Coaching, consulting and facilitating colleagues in Central Oregon, we invite you to a conversation to examine how we might grow, learn, compete and collaborate in ways that are better for our clients and for ourselves. Let’s let down our collective busyness, fear, scarcity and comparison habits and really talk.
Why? Because one of the fastest growing wage sectors of business in the U.S. economy is consulting. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ study on Industry employment and output projections to 2022 estimates that “management, scientific and technical consulting services” are growing at a compound annual rate of change of 3.5 percent, which makes us the fourth fastest growing sector.
With our favorable Central Oregon lifestyle and the plethora of new and expanding companies in our area, we’re reasonably certain Bend’s growth rate in this sector is even faster. Given our collective interest in supporting organizations in our community, might it be possible that, by knowing one another better, we can better serve our clients and ourselves?
We think so.
Right now, right here in Central Oregon, one of the greatest threats to all coaches, consultants and related organizations is that we all becoming invisible because we can’t differentiate ourselves from the growing throngs of small start-ups who are “competitors.” There are literally hundreds of thousands of firms like ours today in the United States, all saying they do similar things using similar tool sets.
It doesn’t have to be this way, and new ethos for a “sharing economy” impels our firm to seek-out partnerships with competitors to expand our profession’s reach and impact. There is good evidence supporting the efficacy of this approach. As coaching and consulting firms survive start-up and start to scale, they need ready access to trusted partners and colleagues who can put their egos and terminal uniqueness aside and discover great synergies together.
For our clients in Central Oregon, it becomes a confusing and at times, frustrating landscape to navigate when trying to find a partner.
Is what you do similar to…xyz firm?
What is the difference between your coaching and life coaching?
Have you heard about this new firm in town doing…?
Which company offers the best value for what I need?
Questions like these entice us to define ourselves not by our unique skills and knowledge, but by comparison. We think it’s possible to have healthy competition with one another on the one hand and collaborate when opportunities present on the other.
What would we talk about? For starters, we suggest we talk about our unique gifts and strengths. Some of these may overlap as competitors and some may not, but knowing about them offers greater clarity and understanding of the landscape here. It would also be interesting to have a dialogue about what we are seeing in the Bend business ecosystem in general and what we predict will be needed going forward.
Other questions might be:
How are your practices changing to suit the needs of clients?
How do you/we define “ethical practices” and how do you hold yourself or your business accountable to living your values?
Our proposed format would be a six- hour World Café/Open Space style conversation to explore questions that really matter to our collective thriving, as well as to our current and future clients in the Region
Our Bend-based firm has been operating regionally, nationally and internationally, since 2001. We have a strong interest in elevating our own knowledge and practice while also wanting to contribute to advancing ethical practices in our field and in the communities we work and align with.
At the core, all coaches and consultants are paid for the content of our thinking and the wisdom and timeliness of their actions in service of clients. Let’s use these traits to reduce stereotypes about our field and replace it with a new story; a story of mutual growth, vulnerability and learning in service of making a better Bend, and a better world.
March 19, 8am-2pm
Cost: $100 per person (to cover lunch and facility rental.) Any leftover funds will be donated to the Environmental Center. Our capacity is 75 people, so it is first come, first serve.
Location: TBD
We hope to see you there. Sign up at: www.moementum.com or give us a call to discuss your thoughts and reactions to this letter. 541-382-0778.
Moe Carrick, founder and principal of Moementum, Inc., is committed to creating great leaders and resilient organizations. mcarrick@moementum.com
Jim Morris, principal of Moementum, Inc. and author of The Five Insights of Enduring Leaders. jmorris@moementum.com
