Better Outside than Good

I had a meeting recently with a client who delivers leadership development programs for his company. He lamented that while his team has terrific knowledge, their programs aren’t as respected as those of outside consultants. Somehow the outsiders have a cache that makes the content seem more potent.

In a variation on the phrase, “it’s better to be lucky than good,” we came up with, “it’s better to be outside than good.” The outside consultant just gets more respect, fair or not.

This is wonderful news to me as an external consultant delivering leadership training and executive coaching. It also serves as a warning to all of us.

Be careful about discounting sources that are too close to you. We can overpay with our money and our time by seeking advice or knowledge from afar when in fact those who are right next to us may have quality and possibly even the best input available.