"Getting Help in Opening Doors to Change"--How do we do that today with the resources we know?

Most mornings I go to the grounds of my local hospital and do water aerobics at a "wellness" center.  Many of these mornings I engage in informal conversations with one or two colleagues concerning business--past, present, and future.  We have even more time for these conversations on Sunday mornings when we get together.

This has been a great way for me to get lots of new ideas--even today--and keeps me getting some valuable exercise the first thing every morning.

Yesterday's conversation was about informal advisory groups for CEOs.  Some of these are more formal--boards of directors.  Others can be as informal as membership in a discussion group (or a virtual think-tank).

The challenge is the same--some people have lots of expertise and experience to share.  Some CEOs could really benefit from that expertise and experience.  How can the two groups get together?

Beyond that, the people with expertise and experience still need income--though probably not as much as they used to get while they were acquiring their expertise and experience.  CEOs who could use the help may have limited funds (especially in today's economy) to pay for outside consultants or for a high-price-tag membership in an advisory group service.

Some Inner Dialogue
"If we do today what we did yesterday, we'll get more of the same results." (In today's economy, we may even get fewer results or lower quality results.)  What do we need to change?  What do we need to change to?  How can anyone else know my business?  How can I trust anyone to share that I don't know how to handle a challenge my business faces?

"What do I do best?"--I make a positive difference in the world by helping people and organizations learn to  change to improve their quality of (business) life now and for the future.  How can I open doors to be able to do this for more people and organizations?

In the course of my 40+ years of work, I have come across professional consulting groups where CEOs of moderate-sized companies pay a monthly fee and meet with other CEOs and a consultant on a monthly basis and other consulting firms who send in a business analysis to probe the needs of the company, then follow-up consultants to address the specific needs the company decides to work on.  These firms usually work with small to mid-sized companies.  The global consulting firms I have worked with normally have global clients and multimillion dollar consulting contracts.  Many of these have to do with implementing new information technology throughout the company, though some are smaller and focus on business processes and strategy improvement.  While executive teams make the "buying decision" for consultants and set overall direction, most work is supervised by upper management.  The large firms have a few seasoned professionals guiding teams of gifted and less experienced professionals who actually do the work for the client.

All of these models work, though, in today's society. We need something more or different.  Many companies--due to reduced income from multiple sources--are pushing out senior people and replacing them with more people with less experience that command lower salaries and have more room to grow with the company.  Requirements for specialized skills in the latest software are also influencing requirements for both consultants and employees.

Ultimately, the CEOs of the small to mid-sized companies still face the same challenges and have even fewer resources to find new and innovative solutions.  Most are faced with the problem that "It's hard to remember when you're up to your waist in alligators that your goal was to drain the swamp."

Back to my original question today, how can I get help to do what I do best by working with the resources I know today?  If anyone has any thoughts, please post a comment or contact me through my Wiki Projects page.