WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS AT THE CONSULUS 2020 GLOBAL SCHOOL BY JIM FUNK, CHAIRMAN, CONSULUS GLOBAL NETWORK – June 17, 2020
Hello, and welcome to the 2020 Consulus Extraordinary Global School! My name is Jim Funk, and I have had the honor and privilege to serve as the Consulus Global Chairman this past year, a role which will now be extended for another year. I don’t consider myself as a “boss” in this position, but rather as a servant leader. I am here to serve you, to represent you as Consulites, and to offer input to the Consulus leadership team and partners.
This School is truly extraordinary in several ways. It is extraordinary because it is the first ever on-line Global School! It is also extraordinary because Consulus has more than doubled in size over the past year. We have never had this many Consulites attend a Global School. And thirdly, we are living in very extraordinary times. With the Covid-19 pandemic, how we live and work has been significantly affected over the past several months. Add to that the times of disruption and change the world was already experiencing before the pandemic, and it truly requires that we prepare ourselves to respond in very extraordinary ways. As one of the current Consulus webinars is named, we need to be able to “Pivot with Courage.” As a company, we must pivot. As leaders, we must pivot. As individuals we must pivot. Companies that did not pivot in the past because they didn’t see, or chose to ignore the changes around them, struggled—if they survived at all. There are many corporate examples of the need to pivot.
Why are we here, attending this Global School? First of all, you responded to a call with a desire to serve. You want to be part of something larger than yourself. Secondly, there is a need that you see. The world needs unity and purpose. That is what we as Consulus can bring. We can shape the world through consulting. The School, then, is our opportunity to build what we need to contribute effectively to this challenging mission. To do this work we need: The will to do this hard work; the talent and ability; the values for unity and purpose; a sense of family, of unity among ourselves; and finally, the tools and methods,and a plan. The first three of these needs you recognize you already have, or I suspect you wouldn’t be part of this School to begin with. So now we will build on the needs of being a family, and bringing the tools, methods, and plan. That’s what we hope you will walk away with after these three days.
What can you expect to see and experience in the School? The real and authentic Consulus! That was what drew me to join this team three years ago, after being introduced to Helena Pham and Lawrence Chong for the first time in Rome in February 2017 at the meeting with Pope Francis. I could see from the way they described their work and their purpose that they had the real deal…something I could imagine myself being a part of, with values I could relate to. And as I have now been with Consulus for over three years, I see and experience these values in action. The other interesting thing about Consulus is that we practice what we preach and teach! What we bring to our clients, we also do for ourselves. In fact, each year we evaluate ourselves and each other on the basis of our core values. So whether you are a seasoned Consulite, brand new, or just here to learn more and observe to see what your role might be, I have no doubt that you will also see and experience the four Consulus values in action during these three days. These values are:
Humility. Some of you have said it’s unusual for consultants to claim humility as a value. Indeed! The words humility and consulting are not often seen together. This week you will hear testimonials from some of our Consulites, but they don’t reflect hubris, or excessive pride. Rather, they represent the truth of who they are, who we are. The word humble comes from the word “humus,” or of the earth. We are truthful about what we can and can’t do.
Unity. Our clients say they feel we are true partners, not just being friendly in order to sell them something. They experience us as authentic. As our School theme is “With Others,” how do we be with others? We are with others in unity. We walk with them. We have realrelationships. We listen and empathize. We are with each other…as family. This is what I believe you will also sense in these three days.
Leadership. As I said in the beginning, we believe in being servant leaders. That also means we must be willing to lead by example, and do so by changing ourselves from the inside out. We can’t change others unless we change ourselves first. We expect to be changed and to grow as leaders as well during these three days.
Professionalism. This value is required in order to deliver excellent products and services in a professional manner. As we grow we need to become organized at a different level, and be willing to institutionalize and codify our processes for clarity and consistency. We will be sharing some of these with you during the School.
Finally, we are here because we are stronger together! And the time for us is now. The world needs us. We are not just a loosely affiliated group of independent consultants. We go out together as one family. As we say at the end of our sharing and presentations to represent our commitment to Consulus, and I will say it now: “I am in!” Thank you.
About the author
Jim Funk, Chairman of Consulus Global Network 2019-2021, Country Director of Consulus USA and Global Head of Leadership Transformation at Consulus, is a recognized expert in leadership development. With over 30 years of experience, including an executive role in a large healthcare organization in the US, Jim has personally coached senior leaders, physicians and professional contributors in a variety of roles.
He has designed and delivered leadership formation and development programs for senior leaders across the US to strengthen and transform them to be at their best and achieve superior results. Since 2010 Jim has served as president of his own leadership and organizational development consulting firm, J L Funk & Associates.
