Moliehi (“Mo”)
Associate
Why McKinsey?
I want to help my country. It’s an obligation I take very seriously. I’m originally from Lesotho in Southern Africa, and my passion is to one day go back there and use what I’ve learned at McKinsey to help my country. McKinsey appealed to me because many people start here and then go on to make truly valuable contributions in their home countries. I met one former business analyst who worked for a nonprofit in Tanzania and his native Kenya. Now, he’s running for Parliament in Kenya!
“One thing that was quite impressive for me about McKinsey was that the firm does quite a bit with projects that deal with society and the community, which was very important to me.”
Finding a support network
McKinsey impressed me with the focus they put on helping me grow. I am part of a formal network for black consultants here, so I have really good people I meet up with periodically to discuss my career or anything else that is on my mind. We talk about how we can help each other be distinctive, and get advice from partners and associate principals about what worked for them. That network has been really helpful for me to figure out what my next career steps should be.
Seeing the impact of my ideas
Throughout the recruiting process everyone told me that what you say and the advice you give a client is taken seriously, but I did not fully appreciate how true this was going to be. In my last client study, my team and I created a keynote speech for the CEO of a very large global company. Even though I worked hard on the speech, I was really shocked when I heard the actual words that I had written coming from the CEO’s mouth. He was using my words to inspire his leaders—that was pretty remarkable.
Currently, I’m working with a global pharmaceutical company. They asked us to help them decide how to best increase their contribution to society. Our team is recommending that they invest a very substantial sum—in the hundreds of millions—to help alleviate the suffering in poor countries. It is really amazing to think that somewhere—either in my home community or one similar to mine—people will benefit from the recommendations I’m making now. This is exactly the kind of work that I was looking to do at McKinsey. I’m still amazed that I actually get to do it.
Making my own McKinsey
The firm gives you a lot of flexibility to make personal choices. For example, I knew I did not want to be in New Jersey in the winter, so what did I do? I chose to work on a study in London because I knew that the winters in London were milder. You just have to be creative to make McKinsey work for you, to get what you want.