Thereโs always been a debate around whether consultants can successfully run companies. There are sufficient examples for either cases. Let’s break down the issue:
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐: ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐๐๐
When consultants take over as CEOs of existing companies, they often perform well. Their exposure across industries helps them see patterns others miss. They bring structure, analytics and a data-driven approach to decisions. Many large corporates have seen strong turnarounds under such leadership. Of course, not all succeed; but the probability of success is fairly high because the ecosystem, resources and structures already exist.
Examples: Lou Gerstner at IBM, Indra Nooyi at PepsiCo and Shantanu Narayen at Adobe and many more.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐: ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด
The challenge begins when consultants decide to start their own ventures. Now, they move from advising to owning. From frameworks to fire-fighting. From PowerPoint to payroll. This is where many stumble.
Prashant Kishorโs experience in Bihar is perhaps the most recent and public example of this transition. After years of helping others win; notably from Narendra Modi in 2014 to Nitish Kumar in 2015; PK stepped into the arena himself, forming his own political outfit. But the election results have shown that converting advisory excellence into electoral victory is a very different ball game.
As a consultant, he mastered the art of reading data, designing campaigns and managing narratives. As a political entrepreneur, he faced the reality of building ground-level organization, funding, candidate management and emotional connect; things no consultantโs toolkit can fully prepare you for.
Itโs a gentle reminder that good consultants can make great architects of success but not always great builders of it.