What sets the best consultants apart?
Three things that can take you from GOOD to GREAT
Honeycomb is proud to be sponsoring the ‘Best Consultant’ category at The Consultancy Awards 2025. The award recognises exceptional individual consulting performance and aligns with our mission to help consulting team leaders build exceptional teams.
When we think about what makes a great consultant, the focus is often on skills and knowledge. We’ve written at length about developing core consulting skills and many more technical and advanced skills beyond. But being a truly exceptional consultant requires more than this.
The step from good to great demands a focus on behaviours, mindset, and the small but impactful actions that can make a real difference. We can break this down into three key areas: client experience, firm contribution, and team impact. Let’s explore each in turn.
1. Client experience: Making an impact beyond the job description
Great consultants don’t just execute tasks - they enhance the client experience. This is about more than just delivering good work; it’s about making clients feel supported, understood, and confident in the process.
A framework we use to support this is the Making It Special toolkit, which we originally developed with Partners at a boutique consulting firm. The toolkit captures dozens of small but significant behaviours that can make the 1% difference when it comes to delighting your clients. For example, choosing to take the train instead of driving to a client site might seem trivial, but it allows a consultant to arrive prepared, refreshed, and ready to engage fully. Small decisions like these make a noticeable difference.
Great consultants also take the time to ‘get to know their neighbours’ and understand the wider organisation beyond their immediate project. Getting to know colleagues outside of the core client team, understanding different business units, and proactively making connections all help create a deeper impact. Many organisations operate in silos and a consultant who bridges these gaps can provide real value.
Beyond accessing expertise or additional capacity, clients often seek consultants who can navigate the ambiguity and friction that impedes organisational change. A senior Ministry of Defence leader once told me,
"The best consultants help us get through the fog that we
seem unable to get through ourselves internally."
Great consultants demonstrate courage by leading clients through this ambiguity. They're prepared to say, "This is what I think you should do despite the uncertainty. Here's how we can start." Simply taking action helps lift the fog and clarify the path forward - exactly what clients often need.
2. Firm contribution: Adding value beyond client work
Delivering excellent client work is fundamental, but outstanding consultants go further by actively contributing to their own firm’s growth and development.
One way they do this is by capturing and sharing knowledge. Every project generates new insights, but not every consultant takes the time to document them or integrate them into future work. The best consultants ensure that lessons learned are embedded into the firm’s processes, making life easier for their colleagues and improving future engagements.
They also proactively seek ways to improve internal processes. Consulting firms, like any business, have inefficiencies. A great consultant doesn’t just complain about clunky processes - they suggest solutions and, where possible, take the initiative to implement improvements.
Understanding commerciality is another important trait. We meet many consultants who serve clients brilliantly but have blind spots around how their own firm makes money. Great consultants understand their firm's commercial operation - how it generates margin and which behaviours or decisions impact that margin. Consultants who grasp this early in their careers and work to ensure projects deliver both client excellence and appropriate margins provide tremendous value to their firms.
3. Team impact: Supporting and elevating colleagues
Consulting is demanding, with intense periods that test resilience. While managing one's own wellbeing is important, exceptional consultants also look out for colleagues who might be struggling.
Recognising when a colleague is struggling and offering help, even in small ways, can make a significant difference. Sometimes, it’s about lightening the mood or providing encouragement; other times, it might mean stepping in to share the workload. Being an empathetic and supportive team member is an underrated but crucial quality in top consultants.
Finally, great consultants actively help their colleagues grow and develop, whether through mentorship, knowledge sharing, or simply being available to offer guidance. A strong team culture doesn’t happen by accident - it’s built through everyday interactions and support.
Too Long; Didn’t Read
Great consultants aren't just skilled professionals. They elevate the experience for everyone around them - clients, colleagues, and their firms as a whole. They are known for:
Enhancing the client experience through small but impactful behaviours, leading through ambiguity, and building strong connections.
Contributing to their firm’s success by sharing knowledge, improving internal processes, and understanding commerciality.
Elevating their team by supporting colleagues, fostering a collaborative environment, and prioritising development.
As the nominees for the Best Consultant award are assessed, these qualities and behaviours will be considered just as much as technical skills and industry knowledge.
What do you think makes a truly outstanding consultant? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
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