The first thing I do on waking up, almost before I open my eyes, is to pull out my mobile phone from under the pillow to check sms (short message service) since every so often there is an sms from an engagement manager (EM) confirming that a document has been sent or a message from my Far East colleagues asking if I could do a quick call later in the day that I need to respond to immediately.
I get out of bed and see my daughter off to school. She is truly my inspiration for getting up…for here is an eight-year-old who wakes up earlier than me in pursuit of intellectual stimulation and she's not even a part of any McKinsey client service team (CST)! (Yet!)
Ready to head out, I check BlackBerry, respond to urgent messages, review and send back any document that needs my input. On my way to the client office, I have a lengthy discussion with the EM of Team 1 on a current challenge—our approach for a client leader meeting later in the morning, especially on how to ensure that it has the right outcome.
Stuck in a bit of traffic, I decide to call the engagement director (ED) to find out if he is joining a senior management meeting later in the afternoon. He is on another call but finds just enough time to tell me to join him in a "pre-meeting" meeting with the CEO.
Juggling time! I have to accommodate the meeting with the ED and the CEO. Hence I must shift my morning problem-solving session with Team 1 to the evening. Well, I do have a 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. session with Team 3. Also, I remember that I have been able to secure one hour with another senior client outside of work (at Starbucks, SZR) at 9:00 p.m., and I don't want to miss that. Well, I need to try and reschedule the meeting with Team 1 to about 5:00 p.m. That still leaves out Team 2. No planned interaction with them yet! I also have to finish writing up a proposal and spend time over the phone with a team in another country who needs my help on a few issues. All balls in the air…which one will I let fall?
My scheduling problem needs to be outsourced! Enter my superefficient executive assistant (EA). She is just fantastic at this stuff and can fix all this in a jiffy. I call her and she already knows about my impending calendar crisis and is checking with me on possible alternatives. It's like I am the juggler and she has the remote to pause or slow things down so that I can get my act together.
I download mail and print doc for meeting with ED and CEO. I make last-minute checks and changes and head up to the CEO's office. The meeting with the CEO starts late, giving the ED and me much-needed time to catch up and finalise key issues. We are even able to complete a discussion on team issues and other needs. More follow-up is needed to be done later that day. I also find myself volunteering to put together a fact pack on a new/unrelated topic that is on the minds of the CEO and ED. Great!
Now, a meeting with Client 1. I love this role: We are well prepared thanks to the team's analysis. Our ED gives us (the EM and me) enough space to add value. The EM leads the content while I raise the important issues/questions from the content and prioritise the conversation to focus on getting to the most-needed decisions.
We have a feedback session on the meeting and discuss next steps.
I head off to Client 2's office. The EM and I had exchanged sms on setting up a review with the associate on the analysis completed and decide on what other analysis is necessary. We might also be able to meet the client leader to gain his agreement on a particular point.
I head off back to the McKinsey office. So many balls still up in the air. I call home from the car; my wife is happy that her hypothesis is proven right, once again—that I only say I will be home for dinner because it sounds nice...almost never manage to keep my word! I remind her how lucky WE are that at least I get to come back home unlike so many others who are out of town on the weekdays!! Her theory is that when I worked at McKinsey—Pittsburgh and used to be away for most of the week, I spent more quality/dedicated time with the family whenever I was home for a couple of days, unlike now when I get to come home but am still mentally at work, even on weekends. Well, I haven't seen her document, slides or analysis yet, so I am not sure of the validity of this logic!
I now go through individual workstreams with Team 2. This EM is super organised and has clear objectives set for the session prior to our meeting. We remain focused and get a lot accomplished in pushing the solution development and providing direction to the team. Personally, in such sessions I am always reminded of what I was told by one of my current EDs when I started playing this role—it does not matter how much time you spend with any one of your teams, what matters is the amount of value add you can provide in truly pushing the team's thinking to a new level.
My EA has set up a call with the EM of Team 2. This ends quickly as they are running late with their client meeting, and I quickly take stock of things and agree with the EM on the approach being adopted.
I start work on the document I promised to put together for the CEO on the interesting though unrelated topic...where is an intern when you badly need one!
The Team 3 meeting with ED goes off as predicted. ED looks up to page 4... no, he actually only reached page 3. He asks the associate a few very specific questions but is not completely satisfied with the answers, even with the EM and me chipping in to be helpful. We discuss the issue at length, and the conversation gets quite animated as each of us has a different opinion on the relative importance of the issue raised. The new associate is now getting visibly anxious...she is wondering when she gets to show her slides and go through the prepared content. I make a quick mental note to spend time with the associate on how to "release one's agenda" and focus on the problem solving in progress. In spite of what seems to be a meeting in disarray, we end it with a good set of conclusions and clear action items.
I stay back to have a quick chat with the ED. He seems pleased with progress and reminds me of the proposal I need to write. We agree to review a draft tomorrow (I haven't started yet...this ball is still the air).
A most satisfying end to the day. I sit with the senior client at Starbucks and discuss a broad set of topics. He asks for my opinion on a lot of issues, and I truly feel privileged being a trusted adviser. I get agreement on my items, and he gets a thought partner to help him out.
When I reach home the kids are asleep. My wife asks how the day was. We chat for a while as I grab a little snack, settle down with her near the TV... within 30 minutes open up the laptop and start working on the proposal.
I check my BlackBerry one last time. Schedule for tomorrow has the call with the team in another country confirmed for 7:00 p.m.... one ball in slow motion, none dropped yet. I am getting better at juggling... but not a master yet! Off to bed!
