Felipe
Associate
Taking my personal time seriously
“So many people have been willing to help me grow.”
I think the most important thing about work/life balance is if you take it seriously, you can make it happen. I have not been great at it all the time, but I really try to make the time to keep connected with my family and friends. I see that as important as my job. If someone is telling you to fly out every Sunday night and come back home every Thursday night, you need to show an alternative solution that delivers the same impact. People will listen.
It’s great to see my impact
I was on an engagement at an automobile assembly plant in Latin America and had to meet with six assembly line operators for 4 days to find a solution to an equipment problem. First, I had to get some credibility with them. These operators had been at the plant longer than I had been alive, so I had to prove I was really going to listen to them. For the first time, they were asked to come up with improvement ideas for the line. Once they understood how it was in their hands to make the change, they really got into it. We identified what had to be changed and discovered a 50 percent improvement in reliability in the first week! The solution had to come from the operators, and because they found it, they were really committed to it. I even got them to make the final presentation. They were a bit worried about that, but we spent a lot of time rehearsing and finding language they were comfortable with. And talk about impact—one of them told me he had used our problem-solving tools to work through some difficulties he was having at home.
My destiny has been in my own hands
I think what has been most surprising is the extent to which a good chunk of my destiny is in my own hands. From the very beginning, I could shape a lot of the things that we were doing or a lot of the things the team was doing. You really can “make your own McKinsey.” So many people have been willing to help me grow by helping me to get on projects that really interested me. I’ve taken on leadership roles and shaped how things are done