Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking

It is a myth to assume that you are automatically awarded leadership roles as a bright associate or consultant. Competition for these roles are fierce, assuming you get it, and being "awarded" a role is far less useful than having earned the role in the eyes of your peers. In the latter, teams follow you because they choose too. In this podcast I will outline a technique I used throughout my career to find "rules" which could be broken to take control of engagements and earn the trust of peers and teams.

What can Darth Vader from Star Wars and monkeys in Africa teach you about effective mentoring? This podcast touches on those things which define a good mentee both in management consulting and for clients seeking a consulting career. The podcast describes the attributes of both an effective mentee and mentor, and the typical behavior of a "good" and "bad" mentee. Surprisingly, a good mentee should actually give you a small headache.

Having spent a large part of my consulting career in my twenties, since I joined the Firm just shy of my 22 birthday, I personally know what it was like to successfully manage a young image. I was generally the youngest analyst, associate or engagement manager on a team, and a very young principal leading teams. I recall several times managing teams where the youngest person was older than myself. Those kinds of situations invariably raise challenges in controlling one's image and client perceptions. In this podcast, I outline 7 things which can be done to control ageism, and begin by defining how younger and older consultants differ in the signals they send.

One oversight we have corrected as we have learned more about our clients, is to understand the role their significant others play in their lives and decisions. We tend to assume that the advice we provide, and actions you take, are largely influenced solely by your wishes. That could not be further from the truth. In some ways, your significant other is a major investor and she/he can cause a lot of problems if you take actions not in keeping with his/her wishes. This interesting podcast, examines the decisions of our youngest client and how we helped her understand the implications of her personal choices as she prepares to join McKinsey.

The issue of gender disparities and the increasing African-American ratios in management consulting firms have rightly become important issues. Yet, the latter is a frighteningly narrow interpretation of racial prejudices.

Our client, Sasha recently received an offer from McKinsey Paris for the Operations Practice. This is the third podcast of a series of three interviews with him.

Our client, Sasha recently received an offer from McKinsey Paris for the Operations Practice. This is the second podcast of a series of three interviews with him.

Our client, Sasha recently received an offer from McKinsey Paris for the Operations Practice. This is the first podcast of a series of three interviews with him.

This podcast is based on the Quarterly article about the pros and cons of joining internal consulting units in banks, primarily as a substitute for careers in McKinsey or BCG.

This podcast is linked to the article about recent recruiting problems at BCG. We elevate the problem here and discuss the basic elements which lead to the decline of great firms or why smaller firms never become great.