Consulting 101

In furthering my knowledge on what a "consultant" is, I've come across many articles and people who have given me many useful advice. I've been always thinking or asking myself "how is a consultant different from non-consultant?", "how can I be a better consultant?" , or "what is my role as a consultant to a client and how can I bring value to the clients?" These kinds of questions started popping up in my head because I actually enjoy working as consultant. It was not my intention to work for a "consulting" company in the first place. It was sort of accidental. But however it started, I am very happy with where I am at (although I could use more promotions :) and the company I am working for. Anyways, I jotted down some notes from some random site I've come across through searching for the phrase "consultant mindset".

Consultants:
- require right combination of confidence and humility
- need to be creative, ready to tackle areas you're not strong in, and result-focused
- get exposed to different corporate culture and pick up new skills
- are more willing to share knowledge with each other than corporate employees
- advocate improvement / seek out people who know things we don't know
- are where you can find best people and techniques for self-management, project management, and/or other management areas
- one of few places where someone not in a VP or CIO position will get challenged to come up with true leadership skills, regardless of level
(taken from http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=14&threadID=135448&messageID=1515918)