Farshad

Engagement Manager

I grew up being influenced by three different cultures. My family lived in Tehran and Tokyo before moving to New York when I was 12. I grew up speaking Farsi, Japanese, and English, but I’ve lost most of the Japanese. I’ve spent most of my life in New York.

I found my passion

The consulting firm I worked for right out of college focused mostly on operations and supply-chain management, so it was a niche focus. I went to business school wanting to broaden my perspective on the business world. I liked consulting, and that led me to McKinsey.

For the first year and a half, I tried out different industries and different types of projects: telecommunications, high tech, industrial, and nonprofit. Then I asked to be on a media and entertainment study because the topic really interested me. The initial scope of the study was a diagnostic scan across the entire organization, looking at its cost structure for different processes. I had that experience in other industries, and I thought I could bring a good perspective to the table. I had such a great experience and met so many great people in the Media & Entertainment Practice that I’ve served only media clients ever since.

I get to see the impact of my work

On a recent project, I had a chance to serve as a junior engagement manager. I was eager to show that I didn’t need a lot of supervision and could show results. Everyone at McKinsey is so driven, capable, and smart that I could rely on my analyst and my associate to deliver a really good end product. I also established good relationships with key client team members and kept in touch with them after we left. They continue to work on the projects we started with them, and they’ve been able to get results as we predicted, so the change is real.

I develop my teams with constant coaching and feedback

At the end of each engagement, the engagement manager fills out a performance review for every team member and reviews it with the person step by step. Associates are rated on their communication skills, analytical skills, quantitative skills, problem-solving skills, team-dynamic skills, firm values, and so on. There should be no surprises. Performance criteria here are absolute, not relative, so at each point in time, a consultant knows what it takes to be a great performer. During a project, we try to give constant feedback so the associate has an opportunity to react and do something about it. That’s the way I try to run my teams. Our semiannual performance reviews are similar, but they give a bigger picture.