- Clients
- CMI Qualification Learners
Welcome to the December edition of Elevation Insights – a special year-end review reflecting on what 2025 has revealed about consulting, capability, and the skills that truly make a difference.
Throughout the year, Elevation Insights has shared consulting news, practical insight, and expert perspectives to support your learning and development and help you deliver greater value to clients. Curated by Elevation Learning’s consulting skills team, our focus has been on moving beyond the headlines to offer clear, actionable takeaways that strengthen consulting practice.
As 2025 draws to a close, this edition steps back from our monthly pattern to look at the bigger picture. We reflect on the impact we’ve seen across organisations, the capabilities that have mattered most, the models and ideas that have resonated, and what all this means for how consultants need to show up in 2026.
Whether you’re reflecting on the year just gone or preparing for the year ahead, this review offers both perspective and practical insight as you approach 2026.
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At Elevation Learning, 2025 has been an outstanding year for developing confident, capable consultants and business partners.
Creating Impact for Participants
Across our programmes, we achieved an average participant evaluation score of 4.43 out of 5, supported by consistently strong feedback from consultants at all stages of their careers.
Participants consistently highlighted the real-world relevance and immediate applicability of our programmes:
This feedback reflects our focus on building capability and confidence in ways that translate directly into stronger client outcomes.
Building Sustainable Client Partnerships
Our impact was also reflected in the strength and longevity of our client relationships.
52% of our training programmes were delivered for long-standing clients, many of whom we have partnered with for several years.
Clients consistently highlighted the quality of the partnership and the impact of our approach:
These comments reflect our commitment to long-term partnerships and learning experiences that deliver lasting impact.
One message came through clearly in 2025 – technical excellence alone is no longer enough.
The breadth of programmes we delivered this year reflects the expanding capability set required of modern consultants and business partners, including:
Across these programmes, two core client expectations consistently stood out:
These themes are already shaping how we design our programmes – with greater emphasis on judgement, commercial impact, emotional intelligence, and real-world application.
Throughout the year, we shared a Model of the Month through our LinkedIn posts and articles. For this year-end edition, we’re revisiting the three models that resonated most strongly in 2025, based on client demand, programme usage, and participant feedback.
Together, these models reflect the human, commercial, and relational capabilities consultants relied on most this year.
The ability to give clear, constructive feedback is a core consulting skill — whether supporting fellow consultants, influencing stakeholders, or strengthening client relationships.
Used together, the COIN and BOOST models provide a practical approach that balances structure with humanity.
Context → Observation → Impact → Next Steps
Balanced, Observed, Objective, Specific, and Timely
Together, these models help consultants deliver feedback that strengthens performance, builds confidence, and reinforces trust.
As clients increasingly demand clear evidence of value, the Value Proposition Canvas proved to be one of our most-used tools.
The VPC helps consultants articulate value by clearly connecting what they deliver with what clients genuinely need. It supports a crucial shift – from describing activities to articulating outcomes – and enables more confident, commercially grounded client conversations.
In a landscape where relationships mattered more than ever, the Trust Equation remained a cornerstone model across our programmes:
Trust = (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy) / Self-Orientation
The model reinforces that trust is built through both rational and emotional factors — and that genuine client focus sits at the heart of effective consulting.
Many would argue that trust is not just a pillar of consulting, it’s the pillar.
Throughout 2025, our thought leadership explored what it really takes to perform, influence, and sustain impact as a consultant in an increasingly complex environment. Across our articles, LinkedIn posts, and discussions, five themes consistently stood out:
Across all our thought leadership, one message stood out clearly – consultants who thrive learn continuously, engage deeply, think strategically, and adapt quickly.
To explore these themes in more depth, visit our LinkedIn post and articles.
In 2025, one theme consistently dominated the consulting headlines – artificial intelligence (AI) and its accelerating impact on the profession.
Key developments included:
Across these developments, human judgement, trust, and strong client partnerships remain central.
Looking ahead to 2026, AI will continue to act not just as a technology trend, but as a strategic force reshaping roles, capabilities, business models, and client expectations.
We’ll continue to track these developments and share practical insights to help consultants and firms navigate this evolving landscape with confidence and clarity.
In 2026, how consultants work with clients will matter just as much as what they know.
From our work with consulting firms and in-house consulting teams, one thing is clear – the consultants who succeed are those who consistently translate insight into impact.
What’s IN
✔ Outcome-led conversations
✔ Commercial sharpness
✔ Confident challenge
✔ AI-enabled judgement
✔ Actionable advice
What’s OUT
✖ Long decks, low impact
✖ Off-the-shelf frameworks
✖ Billing for effort rather than value
✖ Hiding behind data
✖ Over-leveraged delivery
The consultants who create the greatest impact will be those who combine clear thinking, commercial insight, sound judgement, and the thoughtful use of AI to build trust and deliver sustainable client outcomes.
Thank you for checking out December’s edition of Elevation Insights.
As we look ahead to 2026, we’d love to hear from you:
Don’t forget to come back for our next edition in January, and subscribe on LinkedIn to be sure it lands in your inbox first!
