Alternatives to GLG

Update: We have discontinued this series.  Click here for a complete explanation.

Our blog post about the Gerson Lehrman Group was a big hit and has received a number of comments. I was contacted by Gerson Lehrman to discuss ways to make their website more user friendly and a number of similar consulting groups contacted me about their product. Let me start by saying that I think Gerson Lehrman has a great product.

I know a number of people who work for them and a few of their clients. The clients I have spoken with are all very happy with the level of service they receive from GLG and their employees are constantly looking for ways to improve their customer relationships. However, I do not know any consultants who belong to one of their councils and I haven’t figured out how to optimize my profile. The purpose of the entry was simply to find out if this is a common issue with their platform or if it was due to my own inability to manage online content. I will keep you informed as I continue to research this issue.

On a related note, I did come across a few alternatives to the Gerson Lehrman Group and would like your input.

New Feature

Update: I apologize for not following through with my commitment to this feature.  I had to deal with the firestorm that erupted over the Gerson Lehrman entries and neglected to write about my favorite books.  I hope that you forgive me.  Book reviews are too intensive to do daily and I plan to make this a weekly feature.  Please let me know if you find this material helpful for your business.

Over the next week, I will write about my favorite business writers. I will focus on their key ideas and recommend books you might find useful for exploring their thoughts. Here is the schedule I made for myself this coming week:

• Monday: Peter Drucker, The Practice of Management
• Tuesday: Jeffrey Gitomer, Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness
• Wednesday: Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle’s-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions
• Thursday: Herb Cohen, You Can Negotiate Anything
• Friday: Charles Koch, The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World’s Largest Private Company

This is only a partial list of books which have influenced my business career. Hopefully writing about books will be part of my daily blogging. However, I am always looking for more books to write about. Please send me a short review of your favorite book and I would be happy to publish your review on this blog. While I have final editorial control over this blog, I am always glad to get help with content.

Consulting Magazine

I just came across a magazine just dedicated to consultants called Consulting Magazine. The name isn’t very original, but it is effective. There are a few good articles in this issue that you might find helpful to your business. I also came across a free, five page white paper from one of their advertisers called “Maximizing Performance and Profitability in Professional Services Organizations“. The title is almost as long as the report! While the report is a bit light on information, it does have some useful tidbits. Let me know what you think of the magazine and the white paper. I hope that you find them useful.