Getting Promoted as a Management Consultant — Part 2
Four more secrets people won’t tell you about getting promoted in a professional services firm
Hey! You again! You must be quite ambitious.
If you’re interested in part 1, you can check it out below, otherwise let’s get to more promotion secrets for professional services individuals (i.e., you).
Never outshine your master
I remember it like it was yesterday: we were at a consulting team meeting where all of the consultants came together to get updates from the partner. Near the end of the meeting, the partner suddenly called my name and asked me about starting up an internal initiative again. He said “when are we going to start it up again?” and I responded with “sure I can start it up again any time if people are interested” with emphasis on ‘I’.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been too surprised when several months later, I was let go despite having the highest utilization for my level across the firm. Or maybe I’m reading too much into things (probably not).
Never outshine your master is a law of power from Robert Greene — the essence of it is that if your master sees how great you are, they will do everything they can to block you. Remember, your master (could be your manager, your boss, your supervisor) still has greater authority and power than you — if only because they are in a higher position than you are. When it comes down to it, if the CEO needed to let someone go, they would go to your boss first. Your boss could lie, withhold the truth or even subtly suggest that everyone else on the team is more valuable and you would be gone just like that.
Takeaway:
- Instead of outshining your master, Ryan Holiday suggests the opposite: the canvas strategy. Whatever your boss needs to get done, do it for them. And then let them take all the credit. As you do work for them to help ‘clear the way’, they will increasingly rely on you. Inevitably, when your boss moves up in the company (or moves to a different company at a higher level), they will want you to tag along, thus helping you move up in your career as well. Who cares about credit anyway? If people are smart, they’ll know that even though your boss gets all the credit, you were the one who was behind it all along.
- Another useful lesson I learned: publicly praise your boss and your team as much as you can. Your boss will look amazing in their boss’ eyes and your team will feel extra motivated to work for you (if they’re not your direct reports) or to do extra work for you (because they know that you won’t steal the credit).
People who sell are kings
On two separate occasions, I witnessed management consultants that sold work (they were consultants or senior consultants and not expected to sell anything) purely based on the network and relationships they had and they got promoted that year. They both sold work. They both were on their projects and delivered great work to the client.
Anybody can do excellent work for the client but not everyone can sell work (i.e., contribute to company revenue).
If you’re at the analyst, consultant or even senior consultant level, even finding small ways to contribute to the company revenue (i.e., sell work based on your work relationships) can tip you over the edge and get you that promotion. Those two consultants? One sold a $50,000 piece of work and the other sold a $75,000 piece of work. It’s not a lot but it is something and will give you the edge over other consultants vying for a promotion with limited promotion spots available.
Takeaways:
- Listen to your friends when they talk about work. If they complain about the company or mention how the company may be embarking on a new ‘strategy’, ask questions. Don’t ask whether the company requires services, instead, offer value. If the company is about to embark on a digital transformation, and you happen to work at the firm delivering digital transformation services, mention that you just did it for another client and offer to connect them (or their boss), with the right people at your firm if they require support.
- Depending on the company, there may be limits to how much work they can buy from a firm (for example, if a government organisation, there are procurement limits so if you require a certain amount of services, say $100,000, then the government will need to go to RFP). If there are, try to scope the work in a way to keep it small so that you are under the limits. The idea is to get in, deliver a small piece of work (maybe even more than what the client requires), build relationships, and understand the future work that may be needed.