Meet McKinsey’s MBA Class of 2019

Now, imagine such experiences at scale, where MBAs are exposed to an array of industries, functions, operational systems, and company cultures. Such experiences enable MBAs to better size up their interests and talents, says Junji Okawa, a London Business School MBA in the Tokyo office. At the same time, the pace, volume, and diversity of experiences supply MBAs with an intangible that’s paramount: confidence.

“McKinsey requires you to maximize the level of your input, process, and output, which pushes you to think deep and fast,” he writes. “My McKinsey experience will give me the confidence to solve some of the most difficult problems in the world.”

“WE DO IT ALL”

Kevin Dolan boils McKinsey’s appeal down to four words: “We do it all.” He gives the example of his own interests in diversity and inclusion, a passion he has branched into alongside operations. “We have an ability to pull together a group to do this very quickly and want to take it very deeply,” he says. “We also have people who are excited about Private equity, manufacturing, cars – you have the ability, in a very early stage of your career, to always learn something in those situations. It makes you a better consultant by taking it to a different industry.”

Bekinwari Idoniboye was struck by McKinsey’s global reach. She touts a program called First Alert, which enables consultants to tap experts anywhere from Sydney to Johannesburg who can quickly jump on a call. This came in handy for Joyce Tsuchiya during her first year, when a healthcare client was seeking a very particular branch of knowledge.

“I had just discovered the McK MDs, an internal list that gathers the ~200 medical doctors working in the firm, so I dropped them a message one night asking if anyone had ideas on how to develop that work. I woke up the next morning with emails from eight colleagues from all over the world offering to jump on a call to problem-solve with us.”

THE OBLIGATION TO DISSENT

Physical distance is just one barrier that McKinsey has shuttered. Kevin Dolan points out that the firm has deepened its digital capabilities and talent roster so that they can swiftly deploy expertise in nearly any area imaginable. Doyle lists off artificial turf, horse racing, and lactation as areas that have come across his inbox recently – and McKinsey could access in-house experts for each of them. Internally, this is called the “One Firm Partnership.”

“We’re able to bring together the technology capabilities along with functional depth and industry breadth,” Dolan explains. “We don’t have borders or barriers or local P&Ls that can hold us back from bringing the right resources from wherever they are from around the world to our client. We have implementation capabilities, whether those are digital, training, or capability-building that we’ll deploy to a client in a consistent and integrated fashion.”

McKinsey also brings the best set of personalized solutions, ones not tainted by politics or pride. That stems from one of the cornerstones of the McKinsey ethos: Obligation to Dissent. Here, partners aren’t threatened by questions being posed or alternatives being pitched. In fact, they encouraged them, says Masaaki Omachi since these discussions ultimately lead to more complete and lasting solutions for clients.

EXCELLENCE OR NOTHING

“I was surprised how junior colleagues push back on ideas they think are not valuable for our clients and how the teams listen, discuss and problem-solve together,” writes the Duke Fuqua MBA. “For instance, I remember when we were supporting sales and marketing of a client, a partner suggested we conduct a quantitative analysis. However, our engagement manager questioned that, saying we should focus more on collecting qualitative facts before deep-diving on quants. The partner willingly accepted the idea and we moved in that direction. I had never seen such a moment in my past career.”

Bekinwari Idoniboye describes this as discomfort with anything that falls short of excellence. “Any one of us can go to the whiteboard and say this isn’t our best. We need to go a step farther, dig deeper, and push the envelope here to get the best answer for our client,” she adds.

One reason why this non-hierarchical approach works? The firm is packed with diverse backgrounds and blue ribbon talent. Winny Arindrani, for one, has already worked alongside a molecular biologist and a professional dancer. Chika Ofili appreciates how she can get time with any partner to get insights on a particular issue. This creates an environment unlike any other, adds Vickey Xiong, a Chicago Booth MBA in the Shanghai office.

“I’m mentally challenged and inspired every day working here,” she writes.

RAISE YOUR HAND

In particular, Bekinwari Idoniboye lauds the Chicago office, the epitome of “Midwestern Nice” in her experience. On Fridays, she says, the team makes it a point to come into the office, which boasts a panoramic view of Lake Michigan from its 32nd floor. She uses the time, she adds, to connect with peers she might not see otherwise. “Tom Kilroy (managing partner of McKinsey) is very involved in the happenings of the office,” Idoniboye observes. “Every Thursday, he will send a voice note to tell us everything to look forward to for Friday (French Friday, Lunch & Learns, other events) and recap the week. That really sets the tone for the entire office.”

Like business school, the first year of McKinsey can seem like MBAs are drinking out of a fire hose. Over their first year, the Class of 2019 absorbed some lessons that seemed cliché…until they tripped up over them. “Always raise your hand, sooner rather than later,” cautions Joyce Tsuchiya. “If you need help or guidance, tell people around you. There’s no foul in not knowing, only in not trying hard enough.”

For Joshua Reuben, the big takeaway has been how consulting is truly a “people business” – one where who you project is just as important as what you know. “McKinsey focuses on understanding people’s personalities and we are trained to understand the preferences of people and how people with different personality traits can best interact…There are multiple ways to be effective and being able to work well with different personalities has helped me work more efficiently with teams and clients in a way that is most likely to set them at ease while enabling me to effectively add value.”

BE PROACTIVE

Mastering McKinsey’s problem-solving methodology also required a transition – one that elevated framing an issue and following a process to often unexpected ends. “There’s a seven-part approach that the firm has,” says Bekinwari Idoniboye. “I didn’t always think first with a hypothesis and then disprove and approve it. I was taught to find the facts and get the answer as quickly as possible. In doing that, you are only thinking about one path. You’re not thinking about all the different paths to getting there. Therefore, at McKinsey, you’re really rallying behind the idea that everyone in the room has a different approach of looking at a problem and you really need the full scope of the people in the room to get to the best answers.”

Such takeaways helped the Class of 2019 get through their first year. Question is, what does it take to make partner at McKinsey? Kevin Dolan credits a key habit for helping him make it to partner level. He was proactive, he says, never waiting for others to tell him what to do – and always following through on his ideas to add value to the client.

“Think about the client and how you can help the client. At the end of the day, you’re asking: What did I learn today about my client, situation, or problem? What does it mean for what we should do going forward? What are the implications? You should ask these questions every day. I picked up this mindset as a summer associate 17 years ago and still do it today.”

NEW HIRE TRAINING FORGES LONG-TERM CONNECTIONS

Alas, McKinseyites don’t just learn these lessons on the job. After all, formal training is a point of pride in the organization. That starts with Embark, a week-long orientation that is supplemented by intensive professional and personal development. The Embark program opens with two days of immersion, says Bekinwari Idoniboye. Covering the history and values of the firm, the immersion places new hires – who often possess different academic and professional backgrounds – together to receive the same message. From there, new hires work with senior partners and engagement managers to understand how to engage clients, solve problems, and leverage all of the resources in the firm. This intensive experience, Idoniboye emphasizes, really bonds classes together.

“It helped us be really familiar with one another. I came here with an EMBARK class that I still talk with to this day. These people understand the challenges I am going through on a day-to-day basis.”

Idoniboye also takes advantage of the McKinsey Learning Channel’s ongoing training. In recent months, for example, she has completed hour-long live seminars in areas like merger management, service operations, and private equity, where she is able to interact with panelists. At the same time, McKinsey offers a series of pre-recorded modules on her schedule, enabling her to earn certificates in the process. In the future, Idoniboye also hopes to complete Lead One, week-long programming that prepares associates to become senior associates.

“Annually, we spend four weeks in training and professional development of people,” adds Kevin Dolan. “There are a series of courses – there are so many courses – really high-quality professional development. It is the kind of content that teaches you about yourself, not just in the world of work but as family-centric leaders and leaders in the community.”

Go To The Bottom of Page 3 For 14 In-Depth Profiles of 2019 McKinsey Hires