Not the loudest voice, but the strongest impact

 

Thank you for joining me on my writing journey. Each month I'll be sharing my thoughts, tips and stories on all things project management. Perfect for senior leaders who want people at the heart of their projects.

In this edition, I'll be talking about the role of a corporate consultant and how it can impact your project.

When people ask me what I do, the simplest answer is: I enable.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Enable? Isn’t that something we say about bad habits, like when Aunty June keeps giving her cat ‘just one more’ treat?”

Nope. Not that kind of enabling.

I’m talking about the kind that takes place in the trenches of day-to-day work, helping people and organisations succeed, grow, and occasionally keep their sanity intact.

I enable:

• Team members to be stars in their function (without burning out in the process).
• Organisations to unlock new capabilities (the cool kind, not just another endless spreadsheet).
• Teams to achieve lasting change (instead of the “new process” that quietly dies after three weeks).
• Management to have clarity in the boardroom (so decisions aren’t just educated guesses fuelled by strong coffee).

That’s the core of my work. It’s not about being the loudest voice in the room. It’s about making sure the right voices are heard, the right structures are in place, and the right information is at hand.

Enabling isn’t passive, it’s an active discipline. Here’s what it really looks like:

What Enabling Looks Like (in real life)

• Focus and embed process. Not for the sake of bureaucracy (nobody needs another form to fill out), but to create rhythm and clarity that actually drive outcomes.
• Protect your talent from noise. Because brilliant people can’t do their best work if they’re stuck in endless status meetings that could’ve been an email.
• Give clarity of purpose. People perform better when they know the what and the why, and when they have the tools to do it. (Clarity beats chaos every time.)
• Coach to success. Be close enough to sense stress points, give encouragement when the path is tough, and remind people that “no, you’re not actually failing, you’re just iterating.”
• Help the team fail well. Things will go wrong. That’s life. The important thing? Learn fast and adapt, preferably before the plane lands.
• Take the hard calls early. Difficult decisions don’t improve with age, like wine. They rot, like milk.
• Equip decision makers. Give them reliable data and real context because “gut feel” is not a strategy.
• Create single sources of truth. The fewer versions of “the latest spreadsheet,” the better. When people trust the data, they move faster (and argue less).
• Build trust with stakeholders. Transparency and consistency win every time. Surprises are for birthday parties, not for projects.

Why it matters

Here’s the thing: enabling is often invisible. It doesn’t come with fanfare or shiny trophies. Nobody cuts a ribbon for “best at keeping things on track.”

But it makes the difference between chaos and progress, between projects that stall and those that actually deliver.

At its heart, enabling is leadership without ego: putting the team, the process, and the outcomes ahead of the spotlight.

And when it’s done right? The people around you shine. The organisation evolves. The boardroom decisions actually mean something. You can pilot without us but when you come out the other side, you can see the outcomes are greater.

That’s what I do.

That’s the business I’m in, you don’t have to have the loudest voice to make the strongest impact.

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