4 Steps to attract and retain software consultants

Here are 4 steps for you rock star managers who are hell-bent on attracting and retaining the best talent as software consultants:

You’ll evaluate yourself and your life. You’ll know where you’re slipping, areas of frustration, discomfort, or incompleteness.
You’ll know what needs strengthening, whether physical, social, spiritual, financial psychological. You know, those areas where you know you are not quite where you want to be.
You’ll evaluate whether to help yourself or look elsewhere for help and support.
You’ll know where to find help and support.
You’ll courageously grow and thrive.

You’ll seek ways to love well and more deeply.
If you start thinking loving people at work means it’s unprofessional, icky, removing boundaries to your personal life; you’ll pause, evaluate and wrestle with that thought. You might seek help from others.
If you think loving people at work is weird; hold that thought and wait for the next step.

You’ll not assume you know what your people need. You’ll let your curiosity lead you to listen and learn.
You’ll figure out that people, wherever and whoever, want to be loved well, anything less leaves a void…somewhere.
You’ll learn and appreciate what love looks like at home, at work, everywhere you interact with people.
You’ll accept you don’t know everything about your people, so will pay close attention and listen deeply.

You’ll permit yourself to be creative. To do things you’ve never done before or seen done.
You’ll create solutions for your team that suit you, your company, clients, and your team. It will be okay if it doesn’t look like the solution you’ve implemented before.
You’re filling your tank, so won’t be stingy in giving to your people.
You’ll accept all of yourself and invite your team to do the same, this is attractive, and will help attract the right people.

Of course, you might choose not to do any of these. And that’s ok! Though I am curious, how do you plan to attract and retain the best?