Yes, I was part of a great team that built all this. The Prague office is the work of 500 people — leaders, teams of consultants, and support staff — who have worked toward a common goal. The Eastern European Office complex as a whole is the work of a global firm, with a history going back half a century. That's who built this.

All the people I have worked with at McKinsey — especially within Eastern Europe. What has made me the proudest as the leader of the Eastern European Office complex has been witnessing its development — the development of the office as a whole, of the individual locations, and of all the people I've met and worked with over the past ten years. For example, seeing someone I hired getting elected Partner or someone I worked with when he or she was an Associate or an EM getting elected Director. That's a tremendous source of satisfaction, particularly when you see it surrounded by development which is not just professional, but also personal, in terms of character and family — the whole person maturing. I have found that extremely rewarding.

I am liable for my decisions. Buying or not buying a project is about real money. 2009 was tough for the industry, and while we had a healthy cash flow, we had to cut costs, which is about working with people, making tough decisions, and accepting responsibility for them. Intellectually, it is very similar; there's the same entrepreneurial spirit and no-nonsense attitude.

Not really. I joined as a transformation manager and I was perceived as such by the key shareholders. I started to make more strategic decisions — and accept responsibility for them — over time, as I grew more familiar with the company.

Back at McKinsey, you often didn't know whether things got implemented, and if so, how. Sure, there were many projects the impact of which I can still see around me, even copied by other players. There was the flexi loan, which seems to be the name of the game today... We implemented personal banking six years ago for a client, and I still have a personal banker myself today... But I have no information whatsoever about a great many other projects. They may have been implemented, but there is no way for me to know. It's different in real estate. Even though our product cycle is much longer than at McKinsey, I have been fortunate to see my decisions being transformed into value creation — from project acquisition all the way to its completion in three years. It's personally very satisfying when you see something tangible left behind and it's going to be there beyond my lifetime.

Many things. It is a give–and–take relationship; McKinsey gives only if you invest yourself. It gave me abundance of exposure — to people, difficult problems, industries, knowledge, and defining situations — and it coached me how to navigate and grow through these. Last but not least, McKinsey gave me a group of colleagues and friends. Having said this, there are also things that McKinsey, by design, cannot provide. These are no small things, people have different appetite for them.

Joining McKinsey is difficult, and leaving is even more so. Joining is difficult because people who get an offer very likely have other great options. Leaving McKinsey is difficult because you don't leave behind only the place and a piece of yourself, but also the value of future choices. In the end, I followed a gut feeling on new horizons, and the impact I could have in the new role.