Insights from Insight Asia Program #4 By Zhuoluo (Albert) Feng The Insight Asia Pacific program in the past week was totally fun and enlightening. My girlfriend and I were so lucky to have the opportunity of participating in it. Both of us came from a science background and knew little about the bewildering business world. Nonetheless, the curiosity on McKinsey and the “ambition” of solving real-world problems via scientific approaches drove us to submit the applications. The three-day program turned out to be mind-blowing. In addition to the specific techniques taught in the coaching sessions, the program revealed some finer details of the consultants and their life: intelligent and down-to-earth people working on complex and crucial problems while leading a busy yet organized life. This insight about people is probably the most valuable take-away from the program. One of the concerns arisen in our discussion was work/life balance at McKinsey. I guess that’s why many fellow participants asked us about how to take care of the family if both my girlfriend and I joined a consulting firm. Although it is too early for us to worry about this sweet pain, I don’t think it’s impossible to deal with it. First of all, many positive examples exist. Our group mentor, an engagement manager from the Seoul office, is a typical one. His wife also works at McKinsey. They managed to look after each other while doing a good job at McKinsey. A hidden fact is that, as a consultant, one understands the hardness and headache of the significant other better. At a result, it might be less likely to have quarrels than a single-consultant family. On the other hand, even though one of the parties is “outside the box”, it is still possible that he or she takes a demanding job. After all, a beginner in career is always faced with numerous challenges, one way or another. At the end of the day, what truly matters is how to treat work and life separately – setting up a clear boundary between the two. The key is enforcing a line in time – when to start focusing on work and when to clear your mind up and spend quality time with family. This rule applies universally to all professionals in a challenging role, not only to consultants. This is a second important learning from the program. It is true that the situation may become different when a consultant couple starts raising children. At that point, however, one can always opt to leave, as our faculties put it with respectable frankness, and also as the countless successful stories of the alumni showed, the experience at McKinsey will open you more doors than you’ll ever imagine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Liting (the GF mentioned above) is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry from Stanford University. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Renmin University of China. Albert is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Physics, also from Stanford University. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Physics from Tsinghua University.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 09:39:42 +0000
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