The 9 Best Questions to Ask a Leadership Consultant in a Discovery Call

How to Choose the Right Leadership Consultant

Here’s the biggest obstacle you’ll face: We humans often hire people we like, and we often like people who are similar to us (this is called similarity attraction bias, a topic studied by Bunica & Vătămănescu in 2022).

When hiring a leadership consultant, that instinct can sometimes work against us. The people we gravitate to most are not always the kinds of people who can help us effectively. That doesn’t mean you should hire a consultant you don’t feel confident about, but your path to gaining confidence in the candidate should pass some different checks than usual.

The right leadership consultant might have a very different personality, approach, and life experience than the people you tend to lean on, but to ensure you’re selecting the best consultant for your team, look for these must-have qualities:

• Excellent active listening skills. A great leadership consultant has to be an excellent information gatherer, not just an excellent signpost. Lots of consultants speak with confidence, but far fewer notice the dynamics no one is saying out loud, ask uncomfortable questions, and intentionally reflect back to you an accurate picture of what’s really going on.
• Adeptness at moving conversation towards action. You won’t be able to see this person’s facilitation skills at work in a one-on-one call, but you can get a feel for their ability to convert what they’re learning into practical, actionable pieces on the go. Their focus in the conversation should be on understanding you well and coming to conclusions together about the next step. This should never feel pushy—it should feel like a collaborative, guided process.
• Experience getting good results with multiple companies or teams like your own. Remember that statistics are always presented as a story, so if they tell you a bunch of stats as if that’s proof, probe further into what those stats actually mean. Ask the consultant what those clients did to lean into the process and get those results—great consultants will be quick to brag on their client's great work, not just their own part in it.

P.S. Choose a consultant for their own merit, not the company’s reputation.

When you first get in touch with a consulting firm, you'll likely have an initial intake call with a team member, and once there’s more shared understanding about your goals and needs, they will get you connected with the team member that seems to be the best match. During the first call, make sure they understand your goals and needs clearly, and find out how they will be matching you with a consultant.

Once you on the discovery call with the consultant you’d be working with, this is the time to grill them. Not in an aggressive way! But you need to make sure you have confidence in the actual consultant, not just the representative you were first speaking with or the reputation of the firm as a whole. Their goal will be on learning about you, which is essential! But it's also important for you to learn about them.

Go into this call prepared! Here are nine questions you should ask any leadership consultant before deciding to hire them to help your company.

During the Discovery Call: 9 Questions to Ask the Leadership Consultant

1. How did you come to be a leadership consultant?

This question is a bit of a classic CV review, but here’s what to listen for:

• Do they personally have experience being part of a senior leadership team?
• What areas of insight do they seem to have the most experience with (i.e. conflict resolution, team culture, strategic planning, risk assessment, etc)?
• What makes this fulfilling for them? Is there a match here between something your team would want to experience?

2. What kinds of challenges do you work on with leaders most often?

Keeping your own current needs and goals in mind, listen for whether their expertise aligns with the leadership challenges your company faces. If it doesn’t, it’s less likely they’ll notice the nuances particular to your situation.

3. How have you helped someone with a problem/challenge like mine?

Consultants often have confidentiality clauses with their clients, so they can’t always name names. If they’re giving an example, ask them for non-identifying details to ensure you get more than “We helped 3 companies triple their profits!” What process did they work through? What were the obstacles that arose? Were there any unexpected challenges along the way? How did that client participate in a way that made it a success story?

4. Do you help clients implement the changes you suggest? If so, what does that look like?

A lot of leadership consultants come in and do a team offsite, create an action plan with the executive team, and do a follow up phone call to find out how it went. But how are leadership teams supposed to know how effective a consulting session is until there’s been time and effort put into the implementation of that action plan?

This is where we find coaching and consulting go together best. The consultant hands the baton to the executive coach who supports each leader where the rubber hits the road over the following months.

But some consultants are not going to assist with the rollout, and it’s better to understand that up front so you can be clearer about what your ideal results from the engagement actually are.

5. Are there models, methods, or thought leadership tools you commonly work with?

You don’t need to be familiar with the models and methods used, but it’s worth writing them down to take a look at later, and asking the consultant to explain what kind of value they bring to leaders. It’s a chance to also listen for how quickly they are retrieving this information (which would indicate they access it regularly!)

6. How familiar are you with my industry?

This isn’t always make-or-break. But sometimes it can make a big difference—not just to you but to your leadership team as a whole. Great consultants can bring high value and stay within their expertise (which might not be industry-specific), so if the consultant says they don’t have much familiarity, wait to see if they ask you a question back. Often, “the answers are in the room”, and a leadership consultant who knows how to draw out the expertise from someone else when it is needed is skillful indeed.

7. What do you believe is achievable for my company, and what do you expect could be our biggest obstacles?

Okay, this is a two-in-one question. Firstly, you need to know this person believes in your company, and can articulate back to you a picture that resonates with you based on your conversation so far. But it shouldn’t feel too pie-in-the-sky either: you’ll want to learn what they believe is achievable within a certain time frame, and if they’re willing to commit to that goal together.

Secondly, they should be knowledgeable and courageous enough to tactfully point out some factors that might limit your success, and potential solutions to these problems.

8. How will we measure the success of our work together?

Without clear success metrics, it’s hard to know if your investment in consulting is paying off. That’s actually bad for both parties, not just you. Ask them how they typically measure progress or confirm results. These won’t always be hard numbers, but establishing clear qualitative metrics upfront is the best preparatory work you can do.

9. Will any of your other team members be involved in our work together?

Some consultants work solo, while others involve specialists in areas like executive coaching, assessments, or change management. Understanding their approach helps set expectations about communication along the way, and gives you an idea of how the engagement might unfold.

The Big Money Question

When doing your due diligence before engaging a leadership consultant, the question at the top of the list is typically, “How much is this going to cost?” It is an investment, a big purchase, so to speak, and you should be cognizant of your budget. But this may not be the most helpful question at the beginning because… a transparent consultant just doesn’t know the answer yet.

They can give you an idea of their rates and fee schedules, but the reality is that it depends on your situation. It is important to keep in mind that cheaper isn’t always better. And “more expensive” isn’t always better either—which is why this question isn’t really going to give you a helpful answer. Instead of focusing solely on cost, focus on the value: How will this investment drive measurable improvements in your leadership team’s effectiveness and company culture?

One Question to Ask Yourself During the Discovery Call

In your discovery process, take the time to ask yourself a key question: Is this someone with whom I can share my own inadequacies or weaknesses without losing their respect? The leadership consulting process requires a great deal of humility, and you can’t get the results you need if you feel you need to impress this consultant.

As you consider fit, ask yourself if you truly can see yourself developing trust with this person and through this process.

Now You’re Ready to Find the Right Leadership Consultant

Asking the right questions is the key to finding a leadership consultant who can truly impact your team. The next step? Have a conversation with someone who’s ready to answer them. Our consultants don’t just bring expertise—they bring a deep commitment to understanding your leadership challenges and goals.

Let’s start with a discovery call. Share your leadership needs, ask the questions that matter most, and see if we’re the right fit for your team. Reach out today, and let’s explore how we can help your organization move forward with clarity and confidence.