You’re struggling to deal with failure in consulting. What can you do to get back on track?

Failure is inevitable in consulting. You will face challenging clients, complex problems, tight deadlines, and high expectations. Sometimes, you will miss the mark, make mistakes, or receive negative feedback. How you deal with failure can make or break your career in consulting. Here are some tips to help you get back on track after a setback.

1 Acknowledge your emotions

Failure can trigger a range of emotions, such as anger, frustration, disappointment, guilt, or shame. These feelings are normal and valid, but they can also cloud your judgment and affect your performance. Instead of suppressing or denying your emotions, acknowledge them and give yourself some space to process them. You can write them down, talk to a trusted colleague or friend, or practice some self-care activities. By acknowledging your emotions, you can release them and move on.

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Iman Hamdan Aly FCCA

Strategic Finance Leader | Corporate Finance Expert | Empowering Business Growth Through Financial Insights
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Facing failure in consulting, envision a recovery roadmap. At its start, Self-Assessment pinpoints where things went awry. This path splits into two: Skill Enhancement, where targeted learning fills gaps, and Feedback Analysis, inviting constructive criticism. They converge at Strategy Revision, a checkpoint to redesign your approach. The journey proceeds through Networking Reinforcement, strengthening connections for support and opportunities. Finally, Resilience Building marks the destination, equipping you with the mental fortitude to face future challenges. This roadmap, revisited after each setback, ensures continuous growth and a return to success.

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2 Learn from your mistakes

Failure is also an opportunity to learn and grow. You can use your mistakes as feedback to identify your strengths and weaknesses, improve your skills, and avoid repeating the same errors. To learn from your mistakes, you need to reflect on what went wrong, what you could have done differently, and what you can do better next time. You can also ask for constructive criticism from your manager, mentor, or peers, and implement their suggestions. By learning from your mistakes, you can turn failure into success.

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Marija Stevanovic

Management Consultant | Get unstuck in your management consulting journey | Develop personalized connections for your team's growth
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For the learning from mistakes to be established as one of the values in your environment, it should be deeply rooted in the company culture. It is easy to say that you should learn from mistakes, but not that easy to actually start looking at mistakes as opportunities to grow. That mindset is easier to be established from the very beginning. So the process should be: - establish the supportive and safe environment where mistakes are promoted as learning opportunities - hire the right experts - give them autonomy to provide their best but be there to support them ans remove impedimenta when needed - provide concise and constant feedback and track their progress.

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3 Rebuild your confidence

Failure can damage your confidence and self-esteem, making you doubt your abilities and potential. To rebuild your confidence, you need to remind yourself of your value and achievements, and focus on your positive qualities and skills. You can also set realistic and attainable goals, and celebrate your progress and accomplishments. Additionally, you can seek support and encouragement from your network, and surround yourself with positive and inspiring people. By rebuilding your confidence, you can regain your motivation and enthusiasm.

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4 Seek new opportunities

Failure can also open new doors and possibilities for you. You can use your failure as a catalyst to explore new areas of interest, pursue new challenges, or change your direction. You can also seek new opportunities to showcase your talents, demonstrate your value, and make an impact. For example, you can volunteer for a new project, take on a leadership role, or mentor a junior consultant. By seeking new opportunities, you can expand your horizons and potential.

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5 Keep a growth mindset

Finally, the most important thing you can do to deal with failure in consulting is to keep a growth mindset. A growth mindset is the belief that you can improve your abilities and intelligence through effort and learning. A growth mindset helps you embrace failure as a part of the learning process, and not as a measure of your worth or competence. A growth mindset also helps you overcome challenges, seek feedback, and persist in the face of adversity. By keeping a growth mindset, you can turn failure into fuel for your growth.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Michael Dennis

Author. Consultant. Key Note Speaker. Career Coach. Instructor. Mentor. Friend.
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Here's what I do after a setback:: 1. I take time to reflect on the setback or failure, analyzing what went wrong and identifying lessons learned. 2. I work hard to accept the reality of the situation and acknowledge any feelings of disappointment, frustration, or regret. 3. I set new goals or reevaluate existing ones, outlining clear objectives and action plans to regain momentum. 4. I embrace the opportunity for growth and development, seeking out opportunities to acquire new skills or knowledge. 5. I reach out to colleagues and friends for advice, encouragement and support.

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You’re struggling to deal with failure in consulting. What can you do to get back on track?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Acknowledge your emotions

2 Learn from your mistakes

3 Rebuild your confidence

4 Seek new opportunities

5 Keep a growth mindset

6 Here’s what else to consider

Consulting

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You’re struggling to deal with failure in consulting. What can you do to get back on track?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Acknowledge your emotions

2 Learn from your mistakes

3 Rebuild your confidence

4 Seek new opportunities

5 Keep a growth mindset

6 Here’s what else to consider

Consulting

Rate this article

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