Management and Communications separate disciplines or should all management consultants be proficient in managing changeand communicating? Seems to be the essence of our profession?” Ken Davies, FCMC, Lumina Management Consultants

“We can leave the science of economic recovery to the economists; the art of recovery, however, needs people like us. As employers turn their minds to change initiatives designed to maximize businesssuccess in a post-recession world, the challenge of re-motivatingemployees and engaging them in long-term goals may be the biggesthurdle. Paying attention to the art as well as the science of transformationmanagement is now more important than ever.” Harold Schroeder, FCMC, PMP, CHRP, CHE, Schroeder & Schroeder Inc.

“Those of us who have contract assignments with the Canadian federalgovernment often experience lengthy delays in receiving payment for our work. Many simply laugh this off stating that, although payment is very late, payment will most definitely be paid – eventually! Althoughcontracts state that payments are to be paid within 30 days of the receiptof invoices, most have experienced delays of many, many months – thatis – except for the March invoice each year, which miraculously is paidwithin weeks, sometimes mere days! Funny how this happens...” Michael Appleton, FCMC, PMP, DAMA Consulting Services Ltd.

“In early 2011, Prime Minister Harper met with US President Obama to discuss a North American security deal. I hope this discussion leads to a freer border (obviously with the necessary security precautions) – a crossing that demonstrates that Canada and the US are friends, notenemies. Ever since 9/11 we have been treated as suspicious foreignnationals first, and as economic partners second.” Glenn Yonemitsu, CMC, MBA, NEXT Strategic Advisors

Do you have an opinion, idea, or perspective that you want to share? ‘Top of Mind’ is written by ourmembers to stimulate a dialogue on important issues.Send in your quotes to [email protected] with ‘Top of Mind’ in the subject line.

The Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CMC-Canada) is proud to offer members a growing range of high-quality products highlighting the Certified Management Consultant(CMC) designation. Browse around our online store, we offer a fast and secure checkout. Wear your designation with pride!

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