The Consultant's Way Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams 
• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth 
• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by: 

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more: https://mcmannransford.com/ 

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more: https://www.consultantsway.com/ 

Connect with us: 

• LinkedIn: 

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com 

Interested in being a guest? 

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In this episode of The Consultant’s Way Podcast, hosts Anthony Paluska and Dean McMann sit down with Brandon Hammer, Senior Vice President of Global Services at Seismic, to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping professional services. Brandon shares a clear and grounded view of what the next phase of AI looks like for consultants, going far beyond the simple use cases of automation and efficiency.

Rather than focusing on replacing people, he discusses how AI can expand the impact of consultants by freeing them from repetitive work and allowing them to focus on higher-value conversations with clients. He introduces the idea of “virtual consultants” that can support live engagements in real time, drawing from company knowledge and best practices to help deliver better outcomes.

The conversation also touches on how organizations are changing structurally because of AI, moving away from rigid silos and toward teams that are built around customer outcomes instead of products. Brandon explains how his teams are using AI to identify risks earlier, deliver results faster, and stay ahead of client needs.

Beyond technology, the episode dives into what this transformation means for people. Brandon describes how the profile of a successful consultant is evolving, with curiosity, communication, and adaptability becoming just as essential as technical expertise. He also offers a perspective on preventing burnout and building longer, more fulfilling consulting careers in an industry that is shifting faster than ever.

The episode closes with a challenge to leaders: make space for innovation inside your organization. Brandon believes the best ideas for using AI in professional services will come from the ground up, not the top down. His message is both practical and inspiring; a reminder that the consultants who learn to combine human judgment with intelligent technology will define the next era of the profession.

Send us Fan Mail

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

 • Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams 

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth 

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by: 

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more: https://mcmannransford.com/ 

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more: https://www.consultantsway.com/ 

Connect with us: 

• LinkedIn: 

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com 

Interested in being a guest? 

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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In this episode of The Consultant’s Way Podcast, hosts Anthony Paluska and Dean McMann talk with Catherine Sloan, a seasoned professional services leader with more than twenty-five years of experience across startups, large enterprises, and everything in between. Catherine brings an honest and insightful look at what it takes to thrive in organizations of very different sizes and why curiosity, adaptability, and courage matter more than ever in today’s consulting world.

She paints a vivid picture of life inside a scrappy startup, where speed, improvisation, and napkin architecture rule the day. Then she contrasts that with large enterprises, where success depends on navigating process, hierarchy, and institutional memory. Her reflections reveal how the same skills that help consultants survive the chaos of small companies, such as flexibility, grit, and comfort with ambiguity, are the very traits that drive innovation in large ones.

The discussion explores how professional services functions are evolving as AI, data, and outcome-based delivery reshape expectations. Catherine shares how both large and small firms must balance the need for speed with the need for structure, and why documentation, learning, and clarity are becoming essential for success.

She and the hosts also talk about the universal tension between what customers want and what they actually need. Catherine explains that consultants must be confident enough to challenge clients when their requests steer projects off course because true partnership comes from honest dialogue, not blind agreement. Her perspective on leading within product-driven organizations highlights how professional services teams can demonstrate their value both internally and externally.

Throughout the conversation, Catherine’s advice is practical and encouraging. She urges listeners to stay open, keep learning, and take opportunities even when they feel uncertain. Her Halloween story at the end, where a team finds humor and connection in the middle of a stressful quarter close, per

Send us Fan Mail

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What if professional services is not just the cost of doing business, but the engine driving real outcomes?

Osama Atta joins Dean McMann and Anthony Paluska to talk about what he calls the PS 2.0 mindset. In his words, professional services is no longer just there to make the software work. It is the bridge between promise and proof. Osama unpacks how his team at Altrio productized their services, shortened time to value, and started speaking the language of the business: revenue, ROI, and strategic impact.

He shares how they reframed PS from a necessary evil to a strategic asset, and how that transformation started with better internal storytelling, stronger partnerships with sales, and clear data to back it all up.

If you are trying to build a more scalable, profitable, and visible PS team, this conversation is packed with takeaways. You will hear how they aligned with sales, priced and packaged their services, created internal boundaries to avoid burnout, and tracked value instead of hours. This one is practical, insightful, and refreshingly honest.

Send us Fan Mail

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How do boutique consulting firms end up outpacing their embedded PS counterparts? Ben Edwards might have the answer, and the receipts.

In this episode, Ben shares what he is seeing across the consulting and embedded services landscape, from shifting team structures to exploding demand for thought leadership and commercial fluency. He talks about the rise of the diamond-shaped team, the erosion of traditional consulting pyramids, and what it means for training, quality, and long-term sustainability.

We also get into what is fueling the boom in boutique firms, how private equity is changing the game, and why go-to-market strategies are evolving fast. Ben outlines the shift from black book sales to scalable content machines, the rise of specialists with narrow niches and big reach, and how pure-play firms are out-marketing their embedded competition.

If you are running a services organization, embedded or independent, this is a reality check you need to hear.

Send us Fan Mail

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

 Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

 Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

 Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sales and professional services may work for the same company, but often, it feels like they live on different planets. In this episode, Margarita Ginsberg joins Dean McMann and Anthony Paluska to unpack the tension and the opportunitybetween these two critical teams.

Margarita shares real talk on what happens when PS gets looped in too late, how trust erodes when customers get hit with surprise services fees, and why too many sales cycles treat consulting like an afterthought.

She breaks down different models for integrating PS into the sales process, including partner-led delivery, PS sales teams, and expert matchmaking. Most importantly, she reminds us that PS professionals can’t sit back and wait to be invited… they have to own the relationship, lean into the chaos, and make it work.

Oh, and there’s also a horse. Yes, a real horse. You’ll want to stay for that story.

Whether you're a PS leader, a sales exec, or just tired of cleaning up messes you didn’t make, this episode is a gut check on collaboration, role clarity, and the real job of driving outcomes for your clients.

Send us Fan Mail

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What do you do when your values collide with your company’s behavior? Or when your team needs to grow but some want everything to stay the same?

In this episode, Eric Dubiner joins Dean McMann and Anthony Paluska to talk about the hard parts of leadership. They explore how to navigate change, face ethical dilemmas, and learn to speak finance without losing yourself. Eric shares how he has helped teams shift from being task-takers to true consulting partners while maintaining trust along the way.

He explains why financial fluency is essential for professional services leaders, how to deliver tough messages to both teams and clients, and why doing the right thing sometimes means walking away without a backup plan.

This conversation is honest, gritty, and packed with lessons from someone who has been through it and stayed grounded.

Send us Fan Mail

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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What happens when you stop saying “no” and start asking, “what else can we do for our customers?” Elie Mansour has built his career and his team around that question.

In this episode, Elie sits down with Dean McMann and Anthony Paluska to share how he transformed BioConnect’s professional services team from a traditional project-delivery model into a customer-first, value-driven partner. He dives into what it really takes to build trust, expand relationships, and turn everyday client needs into new service opportunities, including his successful launch of a managed services offering.

Elie also gets real about what it means to coach a team to take ownership of customer relationships and how to shift from fixed-fee “get in, get out” thinking to long-term partnerships that drive outcomes. From packaging new services to winning internal buy-in, this conversation is a playbook for leaders who want their PS teams to move beyond implementation and into strategic value creation.

Send us Fan Mail

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this episode of The Consultant’s Way Podcast, Dean McMann and Anthony Paluska sit down with Jim DeCristofaro, VP of Professional Services at Aptitude Software, to talk about the growing pressure on consulting teams to evolve—and fast.

Jim shares how onboarding has fundamentally changed in a hybrid world, especially for junior consultants who no longer benefit from the passive learning and informal exposure that came with in-person client work. He explains why “learning through osmosis” is fading and why today’s PS leaders need to be far more intentional with mentorship, training structures, and expectations from day one.

The conversation also dives into the rising need for business acumen across all levels of the PS team. Jim breaks down how expectations have shifted. It is no longer enough to simply deliver on the scope. Every consultant is expected to build relationships, understand the client’s broader business, and act as a trusted advisor—regardless of title.

The trio also explores how relationship-building impacts sales and delivery when budget ownership shifts from IT to finance. Jim explains how services teams need to position their value differently for each stakeholder and build credibility across both sides of the house.

Finally, they dig into the compression of timelines and ROI expectations. Clients want faster returns, clearer value, and tighter scopes—which often means shorter projects that are easier to sell but harder to optimize.

Jim leaves listeners with a clear takeaway. Success in professional services today depends on leading with intention, not reacting to chaos. Teams need to be proactive in their training, deliberate in how they build relationships, and strategic in how they show value.

Send us Fan Mail

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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What happens when your background isn’t the “typical” consulting path, but you bring curiosity, people skills, and a strong sense of mission? Rico Oyola, Head of Post-Sales at IdeaScale, joins The Consultant’s Way to talk about his unconventional path from civil rights work and international development to leading customer success, professional services, and support.

Rico breaks down what open innovation really looks like and why success often comes down to being the one who can bring people together across silos. From CEO summits in Davos to block-by-block canvassing for neighborhood apps, Rico’s done it all. And it’s given him a unique lens on how to lead teams, guide clients, and help ideas scale.

He shares how to earn trust by showing up with empathy, how to use bad analogies to make great points (his words, not ours), and why humility is the real foundation of innovation. You'll hear how NASA solved a $20 million problem by breaking down silos—and how Rico helps clients do the same, one stakeholder map at a time.

If you’re managing people in client-facing roles or trying to make your PS org more impactful, this is one you’ll want to play twice.

Send us Fan Mail

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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Cultural differences aren't just about countries. They show up in boardrooms, project teams, and even your neighbor’s backyard BBQ. On this episode, Dean McMann and Anthony Paluska sit down with Paulo Naddeo, VP of Global Professional Services at Stonebranch, to unpack what it really takes to work across cultures—and why it's probably harder than you think.

Paulo brings a unique lens to the conversation. Born and raised in Brazil, he built his own software company before making the jump to a global role in the US. Along the way, he discovered that language barriers are only the tip of the iceberg. Whether you're working across countries, industries, or departments, cultural misunderstandings sneak in—and often blow up projects.

In this episode, Paulo shares real-world lessons from his decades of global consulting, including how to stop assuming you’re being clear, why pre-meeting prep matters more than you think, and how small misunderstandings (like spicy cheese) can escalate fast. He also breaks down why building trust takes time, what consultants often miss when working with technical teams, and how to avoid the classic trap of thinking culture clashes only happen overseas.

If you’ve ever struggled to communicate across teams, countries, or just different professional mindsets, this episode will make you think twice—and laugh along the way.