A simpler way of thinking about your helper persona is considering the type of work you’re performing.

Are you being brought in to build or to think?

To execute or to advise?

Or as friend-of-the-list Jonathan Stark puts it:

Are you doing “hands work” or “head work”?

Types of “hands work”

• Physical trades
• Admin functions
• Creative arts, design & production
• Writing
• Software development
• Strategy implementation

Types of “head work”

• Strategy development
• Interviewing & synthesis
• Relationship building
• Advising
• Coaching

Many consulting engagements will have elements of both.

So why the distinction?

Hands work, while certainly valuable, has a scalability ceiling.

In other words, you can only build xx websites per year, write xx content marketing articles, carry out xx corporate re-orgs, etc.

Head work, on the other hand, when structured appropriately, can be scaled almost infinitely.

For example, you could leverage your expertise into multiple concurrent advising retainers, support dozens of coaching clients, or even publish a book with uncapped audience potential.

To consider: If you’re operating in (or eying) a predominantly “hands work” consulting practice, can you think of creative ways you could revise your service to provide predominantly “head work?”

Have there been elements of your service where your client has said “Wow, I’ve never thought about it like that.”

These could signal a window to shift into a head work model that can open up higher-leverage service & pricing opportunities.

For a crisp example of head vs. hands work, check out Jonathan’s 2023 post on a plumber’s 'head work' opportunity.

💡

-Wes