High-level influence
After attending Harvard, I wanted to further my interest in education. I quickly realized that an organization like McKinsey, which was increasingly doing more education work and had a history of producing leaders, was the perfect place for me.
In the past year I have had the privilege of serving a variety of clients and counseling their senior-most leaders. My most memorable experience was working with the government of a small Himalayan country. Our team facilitated their system transformation across multiple sectors (agriculture, tourism, IT, construction) and public services (e-Governance, Health, education etc). My role was to lead our work in education – and in doing so I worked with the Minister and Secretary of Education for both school and vocational education. Together, we created system transformation plans and piloted key initiatives across this beautiful country to ensure that every child had a better tomorrow and contributed to the development of his family and country.
Making changes in education is a lot like building a giant aircraft carrier: it doesn't happen quickly. But during the course of this study, I helped write the national education policy for the country, helped draft specific policies that impacted how teachers were attracted, developed, paid, and deployed and instituted a system to rank schools across the country. As early results from our work are coming in, and I’m delighted to find that we’ve made a significant difference.
My own McKinsey
One of the biggest surprises about McKinsey was just how collegial this place is. From the outside, McKinsey may seem like it is full of Type A, always on-the go folks. From the inside, it's really a bunch of very smart and very nice people who are always willing to help you. I have found a fantastic set of colleagues and mentors who helped coach and develop me along the way. This is at the heart of our values and every day as an engagement manager, I strive to ensure that I can develop my teams the same way.
Despite its tremendous performance expectation, McKinsey provides me with a lot of freedom. Nobody tells me what I have to do. I came here with a desire to work in education, and that's exactly what I've been able to do. Over the last few years I have contributed to our client work and several internal initiatives, and helped grow an education practice with tremendous potential for impact in the sector.
What I do in my free time
I have two kids under 2 years of age, and take every chance to spend time with them and my wife. We’ve just moved to a new city so are enjoying setting up house and discovering a new culture. I’m also working hard to win a team fitness challenge – a few of us from associates to partners have put in money into a common pool available to the winner.
Offices
Education
| Harvard University - Graduate School of Education |
MEd, Policy |
2008 |
| Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow |
MBA, Marketing Strategy, Finance |
2004 |
| Sydenham College |
BComm, Accounting, International Trade |
2002 |