‘Individual passion, collective impact’ is how I define the collaborative philosophy at McKinsey.

Describe your McKinsey experience

During my first few years at the firm, I focused on strengthening my communications skills and working on a wide range of analytics projects. In 2010, I moved to Chennai to help expand the data-analytics team in this location. The past few years have been the most rewarding so far, and I’ve learned a lot along the way. For example, I’ve grown my people-leadership skills and deeply enjoy working with our energetic, bright, and fun team. I’ve had a chance to develop the team's capabilities as well as receive useful guidance and support throughout my journey. Most of all, I am happy to see the team growing and maturing.

What new skills have you developed at McKinsey?

I never thought I’d be interested in management. Instead, I considered myself more comfortable as an analyst. Even after I assumed the role of team leader, I wasn’t entirely confident in my people-management abilities. However, I have started to realize that I may not be as bad as I thought, if I am correctly interpreting my evaluation feedback! McKinsey has helped me tap into and build a rich skill set by providing tremendous guidance, coaching, and support. It’s now my turn to give back as a mentor. To that end, I am developing the next line of leadership for my team. I have just taken the first step, and I look forward to a challenging and rewarding road ahead.

How would you describe collaboration at McKinsey?

“Individual passion, collective impact" is how I define the collaborative philosophy at McKinsey. In my experience, all successful collaborations originate at a granular level, when individuals get in touch with their colleagues on other teams to work together on something. Every day, I witness members from the regional research team and the data-analytics team exchanging ideas. Sometimes they just ask each other questions to push their thinking, and other times they collaborate to develop something bigger—new knowledge, for example.