ABSTRACT
For a long time, consultancy was about interviewing clients, writing reports and making recommendations. With lengthy assignments, consultants and consultancies alike have had to learn how to work effectively with the client over extended periods. This has led firms to consider skills and attributes that extend beyond those based on intelligence and technical know-how alone. Consultancies have therefore sought to enhance the skills of their professional staff. Initially focused on relationship management, and client–consultant team working, this has been extended into developing skills associated with inter-cultural working, self-awareness, and interpersonal influence. One of the basic tenets of neurolinguistic programming (NLP) is modelling the success of others: watching how they behave, asking how they became so successful and so on. Unlike NLP, emotional intelligence is a comparatively new concept, having gained popularity through the publication of Daniel Coleman's book Emotional intelligence in 1996.
