If you need to take a step back from day-to-day operations and plot out the long-term direction of your user experience strategy, consultants can give you a perspective you can't get on your own.
There's not a thing that any of you guys can say bad about me that would hurt my feelings... I'm not coming at you, what I'm saying is that, I'm willing to take that heat for my team, if we're playing well or if we're not playing well.