Transitioning to an EM role at McKinsey?
Transitioning to an EM role is the most difficult one in the firm. Most consultants reduce an EM role just to process management. Then they get sorely disappointed. Avoid this one big misconception.
I remember having one big fear when I was a senior consultant transitioning to an EM role. I asked myself:
“How can I manage other consultants if I am not confident in my own consulting skills? How can I review other consultants’ outputs if I wasn’t sure of my own quality standards?”
“What if I make a mistake? And other consultants will see that I am incapable. Then, they refuse to follow my lead. Then, partners would roll me off.”
“Or even worse, if they suffer because of me and work crazy hours. Before, as a consultant, I was living with the consequences of my mistakes. But now they were multiplied by the number of consultants in the team.”
These were the thoughts racing through my mind in that difficult period. Those six months were the most stressful in my whole career.
That’s how I know that transitioning to an EM role at McKinsey is the most difficult one in the firm.
You must completely change how you operate. Instead of focusing on just one workstream, you will need to manage multiple workstreams and integrate them into one coherent project.
You will also need to manage other consultants. That means you need to create space for them to do independent work while guiding them and ensuring quality execution. It’s a fine line to balance.
I’ve coached dozens of consultants transitioning to an EM role. I see one common misconception consultants have, and I also had this misconception.
Senior consultants believe that EMing is all about process management. They try to become ninja process managers.
It’s understandable. As consultants, they only ever saw the tip of the iceberg of EM work—process management. That’s why many consultants believe that’s what an EM role entails.
As a result, they try to make elaborate work plans, schedule dozens of meetings, track hundreds of to-do items, and run countless check-in meetings.
No doubt, it's all very helpful.
But it's not the most important thing.
You can't become a successful EM by running perfect processes—not at McKinsey. It's just hygiene.
As an EM, you are a Chief Problem-Solver on the ground.
Partners need impact.
You must become an EM who can deliver that impact.
This is where senior consultants struggle.
It’s normal and understandable. During their consulting journey, they've accumulated some gaps in problem-solving. Everyone does.
But their problem-solving toolkit starts to crack under pressure when the scope expands dramatically to cover multiple workstreams. There’s no EM to have your back anymore, because now you are that EM for other consultants. Partners also start treating you like an adult and become very demanding.
And suddenly, you lose strategic initiative, and your team goes into a reactive working mode. This is when all the ‘fun’ stuff starts to happen, like long working hours, weekend work, toxic leadership, and unhappy clients.
To prevent this, you must radically improve your problem-solving. But this is not easy, especially if you are running out of time and doing it alone.
That is why I developed a coaching program for MBB consultants to help them upgrade their problem-solving in an accelerated way.
If you are an MBB consultant transitioning to an EM role and want to improve your problem-solving, I want to speak with you.
Book a Free 1-1 Consultation to discuss whether I can help you through my coaching program. There is no commitment, and you can ask any burning questions in a risk-free environment.
Read this post to learn more about the Hero’s Journey coaching program.
PS. If you are transitioning to an EM role, don’t get distracted by all the process skills and responsibilities. These are important, but that’s not how you become a high-performing EM. Your key responsibility as an EM is to be a Chief Problem-Solver on the ground. Focus on that, and you will thrive.
Watch my latest YouTube video on how to improve your problem-solving.