AGSM 2009 - Beyond business school: Recruiting the right stuff

In 30 years of dealing with graduates from the world’s top business schools, former McKinsey & Company director Don Watters has learned to look way beyond the obvious – the high grades and overt displays of knowledge – to identify those most likely to make a true impact in the competitive field of management consultancy.

A key objective identified by MBA students worldwide is the desire to use the qualification to effect a career transformation, often to join the ranks of a leading global consultancy, such as McKinsey & Company. The allure of McKinsey, founded in 1926, shows no sign of waning. A recent survey of 2,800 M.B.A. students at 37 leading business schools conducted by academic consulting firm Universum ranked McKinsey as the first employment choice for graduating MBAs, a position the firm has held for the past 6 years. McKinsey currently employs about 5,000 management consultants in 80 cities around the world.

A key objective identified by MBA students worldwide is the desire to use the qualification to effect a career transformation.

Yet, according to Watters, who in retirement continues to work in the US with new McKinsey hires at regular retreats where graduates and others are schooled in company values and problem solving skills, the practice of recruiting the best and brightest MBAs with outstanding academic results from leading business schools still leaves room for development and learning once the graduate high flier hits the consulting coalface.

McKinsey hires at two career stages – selecting from new graduates as they enter the workforce, and from the leading business schools such as the Australian Graduate School of Management. These are often recruited directly from MBA campuses.

"In an increasingly global environment, the paramount need to engage easily with others is thrown into even higher relief."

ILLUSTRATION: Gregory Baldwin

Paradoxically, Watters observes, despite years of working experience and the benefit of intensive management education, often the best MBA students do not automatically become the most effective or successful management consultants. More curiously, what makes the grade in the classroom can become lost in translation in the workplace.

What makes the grade in the classroom can become lost in translation in the workplace

Learning gaps typically become apparent at the client interface where abilities to deal with people and real organisational issues override the application of pure business disciplines, says Watters. There is undoubted relevance for acquired knowledge and skills in key areas of strategy, operations and organization, and in business analysis, however, what’s missing is quite often in the new consultant’s thought processes and delivery.

"In an increasingly global environment, the paramount need to engage easily with others is thrown into even higher relief," he says.

Added to this, the ambiguities that frequently present in today’s business environment that pose more challenges, particularly for new recruits. For example, there is a common dilemma: how do you lead when you don’t know the answer?

There is a common dilemma: how do you lead when you don’t know the answer?

On a recent visit, Watters shared with the executive team at Australian Graduate School of Management his ‘wishlist’ of attributes for MBA graduates aiming to succeed in management consultancy.

Good leadership means asking, not telling.

Don Watters

Synthesis
Beyond the ability to evaluate and analyse across a range of business environments, consultants need to demonstrate a fast ability to synthesise ideas, concepts and business functions into an integrated whole – and then, most importantly, to present them.

“What’s often missing is not only the ability to bring ideas together but also to articulate their purpose clearly on paper, and succinctly,” says Watters. “It’s like developing an elevator pitch.”

“What’s often missing is not only the ability to bring ideas together but also to articulate their purpose clearly on paper, and succinctly.”

The talent for writing an incisive one-page memo gives way to the tendency to present information fragmented into bullet points, he laments.

Structuring
The benefit of an academic background provides MBA graduates with good capabilities in structuring the content of projects. “This ability for organising can fall away in face-to-face meetings, when organising other people to do work and in allocating tasks,” reports Watters.

With the focus on teamwork, both within the consulting firm and the client organization, the need to manage this process demands greater attention, he believes.

Leadership
Without detracting from the much discussed importance of leadership, there is a risk in emphasising this strength too literally. Business school graduates embarking on a new career direction can be too keen “to show what they know”, in Watters’ opinion. “When really it’s about engaging people in a smart way.”

“It’s not about seeming the smartest in the room, but finding the right answer. The solution is in seeking the answer together rather than imposing a personal/professional viewpoint."

Good leadership means asking, not telling, Watters points out. The technique of constructive inquiry, learning to ask good questions and engage people in conversation, can be lost if one party is insisting he or she already has the answer. “It’s not about seeming the smartest in the room, but finding the right answer.” The solution is in seeking the answer together rather than imposing a personal/professional viewpoint.

Disclosure + feedback = trust
A powerful part of leadership is the development of trust. This is particularly important in a relationship between a consultant and a client and with the development of working teams generally.

Experience has shown the more individuals disclose about themselves and their experiences, the faster trusting relationships develop and more is likely be achieved, Watters has found. Most recently he has seen this trust-building technique demonstrated to great effect across the broader community through his work with the American Leadership Forum.

The more individuals disclose about themselves and their experiences, the faster trusting relationships develop.

Trust is also significant in the answer to the question about how to lead without first knowing the answer. “It is acceptable to admit you don’t know, but will find out.

Teamwork
Learning to be 'user-friendly' is the key to making the career transformation into a highly effective management consultant, concludes Watters. “There’s a need to be able to engage with all people at all levels of an organization, and to work within a team. In a consultancy firm, as in real life, team leaders are rewarded proportionately with the rest of the team, and this sometimes runs contrary to the competitive nature of merit-based success systems.”

Broadly speaking, Watters is concerned that in the MBA recruitment process an over-emphasis on final grades ahead of more general competence may not serve organizations well.

Biography
Don C. Watters retired from his post as a director of McKinsey & Company, Inc. with more than 25 years of top management consulting experience throughout the world.

He has served as a consultant in the technology, natural resources, manufacturing and service industries and founded McKinsey's Silicon Valley office in 1988.

Watters is a member of the board of trustees of the American Leadership Forum, the board of directors of Cunningham Communication and the advisory board of Marcus & Millichap. He received his M.B.A. from Stanford University and his B.S. from the University of Michigan.


"In an increasingly global environment, the paramount need to engage easily with others is thrown into even higher relief."