Over the decades, not much has happened to disrupt the status quo of the business management consulting industry. The approach to management consulting projects has remained, in many ways, stagnant. Consultants would be brought in, often from the big, traditional consulting firms, and they would take over. A framework would be laid for the business to follow, and their standard off-the-shelf playbook-based plan would have to be followed rigidly, with very little room for customization or collaboration.
After spending over 20 years where she was a senior executive in Big Consulting, Amira elAdawi saw room for change. While working within top-tier firms and with Fortune 50 companies as a business operator, she saw that — due to the inflexible nature of the standard consultation approach — businesses were returning to hiring consultants again and again to solve the same problems.
Deciding to strike out on her own with a new approach, elAdawi founded AMIRA & CO, a boutique consulting firm that has gone global with a fresh take on consulting. The bedrock of her business model — based on collaboratively co-creating solutions with the client, not for them — was developed through client research and informed by years of experience.
“When I left big consulting, I interviewed clients about what they liked and what they didn’t like about the consulting industry and the services it provides them,” elAdawi explains. “I knew I needed to address an unmet need and address it differently.”
Transformation from Within
AMIRA & CO’s “different” approach was a break from standardization; elAdawi wanted to get away from the idea that the consultant is always the smartest person in the room, and the codependent relationship that the idea creates. “Being the smartest person in the room isn’t a sustainable solution,” she says. “It’s designed to get them to rely on you.”
Instead of coming in with a set playbook and an all-knowing approach, elAdawi set out to create a foundation of partnership and co-creation, seeking to create transformation from within for her clients. The AMIRA & CO approach enables client teams to take an active role in projects, giving them agency in their future success. Rather than relying on elAdawi as an external consultant to dictate solutions to them, AMIRA & CO’s clients are actively involved in creating their own solutions, and thus building sustainable plans.
This approach leads to far greater accountability, and less chance that elAdawi will need to be repeatedly brought in to solve the same problems over and over. “If you don’t have to hire me ever again, then I’ve succeeded,” she says.
The end goal of AMIRA & CO’s consultation model is a client that can continue positive change from within, even long after elAdawi and her team have moved on to their next client. “I help clients learn how to solve problems. I create a collective, co-creative solution. I enable them, enhance, and support them,” elAdawi says. “I bring in decades of expertise, best practices, and cutting-edge know-how, but the recipe for success, is that I combine that, with my clients knowledge of their own business and what makes is unique, and their passion for making it successful — that’s how I create superior results that last.”
This philosophy that successful transformation must come “from within” a company, not from outside it, is turning the consulting industry on end. elAdawi’s approach has gained global recognition and placed her at the top of the industry among her larger firm peers.
Value and Enduring Change
When people think of management consultants or M&A (mergers and acquisitions) experts, the big firms typically come to mind. elAdawi acknowledges that, without a bit of luck and a few larger companies placing faith in her abilities and new approach, AMIRA & CO would likely not be in the globally recognized position it is in today.
“It takes a lot of hard work, skills, and years of experience to be even get a chance to compete with Big Consulting and serve top-tier large clients properly,” says elAdawi. “But it also takes a bit of luck — anyone successful who says they got there without a lot of hard work, and a little bit of luck is lying.”
While luck may have been a factor in her success, it’s the value and lasting change that elAdawi’s novel approach gives to clients was a much more significant component. “The tipping point should always be the customer,” elAdawi mentions. “Customers will always tell you what to continue doing and what to do differently if you listen honestly enough.”
By clearly communicating what makes AMIRA & CO different from her big firm counterparts, elAdawi has established her boutique firm as the one to watch. With the value-based and collaborative consulting environment that she offers, elAdawi has earned a string of accolades from industry peers and clients alike.
“It’s primarily word-of-mouth that helped us grow and establish ourselves in the industry,” elAdawi explains. “You have to keep your clients believing in you by create real value for them for recommendations to drive work to you organically. The pool of clients can be endless, so some firms don’t worry about a project going poorly — but it’s a small world, and clients talk.”
Through AMIRA & CO, elAdawi has established a consulting firm rooted in the idea of enduring change, one that empowers client teams to play a pivotal role in their own path to change.
“I want my work to be hands-on, interesting, and different,” says elAdawi. “I would be bored out of my mind if I was doing the same thing over and over again.” With her innovative approach to M&As and consulting, her work is sure to remain interesting, different, and anything but boring.