NOT SO LONG AGO, TO TALK about vulnerability or empathy in the corridors of consulting firms would have been to speak a foreign language. You’d have been met with polite nods or bemused silence, maybe a quiet clearing of the throat as the conversation returned to billables and deadlines.
But somewhere along the line, something has shifted.
Maybe it was the pandemic. Maybe it was the slow unravelling of the way things had always been done. Or maybe it was that deep, human exhaustion that set in after years of pretending we had all the answers.
Whatever it was, we are now standing at a different kind of threshold, one where emotional intelligence is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Where empathy is practical, and vulnerability has become a kind of quiet superpower, the key to unlocking trust, connection, and resilience in the places we work.
And it’s about time. Because if you asked me today, what is the biggest operational challenge facing consulting firms? I wouldn’t talk about technology, scale or competition. I’d say simply this: it’s people.
The people we lead. The people we serve. The people we hope will stay.
In engineering, project management and design consultancies, we like to think we solve problems. Tangible ones. Concrete ones. But the truth is, the challenges we now face are profoundly human . Questions of retention, diversity, attraction, mental health, and how we work across generations. Questions not of structure, but of relationship.
We live in a world where the labour market is fractured and in flux. The old certainty that people would stay for thirty years, collect their gold watch, and quietly retire has gone. What remains is a need to lead differently.
And in that, I believe the next great shift in our profession is not technological but cultural. It’s a shift from managing to mentoring, from authority to authenticity, from directing to deep listening.
Because this work, this industry of ours, was never just about plans and outcomes, contracts and deliverables. It has always, at its heart, been about people. And now, more than ever, we find ourselves confronted not by technical limitations, but by the human condition itself.
“The truth is, the challenges we now face are profoundly human.”
Climate change. Social inequity. Mental health decline. Widespread disconnection. These aren’t issues we can solve with better software or tighter reporting. They won’t be resolved in boardrooms or buried in strategy documents. They demand something more of us, something deeper.
They call for leaders who can think holistically, who are emotionally aware, who can hold complexity without rushing to control it. Leaders who understand that success today is measured not just in outcomes, but in how we arrive there, and who we become along the way.
What’s needed now is not just intelligence, but empathy. Not just competence, but courage – the courage to lead with humility, to listen more than we speak, and to see people not as resources, but as the reason for the work itself.
Because those with all the answers will not shape the future of consulting, but by those willing to ask better questions, and to stand in the space where real change begins. Together. Human to human.
“Leadership can be learned, just as emotional intelligence can be cultivated. But it begins with courage.”
Recently, I came across the work of Jamais Cascio, who speaks of BANI, a world that is Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, and Incomprehensible. It’s a departure from the old VUCA model (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) that many of us were taught in leadership workshops. And yet, after the last few years, BANI feels more real. More raw. Because who hasn’t felt brittle at times? Who hasn’t stared into complexity and felt its weight?
In this kind of world, what kind of leaders are we being called to become? Not the loudest in the room. Not the ones with every answer polished and ready. But rather, those willing to sit with uncertainty. To learn. To evolve. To lead not from ego, but from empathy.
I’ve spent the last six years trying to do myself out of a job. It’s become something of a private mantra . Hire people better than you, support them, then step aside. It’s not always easy. It asks you to let go of old ideas, competition, control, that sharp-edged belief that leadership is about being the smartest in the room.
Instead, I’ve come to see leadership as being present, as making space for others to thrive, for others to rise. That means valuing the wisdom of experience, too. One of my most valued team members is 74. Clients love him.
His knowledge isn’t just technical, it’s deeply human. He knows how to listen. How to be steady. How to be authentic.
CAnd isn’t that what leadership is? In a world saturated with data, metrics, and noise, the real challenge is to remain human. To remember that people are not resources. That staff are not line items. They are stories, relationships, and dreams. And leadership is the fragile, beautiful work of holding space for all of that.
It starts small, with self-awareness, with mentors, with reading, with asking better questions. Not, how can I get more out of my team? But rather, what kind of person am I at work? What is it like to be led by me? What do I leave in my wake, fear or trust? Silence or growth?
I believe leadership can be learned, just as emotional intelligence can be cultivated. But it begins with courage. The courage to be vulnerable, to let others see you trying, learning, growing.
The world doesn’t need more perfect leaders. It needs present ones.
The old paradigms, dog-eat-dog, oneupmanship, the leader as the lone hero, are no longer fit for purpose. What we need now is collaboration, connection, and heart-level trust And so, perhaps the real question consulting firms must face is not about strategy, profitability, or even innovation. It’s the deeper one, the harder one: How can we be fully human at work?
Because if we can answer that, if we can show up not just with skill, but with heart, then maybe we stand a chance of not only meeting the challenges ahead, but shaping a future that is more resilient, more equitable, and more profoundly human.
Long before our professions had a name, people needed us engineers, designers, project managers, makers and builders, not for growth or profit, but for the essentials of life. They needed safe roads, clean water, shelter, and ways to connect with one another. Our professions began as a response to these basic human needs, to help people live, move, and endure. The work was never the goal; people were always at the centre. Now, as we face complex challenges, it’s time to return to that core purpose. We are needed again, not just for what we can design, manage and deliver, but for how we lead, how we care, and how we choose to put people first in real and meaningful ways.
By Andrew Goeslt & Adam Martin
