I wanted to transform clients’ challenging problems into success stories. That is why I joined McKinsey. Six years later, it feels great have done exactly that, over different geographies, clients and teams.
My most memorable experience so far has been an organization-wide transformation of a manufacturing company. The company had highly disbursed operations around the world. By the end of the engagement we achieved a significantly better financial performance, a much better organizational culture and work environment and better ownership and accountability. We had ultimately transformed the way they run the business. The most inspiring part was coaching my clients to actively own parts of the transformation and to collaborate with each other. We set up world-class infrastructure, created 'war rooms' in every manufacturing plant, analyzed target areas, created best practices, and rolled out performance management dashboards. I worked with individuals at all levels and completed hundreds of one-on-one coaching sessions. I addressed resistance at every level and ultimately changed people’s mindsets. After months of persistent effort, it was thrilling to witness skeptics becoming optimists. Results started to show. The best moment came two years later when a senior director told me “we continue to surprise ourselves. Even today, we unlocked another billion dollars of value.” We set them on a path to delivering extraordinary results. That is a sustainable transformation.
If you want to transform businesses, build lasting client relationships, work with people who invest in your success, develop into a leader, and have a lot of fun doing it, join McKinsey Implementation like me.
About Nikhil:
Nikhil is a senior implementation coach based in Atlanta who focuses on manufacturing and service operations. Outside of work, Nikhil enjoys singing, playing basketball and going on road trips.