What ex-MBB consultants regret about?
Some consultants were forced to leave MBB firms too early. What do they regret about? The short answer is not learning enough.
What ex-MBB consultants regret about?
Short answer: not learning enough...
This is especially true for lateral hires who left too early.
Let me tell you a story that perfectly illustrates this...
Meet Anna (name changed for privacy reasons). She was a McKinsey associate, a post-MBA lateral hire.
After 2 years of constant struggle, stress, and anxiety, she was counseled out.
She found a good job. On paper, she was better off. Better pay. Better lifestyle. But deep down, something didn't feel right.
At McKinsey, she incurred significant trauma.
She came to believe she simply wasn't smart enough. That she had failed the most important test of her life.
At first, she blamed McKinsey for being a toxic place that didn't recognize her talents and couldn't utilize them correctly.
But in her new job, she started seeing similar patterns.
Her boss gradually turned from enthusiastic to toxic.
This job was super important for her. So, she didn't want it to end up the same way as with McKinsey.
That made her think deeply about the real root causes.
She started to suspect that maybe there was something she could improve in her work. But she didn't know what exactly.
That's when she asked for my help and joined my coaching program.
We went through a set of practical exercises to diagnose the problem. Indeed, she had some gaps in her toolkit and mindset. That caused tension with her boss. The tension compounded and escalated over time.
We tightened her toolkit, improved her problem-solving, and sharpened her storytelling.
The results followed in a few weeks.
Her boss told her:
“You changed. I don’t know what happened to you, but I really like it. Keep up the good work!”
Very quickly, she was promoted, trusted with a bigger project, and given a few junior colleagues to manage.
It's just one story, but I see a common pattern among many people who left MBB consulting too early.
They simply didn't have enough time to learn well. They didn't find good mentors. And they regret missing this huge opportunity.
It's not something people want to talk about openly. But in private conversations, that's the number one regret ex-MBB consultants share.
If you are an ex-MBB consultant, you can't change how you left MBB. But you can still learn what you came there to learn.
If you are an ex-MBB consultant and want to learn skills you didn’t learn at your firm:
We will discuss your pain points, challenges, and aspirations. No strings attached, just straight answers to your biggest questions.
If you want to learn more about my coaching program, read this post:
The coaching program for MBB consultants.