Frequently Asked Questions

What is a leadership consultant?
A leadership consultant acts as a facilitator, helping individuals and organizations to create the future they want. A consultant helps to clarify core values, establish a purpose, mission and vision, and works with the client to develop an action plan to effectively move toward future goals. In this role, the consultant is able to listen to challenges and offer suggestions while the client continues to learn and grow.

Am I a leader?
Each and everyone of us is a leader. A leader is a person who creates a future that others can see their future in. For example, mothers and fathers are leaders because they build a future for their children in which they play an active part. A non-manager employee is a leader because they create opportunities for their customers. In your own way, you create an environment that includes others, and actively lead them into their future plans.

Why might I need or want a leadership consultant?
You might need or want a leadership consultant to help establish a clear vision for your path to success. A consultant will:

• Establish that who you are is more than what you do
• Hold you accountable for your vision/future
• Provide support to actualize visions with quantifiable results
• Unite personal and professional goals
• Reveal talents and gifts
• Transform key ideas and dreams into quantifiable goals

What areas of my life would benefit from a leadership consultant? Personal or professional?
All areas of your life can be enhanced. A leadership consultant will help clients identify and achieve key goals, match personal and professional goals, and pinpoint key skills required to achieve those goals successfully.

What areas does Milestone Leadership Consulting specialize in?

• Leadership Consulting
• Mortgage Lending Consulting
• Strategic Planning for Life and Work
• Strategic Gap Analysis and Implementation Planning
• Facilitation for Meetings and Seminars
• Career Counseling
• DISC Administration

How do I choose the leadership consultant that is right for me?
Make certain that the consultant has your future, vision and goals in mind—not theirs. A qualified consultant will conduct an initial meeting to understand important needs and get a sense of the “gaps,” and to effectively develop and collaborate on an action plan for the client. During the initial meeting, ask key questions about experience and background. It will reveal if their personality and skills will in turn help alleviate key areas in your business and/or life.

How does the process work?
The process begins during the initial meeting with a leadership consultant. The first step involves working with the client to establish a clear vision, mission, purpose and goals. Once these guidelines are defined, a consultant then helps the client determine the gaps between current reality and desired future goals. These key elements are then used to develop an effective action plan. An action plan is defined by the client, and highlights specific areas they need to address to overcome critical gaps. The leadership consultant acts only as a guide, while the client is responsible for developing the action plan and holding themselves
accountable. In this way the consultant acts as a mirror, reflecting how the plan is progressing while empowering the client to clearly shape their future. Its important to keep in mind that the client is the ultimate decision-maker, and the consultant serves only as the sounding board.

Do we meet face to face or over the phone?
Meeting schedules and methods are designed to accommodate the client. Dates, times and meeting styles are agreed upon during initial contact with Milestone Leadership Consulting.

How is leadership consulting different than therapy?
Therapy is based on the past and resolving issues from the past. Leadership consulting is about the future and designing a course of action to help you reach unprecedented levels of success.

How much do these services cost?
Service packages are built around client needs. After initial consultation with Milestone Leadership Consulting, an estimation of the total number of services will determine a more accurate cost estimate for each client case.

Who started Milestone Leadership Consulting?
Julie Piepho started Milestone Leadership Consulting in 2001. She has over 25 years of experience as a high-level sales executive in the mortgage lending industry. She is also a Certified Mortgage Banker, (CMB) offering expert consultation services for all levels of the mortgage business. As a leader, Julie has inspired and motivated hundreds of people to look within themselves for the answers they need to reach their own milestones of self-fulfillment.