Dealing with the Greek-Roman Dichotomy in Your Career Transition!

As a career coach I often get clients who come to me for a transition from their consulting job to a corporate job with a similar flavor. For example, someone who has helped their clients in strategy formulation for market development now wants to migrate their career to the corporate world as a marketing executive. Although the connection between these two roles can be obvious to a casual observer, companies evaluating such candidates hold a different perspective!

Why is that?

Those in the consulting space are often hired as “Idea experts,” who can brainstorm with their clients and provide some thought leadership in the area that is important to their client. Thought leadership entails out-of-the-box thinking and looking at their needs with a perspective that is not obvious to those close to their work. Usually, in such engagements the consultant provides a hypothesis, the analysis, and sometimes an action plan that can be implemented. Consultants usually do not hang around to see the implementation of their plans or to see the results of how well they work. This important work is often left for the client to do, which often results in surprises or even defeats!

Why this happens can be explained by recognizing that that there are two dichotomous needs to get anything done: A good idea and a way to execute that idea well. One without the other simply leaves the entire initiative incomplete or unrealized. A good idea not executed can become an unrealized dream; a bad idea executed well can become a nightmare! I have found that calling the Idea part of the initiative as “Greek” and the Implementation part as “Roman” have helped my clients understand how they need to present their message appropriately so that they can come across as someone who can get the job done.

The “Greek” label comes from the philosopher-thinkers from the ancient Greek culture (Plato, Aristotle) that provided us the philosophical underpinnings and thinking foundation for thoughtful plans. Nothing changes unless these ideas are actually implemented in an organization. This requires people who understand execution and who are masters at it. Romans, with their superior military prowess and fighting skills won the battles by their abilities to execute well on the battlefields. The Greeks did not carry weapons, nor did the Romans serve as thought leaders to kings; to make it simple, the Greeks thought and the Romans fought! In the corporate world we need to understand that one without the other does not get the results for a change initiative.

So, what does a consultant need to do to pursue a corporate job in their field of expertise? They must be careful in assembling the right message in their résumé (and everything that they create: LinkedIn Profile, Facebook entry, and their Tweets!) to make sure that their consulting narrative also includes the “Roman” part of their experience. Unless they are able to dig deeper in their engagements and see how they helped their clients beyond merely providing the ideas for a change, they stay as “Greeks,” and will be unable to convince a corporate hiring manager that they can execute and produce results.

So, what is some of that language?

Let us take a concrete example: A consultant had advised her client to develop a new market in an emerging space by analyzing the demographic and its preferences. She then helped the client create a message to get the attention of that group. Her story of that stint would have ended there with very strong “Greek” overtones. But, to complete that story, we decided to dig deeper and explore how the client followed the recommendations and what adjustments had to be made to realize the desired outcomes. So, when she called the client and asked how that initiative worked out, as a follow-up, the client was candid in telling her what worked and what did not. She explained to the client why certain parts did not work as well (using her “Greek” mindset) to explain a “Roman” action, and what the client could have done or still could do to improve on the implementation of that plan. She also got some results from those discussions that were relevant and even impressive for this story. Having this ammunition provided the needed “Roman” torque to the overall story on her résumé. She got through and was invited for an interview for the marketing job that she was after.

Without this complete story the résumé remains a consultant’s message and lacks the essential “Roman” component. This often results in the candidate not getting invited for an interview. To carry this further when you are invited for an interview you must continue chipping away at your “Roman” side by providing enough stories that convince the hiring manager that you can deliver both thought and action leadership.

So, when you are making a transition from a role that requires more ideas and thought leadership to the one that requires delivering results, make sure that you have enough mix of ideas and execution that moves the hiring manager to take interest in you as a potential candidate.

Good luck!