Head, Business Consulting Group, ZS India,
PGPM’09
I have a few different hats that I currently wear at ZSAssociates:-
Based on my experience, I would say :-
On how to build these skills, I believe key requirements would be a constant willingness to learn and getting your hands dirty. You would build deep expertise only by working hands on and learning about the nuances of the problem across clients. This experience strengthens your problem-solving skills and adds to your repertoire of solutions as well. Building strong communication skills is a journey. Personally, I have learned a lot just listening to partners in the firm articulate and convince clients on a point of view, and I have tried to adopt some of this. Look out for creative ways to present your data; we often want to impress clients with all the work we have done and end up packing our slides with data but often less is more.
We were blessed with some great teachers at Great Lakes who helped me build a strong foundation on a wide array of business concepts. I loved the concept of experiential learning where most subjects had a project or assignment that helped us learn the practical application rather than just build some theoretical knowledge. The key learnings that stayed with me- firstly, we were randomly assigned into teams and most subjects had a significant weightage on the team projects. This taught us about working with influence, getting the best out of peers, delegation and trust. In leadership roles, many initiatives require support and collaboration across peers, and you work through informal networks rather than direct line of control.
Second, we had certain courses where we had two weeks’ time to prepare final projects while on others, we had 2 days. I quickly learned that you can make a deliverable in 1 week or 1 day. Theeffort you will put in towards both are different and hence expectations on outcomes should be different as well. This flexible mindset has helped me navigate some very tight timelines typical of the consulting world; and helped negotiate and plan for scope and outcomes accordingly.
My leadership style is more about being in the trenches with my team. If you take care of your people and really invest in their growth, you will soon surround yourself with a team who are ready to go the extra mile or take a leap of faith with you on key initiatives. I have also learned that there are multiple paths to an outcome. Hence, to develop a high performing team, discuss the end goals and expected deliverables, but give your team the freedom and trust them to come up with the best approach. They can often amaze you and come up with far better solutions than if they were bottled with only your directions.
Firstly, enjoy yourselves. Though the year will seem a grind and test of endurance, you will all come out with flying colours and lot of fun experiences to share. To be successful in the long run, irrespective of the industry you land up in, be open to continuous learning. Be hands-on and build expertise quickly, your goal should be to be the go-to person for one area in your firm. Finally focus on growing your team and grow along with them. All the best!