Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

A few months ago I made the decision to stop traveling. I took a massive pay cut, am still adjusting to life at home, and am really searching for my calling or purpose. The one right decision that I made was to spend more time with my son and wife. I did not want to regret not being able to watch my son grow and I wanted to be an influence in his life like my dad has always been in mine. That said, there are a few lessons learned that I've developed as I've started adjusting to "civilian" life. I will tell you that I am an ant's hair away from driving the Honda Odyssey with the complimentary Accord as its backup. If there was layaway for Ferragamo's, I'd be taking advantage of it. Thomas Pink, Ted Baker, and Brooks Brothers have not seen me in a while. I'm sure Simon Malls is taking a hit because of the revenue that I am not contributing right now. However, all of that is replaced when I hold my son and hear him say "airplane" for the first ...

"I emailed you. Therefore the ball is in your court and I did my job."  As I've started to work within the innards of a large IT organization, it's occurred to me that I'm in the place that cultivates passive aggressiveness. From the support person that would rather IM, text, or email you before calling you to the developer that will just nod his / her head in agreement to avoid a disagreement or not go through the pain of an explanation- I am not just knee deep in passive aggressiveness, I'm drowning in it. You can imagine the challenges facing an IT project manager. Actually you can imagine the challenges facing the business side of an organization as a specific function tries to actually communicate with the IT side of the house. As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that no matter how intelligent, witty, or articulate I think an email is- it's not the same as getting in front of a person and working through a particular problem or is...

The war room is something that I don't have and actually miss. War room, team room, consultant dungeon -- we all have a name for the one area where brilliance, flashes of brilliance, and an occasional off-color comment (or many) are made among co-workers and friends. When I transitioned off of the road into a different role I first ended up in a cube. Then I got kicked out of that cube and put into a conference room with a nice view of a subdivision and Stone Mountain. This week I'm back in a cube on the floor of an IT support group that takes in calls from the field. (Believe it or not, the drama that can happen at the support desk can be quite entertaining). I've always wondered what it would be like to get the corner office with the view, the adjoining conference room, and the mahogany desk. There's a point where meetings are scheduled for you and you are not forced to twists people's arm to schedule a meeting and spend 1/4 of your day finding a conference ro...

When I was traveling, I used to love Delta when they offered free movies as I was flying across the country. I could watch 3 in a row – although sometimes that last one would end right at the best part and it would suck because I would always wonder what happened. (Curse you Harry Potter movies!) Anyway, one of the movies that I watched was with Denzel Washington called Unstoppable. It’s about a runaway train that was basically a bomb and the experienced train engineer (Denzel) with his young protégé saved the day by diverting the train out of imminent danger saving many lives in the process. I’ve been on a lot of projects that are analogous to a moving freight train. As a consultant, they say you wouldn’t be at a client if that moving freight train was always a nice, smooth, and easy ride.   It’s the job of a consultant to become Denzel and get that train on the right track. What I’ve come to find out is that there are times where you just can’t be Denzel. Sometimes,...

Spending over 10 years working in a Big 4 environment and culture had more of an effect on me than I could have ever imagined. In the endless pursuit of chasing the proverbial brass ring, I did whatever it took and did it whenever it needed to be done. Emails were responded to as if I were on instant messenger at any hour of the night. I spent endless hours waiting in airports and dealing with all of the fun that comes with traveling the US commercial airline system. The work is one thing. But the lifestyle becomes second nature. From the outside looking in, people think you are crazy for doing what you do. On the inside, it's perfectly natural. The people you work with become your second family because you all know that this is just the way life is. Unlike many of my very successful friends that went on to big titles, more responsibilities, and bigger paychecks, I made the decision to do similar work...

For those of you that have read my past blog posts, there was a post that I wrote about getting a small(er) computer . As a refresher, in my old firm, Analysts through Sr. Consultants / Managers got the big computers (because they actually do the hard core analysis and development of deliverables). I, on the other hand, got the small computer which is not quite a smart phone, but not quite the brick of a computer that our staff had to endure carrying. Fast forward and now I'm with a smaller firm and one of the of many Consultants that start on the ground floor if you will. I guess everyone that is in the management consulting profession is a 'consultant' when you think about it. It's just that as you move up, it becomes more about selling work rather than delivering -- in general I mean. I will disclaim that by saying that there are some Partners that do a great job of both. And I learned a great deal from them for which I will always be grateful. So that means I now ...

For almost the past 11 years, I was on the road. (Traveling Monday through Thursday to some foreign land in the domestic United States). I think that I can say that in those 11 years, I had one project that was local and it was for 6 months. The irony about that local project was that I absolutely hated it. I hated Atlanta traffic. I hated paying for parking. And I hated not being able to expense lunch. Keep in mind that I was single with no kids. Fast forward and now I am no longer traveling. Soon my Delta status will cease to exist. I will no longer be Platinum at Marriott or Starwood. The corporate Amex Platinum is gone. Every status that once defined me will disappear. And unlike a lot of my friends that are big wigs at other companies, I took a hit in compensation in order to get off of the road. My decision was purely based on spending more time with my family and watching my son (16 months now) grow up. I will tell you that that there is a lot to adjust to. Income go...

In Marcus Buckingham's book, The One Thing You Need to Know, he says, "If you can't do, teach. And if you really can't do, consult about it." It's no wonder that at some point I'd like to teach college and more specifically, why I'm still in management consulting. I either can't do or I'm just plain incompetent. I decided to make the move from an extremely large management consulting practice to a local one. One of my very first blog posts was about how much I hated my old firm's new performance review process. Fast forward to today and let's just say that one of my "asks" at my new firm is to look at the review process and identify any pertinent gaps. Man, karma is alive and kicking. Either way that I look at this, there is no way that I can make everyone happy -- whatever the output is. If there is one thing that I've learned, it's that whenever you are associated with an impact on someone's compensation - ...

You never get quite the same type of high or emotion that you get from a big win in business than you do in sports. Or maybe you do, but I'm just not at that level of the corporate ladder where million dollar deals are won or lost. But even then, I would argue that the celebrations that are made from scoring a goal in the World Cup, scoring a touchdown, or hitting a game winning shot at the buzzer would have far more passion and be far more entertaining. Therefore, I propose that whether you are a financial analyst, middle manager, or Director / VP - whenever you deliver that final presentation, hand over a great deliverable or analysis, or just reach some significant milestone in your career - do a celebration that T.O. or any European professional soccer player can't rival. If you want to tone it down, just do a simple chest bump. You have to start somewhere. For some inspiration here you go. (You can find ANYTHING on YouTube). I especially like the guy just kicking the heck ...

I consider myself a person that everyone can get along with. On some days I'm halfway intelligent or demonstrate some type of competency. Unfortunately, you have to be a lot more of that in order to get ahead of your peers or continue to move up and across the consulting lattice / ladder. Being part of the good old boys network or ol' boys network is not easy. My observation is that it takes quite a bit of work to become a part of that network. At times, it can be downright impossible because you aren't like them. It's a lot like pledging a fraternity except worse. In this case, there is only one fraternity you can try to pledge and every year might as well be rush.  What is the definition of insanity again? I think it's something like doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. To make it to the promised land, the ol' boys network, or whatever you call it has to require some degree of insanity, right?  I started reading this b...

Having a great memory is probably not one of my key strengths. But of the certain things that I do remember, they all happen to be events in life. Don't get me wrong. I remember the day that my dad bought me my first pair of Air Jordans. I remember when we had enough money that he could buy me a good pair of soccer cleats. But those are all material things that came and went away. The things that stick with me are the evening that my dad and mom took me to play tennis with them. The days where my dad played badminton and I got to tag along. The month that I spent in Thailand with my family not understanding what was going on and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. The time my parents left me in California with some friends and let me hang out for the summer. Plus many more experiences that are just a part of growing up. The common denominator is that both of my parents were there - or at least both involved in making the decision. I would be interested to know or understand whether...

Thursdays are an interesting day for management consultants. (I'm going to steal a theme from a colleague of mine, so I apologize in advance).  On Thursdays, you look forward to flying home.  On Thursdays, the past 4 days of living in a hotel, eating out, and driving a rental car reaches its climax and you begin to crave your own bed, car, and a meal at home.  On Thursdays, you know that your time at the client is coming to an end and you have some flexibility Fri-Sun to cram your in your personal life (seeing your mom and dad, hanging out with friends, and doing stuff around the house.) And on Thursdays, time in a city or town that you would never think of living in during your lifetime actually seems like a decent place to live and work.  Granted, there are weeks where this is a flight out Sunday and flight back Friday. Those are the exceptions. But the reality is that Fridays are less welcome then Thursdays. Thursdays are the days where you are about to go cr...

In 1981, I remember my dad taking me to Eastland Mall in Charlotte to sign me up and play on a more competitive soccer team. The one thing that I associated with playing on a competitive team was trying out which meant a possibility of failing. For a kid that sees the glass half empty, playing for this team did not seem like an attractive proposition. My dad had to basically drag me along to the kiosk where the coach of the team, Don Stout, was there talking to parents of prospective players. I remember vividly how my dad explained that I was a goal scoring machine in the leagues that I was playing in and how Coach Stout got visibly excited about my potential.  Meanwhile, I was hiding behind my dad watching 2 other kids - each in soccer uniforms- running around the mall. Those 2 kids were Coach Stout's son - DJ, and Donnie - who would both be my teammates for the next 8 years of my life. Call it silly, but as soon as I saw how cool those uniforms were, I tugged at my dad and shyly ...

Being at a level in consulting before you enter the promised land (Partner, Principal, Director) is like entering the general population in prison. Now keep in mind that what I know about prison is what I get from watching HLN, Oz on HBO, and some of those prison specials on Nat Geo. That's close enough for me. I think that it's about as good an understanding as I'll get without committing a major felony of some sort. All I know is that being in the general population is not a place you want to be and you want to shorten that period of time as much as possible. Early parole is definitely an aspiration.  To survive in the general population, I think a lot of the similar tactics would have to be applied: You have to align yourself with the head gang in the prison You have to compromise some of your values in order to stay alive (employed) and get ahead You have to barter what you have with others in order to generate meaningful transactions Sometimes the best jobs are the...

I've always believed that being a good manager of people and being a good leader requires full transparency. To me this means explaining the 'why' behind certain decisions and not hiding communication from your direct reports. Because I am extremely approachable and transparent, I think this gets me into trouble. Staff that 'report' to me don't draw the line. The line between a reporting structure and a friend is completely blurred.  That's probably what separates me from a 30 year old that acts like they are 40. There is an air of authority / or what I'll call professionalism that I don't demonstrate which is probably what's been holding me back in my goal of climbing up the corporate ladder. So what makes me a bad poker player is also what is holding me back. You can see my emotions on my face, staff genuinely get along with me - to a fault, and I do not hide anything from anyone. This isn't good. Now that I recognize that I have an issue, ...

Many times I will tell new consultants during the recruiting process that they will encounter a situation or a project that's not ideal. By not ideal, I mean they will hate it and want to be somewhere else. The good news about being in consulting is that at some point, you know that the project will end and that you will move on to a new opportunity. The question becomes how do you get through the weeks and months of the engagement?  There are two ways to look at these types of situations. The first is that you can fight it, resist it internally, and b*tch like mad. The second is to suck it up and find some way to deliver / exceed expectations. Part of that means digging deep and going to work with a positive attitude. Unfortunately for me, I have to work to fully execute the second option. An early developmental need of mind was that you always know what I'm thinking. Whenever I enter into a situation which I'll call "not ideal," I'll b*tch like mad and my a...

I was listening to a podcast by Tony Schwartz  and he recommends not to check email in the morning because then you are catering to other people's priorities. I may have misstated that, but I think it's part of the same premise. He also recommends to focus for 90 minute sprints / intervals. If you can focus or channel your energy for 90 minutes, then the idea is that you'll probably be more productive than you typically would be in an entire day.  I would have to say that I tend to agree with that. I remember watching Aziz Ansari on David Letterman talking about how he was researching for a role and then got distracted by something on the Internet and ended up learning everything about Joe Pesci. I can totally relate to that. I don't know how many times I've clicked on videos of tornadoes tearing through trucks or trying to find who is broadcasting the Champions League final when I'm supposed to be doing work online. As an aside, there's one risk to cloud c...

Growing up as a kid, I used to read a lot. My mom used to drop me off at the public library and I would read as much as I could. As long as I can remember, I used to dive deep into mysteries or any book where there was a detective trying to solve a case. Encyclopedia Brown, The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew (I'm all about diversity), Sherlock Holmes (over and over) - I read them religiously. Now I'm a big James Patterson, John Grisham, and Patricia Cornwell reader. I also like Tom Clancy. But he just writes a lot of pages and it's really hard to finish one of his books after a few airplane rides. Knowing that's how I grew up, it's interesting to me that I'm in the line of business that I'm in. Business problems are business problems and it's hard to really create good stories off of ho hum business problems. Revenues are stagnant. Costs are high. Profits are down. There are only so many themes you can go with. The interesting stuff is the drama in the boardro...

"If it wasn't for [insert name here], this would never have happened..."  It's this statement, with variations at times, that helps me define whether I, or someone else, has added value or played an integral part in a sale or significant accomplishment. I'll be honest with you. There are some days where I ask that question about myself and all I hear is crickets. Such is the life of being stuck in the middle where you get pulled in multiple directions and are expected to do everything well all at the same time. I can't complain though. It's the try before you buy period where the firm is evaluating how much you can handle. What I've learned though is that there are times where you have to take credit and undergo a self-promotion campaign to make yourself relevant in front of the right people. For example, a great friend from business school called me about an opportunity in his company (Fortune 500, well-known organization, any consultant would love to...

I finally have a grievance to file.  Recruiting and interviewing is something that I love to do. I get to meet extremely intelligent and talented individuals. Part of me is re-energized with the thought of working with this younger generation. I also get to practice putting my story together around what my experiences have meant throughout my career. But most importantly, I get a window into a new class and begin to develop relations early on so that I can get ahead in the staffing process. Self-serving I know. But this job is self-serving at times. I remember (in the dark ages) when I painstakingly hand wrote thank you notes and mailed them to the person that I interviewed reiterating my want and desire for a job that I had just interviewed for. Granted, with the introduction of word processors, those thank you notes may have become impersonal - but I did make it a point to include a data point or conversation piece that I could reference during my interview with a par...

I just got finished watching The Social Network. My key takeaway was that if I was self-conscious about being an underachiever, then that movie just reaffirmed it. There are people that operate at a level that is beyond my comprehension. I can respect that. But just once I want a day of knowing what it's like to be on point and operating a step ahead of other people -- just once. That said, amidst the parenting, blogging, tweeting, and working that I do, I sometimes wonder where it's all headed. I see other practitioners that are working 24/7, being political by hobnobbing with all of the right people, and doing what it takes to get a great rating, accelerate their career track, and make tons of money while earning the adoration of their peers. The key word in that sentence is 'other.' Me -- I'm perfectly content with going with the flow, working with great people, and doing good work for clients. I'm not happy that there are practitioners a level below me or ...

Malcolm Gladwell wrote Blink. I am writing a post called Blank.  I haven't posted anything in a while and honestly it's because I just ran out of things to really have a point of view on. Every day I try to come up with something to post -- and every day I come up with, you guessed it...blank. It's quite sad. Currently I've been recruiting quite a bit. MBAs, Juniors in college, 1st year MBAs, experienced hires - you name it, I've probably given any of one of them a case. Here's what I have learned and it's probably nothing new.  You can measure kids by standardized test, grades, and aptitude tests, but there is a lot to be said for a person's gut feel. I have no idea how I managed to stay in this business, but I definitely know in a 45 minute interview who has the moxy to succeed in this business. In all honesty, it's probably how the decision to hire me was made. Like a lot of things, people can practice enough to understand how to work a case or...

Last year my wife got me a Kindle. For someone that loves to highlight, underline, and dog ear pages - it was a bit of adjustment. An adjustment that took about a day.  The issue that I have with a Kindle is not even with the device. It's with the airlines for not letting me read when the plane is taking off or landing. At the rate that iPads, mobile phones, Kindles, and other gadgets with on/off switches are taking over, the airlines pre-takeoff safety message may take as long as the flight. With that small vent out of the way, I'll circle back to my Kindle. The best part of an e Reader is that you have the ability to download a book whenever you want and you can store as many books as you can possibly read. My obsession with business books has spilled over into my Kindle library and right now I am reading 3 at the same time. The problem with this is that a book on Executive Presence , Execution , and Finding your Mojo all have messaging that is running together in my head. O...