"Making partner is easy; staying one is the tough part, Max!"

And my office managing partner glanced at me – smiling. And I kept rolling my eyes.

What did he mean? Hadn’t I been on this hamster wheel, ever-accelerating? And the partners? Hadn’t they had it good because people like I were doing the work?

Little did I know. And eventually, I made it to partner.

Plus, today’s partners live in the ‘New Normal’…

They pride themselves to be true subject-matter experts…

But their firm expects them to level up, become C-level advisors and integrators of firm services.

They need to generate the revenues the firm is expecting…

But, more often than they like to admit, revenues come about by chance and without a reliable system - and at the “wrong” clients when one’s desperate.

They believe they’re good people-people…

But they find themselves with ever more demanding team members, and there’s still a job to do.

They’re competitive and have always enjoyed working hard…

But hours remain brutal, and the constant strain is showing.

They’re in the role they always wanted to be in…

But realise their playing field is changing, and there’s the risk of becoming an invisible partner at a giant firm.

And they wonder…

“HAVE I GOT WHAT IT TAKES?”

After a few years, they’ve mastered the role and find themselves looking around...

“IS THIS MY LIFE? IS THIS WHAT I’M GOING TO DO FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS?”

Realistically, it’s about to tackle the true “musts”. It means stop wasting time and effort on stuff that’s not getting you any further. And become a better leader by finding someone who can help you chart and stay the course.

I’ve worked in consulting all my life, first, at Kearney, a strategy firm, where I made partner and practice leader. Later, I became a managing partner at EY, looking after 1,100 people in one of the fastest-growing practices globally. And I wrote two books on post-merger integration, my career theme.

Now, I support partners to build standout practices and teams while having a life.

My goal is to bring excitement, confidence, and joy to people in large consulting and professional services firms globally.

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