Commentary: This management consultant started feeling like an imposter
SINGAPORE: We're familiar with the stereotype of a management consultant: Confident, intensely competitive, with a "live to work" attitude in a loftier stress, loftier stakes industry.
This image undoubtedly lurked in my caput when I considered my career path.
It took me a while to realise that consulting was what I really wanted to practice. But when the idea hit me, it seemed like the almost natural fit.
In university, I relished cracking a complex problem inside 24 hours during a case competition. After graduation, I explored roles in financial services and investment management, and found that what I enjoyed near was delivering insights for senior executives and solving issues across markets.
I knew I wanted to deal with the bigger picture, working on multi-disciplinary problems with a wide variety of people. It was then that I decided to take the plunge into the world of management consulting with McKinsey & Company.
That was more than eight years agone. I've since worked across the earth , helping global institutions with strategic growth, agility and sustainability.
FEELING Similar AN IMPOSTER
The mean solar day-to-mean solar day intensity when I started came every bit a shock: The learning curve was steep, and impostor syndrome was a real issue for me.
The frequent travel, the fast-paced analyses, the high-powered interactions with clients and colleagues - my get-go half dozen months felt like being on a rocket ship hurtling at warp speed, with little experience. And I couldn't get off without jeopardising the mission.
As one of the relatively few recruits at the Singapore office from a local university at that time, I recollect struggling to grasp all the industry cognition and consulting principles in a short time and wondering if I was hired past mistake.
Surrounded by peers bearing intimidating degrees from Ivy League universities and other leading institutions, who appeared to operate with such confidence and clarity, I felt confronted past sky-high expectations.
My constant worry: Had I bitten off more than than I could chew?
MY GLOBAL Support NETWORK
I had been apprehensive of the notorious competitive nature of the industry. Fortunately, I before long found this stereotype held little truth.
In my very first project, working away from dwelling somewhere in Southeast Asia, the company put me on a team with managers and partners - great coaches and mentors who helped to accelerate my learning procedure.
I gained critical skills for the job - communication, resilience, problem-solving, courage, teamwork - through constant engagement with the clients. I observed how more tenured colleagues managed their fourth dimension while maintaining deep dedication to the client mission.
Every bit part of a global firm, I as well learned I could reach out anywhere in the globe where expertise and cognition resided. On one project, I needed to quickly get up to speed about carbon markets, a newly emerging nugget class, but did not really know where to start.
I colleague pointed me to another in the Zurich office, who was office of the team advising a leading global taskforce on the topic. He immediately fabricated time to talk to me.
These days, I'thou collaborating with a top institutional investor to help shape the industry's perspective on the role of carbon markets in combating climatic change.
My conviction built progressively afterward a few client engagements, every bit I put into practise what I learned and saw the tangible impact of our work.
One project that stands out was the launch of a new digital bank in an emerging market. Information technology was a daring venture in the early on 2010s, before mobile or cyberspace banking was the norm it is today, and led the customer to win industry awards.
Afterwards a few successful projects under your belt, you start to have faith in what you bring to the team.
More HOURS THAN IN A Twenty-four hour period
Still, there'south no denying the job is demanding - filling up more hours than there are in a 24-hour interval, information technology sometimes seems. With these pressures, the work tin can become all-consuming.
Junior consultants often take cues from their senior colleagues: If a senior consultant works late or at odd hours, others encounter this every bit a signal to do the same.
A 2022 Asana study revealed that more than 80 per cent of Singapore employees suffered from burnout. The pandemic has but exacerbated this around the earth, a written report past McKinsey showed. And it's not uncommon to hear that consultants work long hours but don't always final long in the task.
For me, I accept learnt to detect balance by taking a footstep back, worrying less and trusting my team.
Of class, detachment is not an option. You have to speak to clients and colleagues all the fourth dimension, and there's no avoiding the intense days.
Simply yous can piece of work smarter, not necessarily putting in fewer hours, just arranging them to makes sense for y'all and your personal priorities.
Some of my colleagues opt to get on go out for a clamper of time. What seems to be working for me is to have some Fridays off.
I relish having an actress day in a week to regain energy after the Zoom marathons. This fourth dimension has been precious, allowing me to reconnect with friends and family amidst the COVID-19 restrictions.
Information technology's a liberating feeling, disconnecting from work on a weekday or enjoying the occasional three-day weekend.
MORE THAN A JOB, LESS THAN A LIFE
Striking this calibrated balance has immune me to thrive in the high-pressure world of consulting. In McKinsey, us consultants often say that working in this field is "more than a job, but less than a life."
To this I would add together that the moment whatever career takes away from y'all more it gives, it's time to reassess.
Ultimately, 2 things keep me engaged and excited: Purpose and people.
I've been given the opportunity to piece of work on truly pressing economic and social problems, at a scale across what is typically possible for a single organization or individual. 1 of my passions is diverseness and inclusion, with a focus on retaining and empowering our women employees. This has become an important personal motivator.
I am constantly learning from and being constructively challenged by brilliant young minds on the team, discerning clients, and the sharp intellect and deep experience of senior colleagues. The collegial bonds I've forged take led to lasting friendships, including with clients – some of whom I met in my first yr and still continue in bear upon with today.
Looking back at my journey, here's what I would tell the twenty-something version of me, only starting out: Management consultants aren't the stereotypes people recall - and she's in for a challenging but captivating ride of a lifetime.
Asilah Azil is an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/management-consultant-start-rookie-mckinsey-stress-support-295331
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