I was asked to answer a question about how to become a go-to person when employed within a consulting firm. Here are some thoughts based on my past experience:

1. Be known as a consultant that gets things done on projects in general. This goes a long way in consulting circles.
2. Play a key role in developing new intellectual property or approaches for the firm. For one firm I worked for, I came up with “standard” framework approach for doing business plan analyses for municipal wireless deployments. My team also created an approach for doing wireless spectrum valuation.
3. Pursue mastery in business development if you can (aka sales). If you can sell business (even if in a lead, supportive role) this will also help develop your name in partner circles or at least align you with a key partner in the firm that may sponsor you down the road.
4. Publish articles in a focused area or practice (aka marketing). Although it depends on your firm, consider writing articles, whitepapers, or books. I should have done this more in my career, but when I did eventually publish a book on implementing behavioral science initiatives, it helped solidify a specialty in people’s minds.