Self discipline: write down key takeaways

by | Strategy

What is your key takeaway? At the end of each class, I ask that all students spend 2-3 minutes thinking of their key takeaway.  This helps us to reflect on what we learned. It also allows me (the teacher) to see if there is any confusion or things to clarify. Since I...

Using strategy to think about our careers

by | Consulting

I teach strategy as my day job.  I also have the privilege or working with 500+ students, professionals, grinders, learners, athletes, performers, and winners.  So yes, I am blessed. During my conversations, I often find myself relating strategy concepts to career...

15 ways to find your unfair advantage

by | Consulting

strategy has been on my brain Started teaching strategy at Emory six years ago. Sure, there were glimpses of strategy in my consulting deliverables, but now I am paid to think about it all day.  I am either reading, talking, debating, or questioning business strategy...

New hires: how to start well

by | Consulting

Great, you got the job, now what?  How do you start your new job off right? I have LOTS of opinions on that, but why take my word? Let’s hear from new hires who just started working over the last 1-3 years. Their direct quotes in blue italics. Celebrate before...

Two job offers, FOBO

by | Consulting

My students are smart and disciplined. So what happens when you take talent, hard work, and marry that with a strong university recruiting engine and a healthy job market? Yep, multiple job offers Amazing, right? Trust me, I think it’s remarkable too It’s...

Consulting career = hourglass

by | Consulting

Consulting is broad Management consulting is a disparate field with more than 700K+ Americans describing themselves as consultants. Yes, that’s possible – even though there are probably a good number of project managers, contractors, subject matter...

HBR: Why do consultants go independent?

by | Learning

This HBR article has a catchy title: Why Consultants Quit Their Jobs and Go Independent (July 2019).  You can easily guess the top 3 reasons: 1) More work-life balance 2) Better compensation, sometimes 3) Less internal politics.  The potential downsides are equally...

Career is a bunch of S-curves

by | Team

For my last class of the semester, I share a few of my thoughts on life, work life, and generally, how to be happy. NB, n=1.  Just one person’s opinion.  One of the more practical diagrams is the following. On the left side is formal education = school. It is a...

Career day

by | Fun

On the last day of class, I have career day. Double meaning – students do their course evaluations (impacting my career), and I dole out what career advice I have from the last 25 years. Caveat: 90% are blog posts that I have written since 2013. As a summary of...

Listen up: internship advice

by | Team

Reached out my network, and asked: “What advice do you have for interns?”  Here is what 25 senior managers and owners said (slight editing, and my emphasis in blue color) on finishing your internship well. Be proud of your work Summarize the project. Recap...

Great next job? Yes, please. . .

by | Consulting

Charles Aris is a recruiter out of North Carolina that places ex-strategy consultants. Yes, you should sign up for their newsletter. They do great work. Some of their post-consulting job postings here. EVP of Strategy & Corporate Development (Boston –...

Career opportunity: Swing like Tarzan

by | Consulting

Career is not a straight line So much is changing. Interest rates, geopolitics, hybrid work, expectations of work/life balance. After so many years of continued specialization (yes, do one thing well), we are finding that we all need generalist skills too. Swing like...

Advice to myself: focus on important things

by | Learning

Generally speaking, I am pretty good under pressure. This can take the form of final revisions the night before the presentation, or conference calls lined up back-to-back. The endorphin gets going and you can ignore the pain. The dopamine gets going and you feel the...

How to start a new job

by | Learning

Starting a new job, my tips and tricks A lot of people I know are changing jobs in the new year. For good or bad, I have also worked at 5 Fortunate 500 companies over the last 25 years, so I know what it is like to have a new job. Some transitions were smoother than...

Mad Men had it right, do the work

by | Consulting

I am Generation X and I am getting tired. Getting tired of asking for permission to ask junior consultants to do work.  Tired of the fear of offending their sensibilities. Tired of doing the thinking. Tired of trying to “charge them up, get them excited”...

Work with people you like and trust

by | Team

In 2014, I interviewed about 50 people for positions in our consulting group. Most of the time, I am giving case interviews to test people’s logical structuring, and analytic skills.  Sometimes, I have a chance to speak more openly – both the good reasons...

What do consultants do?

by | Consulting

It’s one person’s opinion, but here are 130 blog posts which I wrote over the last 3 years to describe my world-view of consulting. Hope you find it useful. Consultants are a strange breed We span all industries, but ultimately we are in the business of...

How to get through rough manager days

by | Team

From 2015: I have not blogged in a month because of international travel, 3 concurrent projects, and honestly, some of the toughest manager days I have ever had. Got some new folks, a fairly ambiguous project, and a lack of thinking. Sad, but true. A lack of real...

Consulting is an apprenticeship

by | Team

Consulting is an apprenticeship business Yes, this is where the master coaches the apprentice on the skills and methods of the craft. Same is true in law, accounting, other professional services. Yes, I am sure that many consulting skills can be taught in books,...