16 Lessons Learned From Working 2 Years As A Management Consultant
Here is what I would tell myself if I was just getting started
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Good evening everybody and welcome to Sweat Equity!
I’m writing from the beautiful Austin, Texas. My team and I have a project kickoff with one of our clients, so I’m out here for a few days.
Last night we stuffed our faces with BBQ from Lambert’s BBQ, one of the ritzier BBQ places in Austin. I’d say it’s a BBQ place you go to when you are with a bunch of business colleagues.
If you never have been to Austin and you’re looking for some good BBQ, go to Terry Blacks and order their brisket. They’re going to try and sell you a thousand sides and different cuts of meat. Just get the brisket. It’s the best brisket you’ll ever have.
This past week, Rachael’s brother Alex crashed with us for a couple of days. He’s starting at Deloitte in September. He reads my stuff and asked if I could do a deep dive on what I wish I would’ve known before starting in consulting. Little did he know it was perfect timing to write something like this because today marks exactly two years from starting my career at Deloitte.
It’s crazy how time has flown by!
I had a few ideas for things I wanted to share, but I also wanted to get a few other perspectives from my fellow present and past management consultants. Thank you, Matt Blank and Nathan Baugh for your input on this piece.
Let’s get into it.
16 Lessons Learned From 2 Years In Management Consulting
Here is what I would tell myself if I was just getting started
1 - Pursue interesting projects
When considering joining a new project, ask yourself these three questions:
Are you excited about the work?
Are you excited about the client you are working for?
Are you excited about the people you will be working with?
Three yeses? This is like finding a unicorn. Join the team ASAP.
Two yeses? The project is probably a good fit.
One yes? Keep looking.
2 - Hit your metrics
Everyone in the company has metrics to hit. If you want to make more money and move up in the company, hit your metrics. Especially when you work at a large company!
When I first started as a management consultant, I didn't understand how important this is. It wasn't until my manager literally told me "Dude you need to be hitting your utilization target!" that I started taking it more seriously.
Whether your target is utilization, sales, or something else, if you want to move up the corporate ladder, hit your damn metrics.
3 - Learn to make your projects sustainable
This one is from Matt:
Unlike a lot of my coworkers, I averaged 7-hours of sleep a night on my projects, went to the gym every morning, and called my parents every night. I even watched most Washington Capitals games.
Before I joined any project, I told my prospective manager that I just needed those four things to give them my all every day. They’re pretty reasonable demands, and most managers accommodated them.
I’d figure out what those few things are for you that help you perform at your peak each day and communicate them before you join any project.
Working as a management consultant can be demanding. It’s your job to make it sustainable.
Making your job sustainable is a function of bringing your best self to work every day. Define the activities that help you bring your best self to work, and communicate them with your team.
For me, those are:
Working out
Going to bed by 10PM
Sitting down for a coffee or meal with someone I love
4 - Regularly check in with your team
Do not overlook this step. Especially if you work in a remote-first setting. Consulting is all about relationships. If you want to succeed as a management consultant, you have to:
Have good relationships with your teammates
Have good relationships with your clients
A great way to build rapport with your team is to schedule weekly or bi-weekly check-ins with the team.
You might be thinking, what should I talk about in these check-ins? It really comes down to what you want. For me, I wanted to get promoted as quickly as possible and get the highest raise possible. So, as an analyst looking to get promoted to consultant, the next level on the totem pole, here’s what I did:
I researched “What are the qualities and skills of an exceptional consultant?”
After I had those qualities and skills, during my check-ins, I’d ask my team “What are your expectations of me in terms of skill #1, skill #2, and skill #3?”
Once I had those expectations, I’d go to work, relentlessly trying to hammer on showing my team how I was exercising those skills.
During my next check-in, I’d say, “During our last check-in you mentioned your expectations of me regarding skill #1, skill #2, and skill #3, on a scale from one to five, how am I delivering on those expectations we previously defined?”
They’d give me feedback. I’d refine my skills. And the process would start over again.
Crazy? Yes!
But as a result, I’ve been recognized as a top performer during the past two years of working at the firm.
5 - Pursue firm initiatives that interest you
When I first joined the firm, I was amped to join the first initiative that came my way. Why? Because everyone was like “You need to get on an initiative because it’s a part of your performance.”
Well, don’t do that.
Instead, do what my friend Nathan suggests and ask yourself these two questions before agreeing to pick up an initiative:
Is it something you are interested in?
Is it with a team of people you’d enjoy working with?
If either question is a “no”, don't pursue it.
Protect your time.
6 - Manage expectations
You're compensated based on performance.
Your performance is a function of:
Defining expectations
Exceeding those expectations
Communicating your impact to the right stakeholders
If you want to be a high-performer, learn to manage expectations well.
7 - Never stop learning
Consulting is the ultimate career playground. Use it as a place to try and learn new things.
A word from Matt:
Consulting is hard by default. You travel a lot, put up with insane client demands, and work crazy hours. That’s a feature and not a bug.
As a lot of consultants will tell you, you’ll learn in dog years and get 5+ years of work experience in 2 years. Your job in your 20s is to maximize your learning curve and not to maximize chillness, which makes consulting a great job when you’re fresh out of undergrad.
Keep the learning curve steep. As soon as it flattens, it’s time to look for a new job.
8 - Take notes
In management consulting, it's standard that the lowest person on the totem pole is responsible for taking notes. But there's a reason for that.
As a management consultant, your job is to absorb, digest, and deliver concise and actionable information.
Taking notes detailing next steps, action items, owners of each action, and deadlines for each action is arguably the best way to learn how to be a great management consultant.
This is why staff-level consultants are often the ones asked to take notes because they are learning how to be better consultants.
9 - You’re not an “advanced” PowerPoint user
Before starting at Deloitte, I was the guy who listed they were "advanced" in PowerPoint on their resume. I was terribly wrong.
There are management consultants who are absolute slide wizards. Odds are, you are not advanced.
Take pride in getting really good at making PowerPoint slides.
Here’s a quick checklist to run through before sending slides to your manager for review:
Font is consistent
Everything is aligned
Headings are the same size
Page numbers are consistent
My colleagues would likely have 14 other things to add to this list.
Plz ping me with more recs. Thx.
10 - Recognize and nurture meaningful relationships
At Deloitte, everyone has a career coach. The relationship between you and your coach is arguably the most important relationship at the firm. They are the ones who pitch to leadership if you are going to get a raise or if you deserve a promotion.
Within every organization, there are people who have a large say in your destiny. Make sure to identify these people and build relationships with them.
11 - Learn to play the game
Every job is a game. The things that might frustrate you in the day to day might just be a part of the game. Don't get angry, just learn to deal with it because that's the game you're playing.
When I first started at the firm, I was the slide formatting guy. I hated slide formatting. I was so bad at it, and working under someone who was extremely detail oriented made it much worse.
Great consultants know how to make great slides. Learn how to make pretty slides. That’s just the game.
12 - Own your career
Deloitte puts a huge emphasis on this. Your experience at Deloitte is your experience. It’s your job to design that experience however you see fit.
Just remember…
Sometimes, you’ll have to make decisions that are best for you, but not optimal for your team or company at large.
For example, turning down a project that you don’t want to do to wait for a project that’s better for you.
Thanks for the input Matt.
13 - Strive for a 100% execute to commit ratio
Your reputation hinges on the percentage of things you execute, over the things you commit to doing. In other words, just do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it.
It sounds simple, but it's how you build a good reputation.
Whether you are delivering work for your team or for a client, make sure you are transparent with deadlines and make sure you hit those deadlines.
14 - Start a side hustle
Throughout my time as a management consultant, I’ve pursued many side hustles and side projects. Management consulting can be a very demanding career, but you need to find time to work on stuff that is unrelated to your job!
Side hustles also make you a more dynamic management consultant. It gives you something to talk about with your team or client that isn’t related to the work you are doing. It helps build those relationships.
Here’s a list of side hustles that’ve made me a more dynamic consultant:
Grew my Twitter following to ~17k
Built Personal Podcast Challenge with Graham Mann
Built Fit Creator Club with Daniel Bustamante and Erod
Ghostwrote for CEOs, Founders, and Investors
Bought an investment property
15 - Manage your manager
This is generic career advice, but it goes a long way. Your job as a staff practitioner is to make your manager’s life easier.
That’s it!
As a junior resource, you’re probably not responsible for making the client happy. That’s your manager’s job.
Your number one job is to make it easier for your manager to do their job. Remember that! Especially during weeks when there are fires popping up everywhere and it feels like the world might explode.
16 - Learn to say no
There is always work to be done. Your job isn’t to fill up your plate to see how much you can juggle at a time. Your job is to pick a few projects you’re interested in, with people you enjoy working with and knock those out of the park.
If your performance is based on the quality of work rather than the quantity, why would you keep filling your plate?
Protect your time and protect your performance by learning to say no to things.
That’s all for today.
Thank you for reading and I’ll see you next week!
Austin