THOUGHTFUL BIO

It was the summer of 1989, and I was about to start my last year as a business major at UT. Frankly, I had no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up. I was sitting at Wrigley Field talking with a friend who had started his career in consulting and was attending grad school in Chicago. Perhaps over an Old Style or two, I heard from my friend what opportunities I could realize as a consultant. I could work with companies of all sizes and in all industries. I could work with different leaders, with different styles, facing different issues, and could partner with those leaders to develop unique solutions to address their issues. I could do something different every day. I could work with extremely bright, driven people who would challenge me in really cool ways. I could even see the world! And I could experience an endless number of opportunities to learn and grow as a person. That day, I didn’t figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up, but I did determine I wanted to start my career as a consultant.

The first eleven years of my career were extremely rewarding. I spent a large majority of that time in one of the old “Big 8” consulting firms, and the remainder of that time in a small, more “niche” firm. The experiences I enjoyed as a consultant during those eleven years were invaluable. I really loved it! But in hindsight, I realize I had stopped “believing” in consulting. There was so much I loved about it, or at least liked about it, but I just wasn’t always convinced I was, or we were, really adding value to our clients’ businesses. I knew I wanted something different. So, I decided to accept an “industry” gig in an IT leadership position within a very large company. After four great years there, I transitioned into a small startup company where I served as a senior IT leader for two years.

During those six years in industry, I learned so much, including the fact that I have so much more to learn! I managed an operational organization and felt the responsibility for the livelihood of my team members. What an awesome experience! I saw how people in IT could often be treated as second class citizens by their business partners/teammates. That was NOT an awesome experience! My department was outsourced. My company was acquired. All of these opportunities were in their own ways challenging, but they were also opportunities to learn and grow, such as when I ended up on the client side of management consulting firms I had hired to help me tackle some very complex business problems. I started to see from another perspective a more broad view of the value consultants could truly provide. So, following an acquisition of the company I was with, and the subsequent merging of our two organizations, I decided it was time to take on a new opportunity. It was clear to me at that point that I wanted to get back into consulting. I believed in it again. I knew what I wanted to do when I grew up.

So, in 2007 I returned to consulting. I returned to consulting because I wanted to help. I wanted to help my clients with what I would call the more “strategic” stuff: developing an actionable plan to help them achieve their vision, selecting a vendor to provide outsourced services or implement important technology, or determining how to better align their organization. I also wanted to help with what I will call the more “tactical” stuff: executing a project to drive it to a successful conclusion, being a sounding board to help make a tough decision, or just getting tasks done that the current staff doesn’t have the bandwidth to get done. There may truly be a countless number of ways consultants can help our clients, and I love when we can help!

To be clear, I am not all grown up yet. And, when you read this last sentence, know that my wife, kids, and close friends are all nodding their heads vigorously. But I love what I do.

Some of my favorite things include:

• Developing actionable plans to make a vision become reality
• Driving business transformation
• Helping improve my clients’ careers and making their lives happier, if for no other reason than we helped make a challenging issue go away, and they were able to sleep better at night
• Helping my teammates develop their capabilities as professionals and grow to realize their vast potential as human beings

I want to change the world and help make it better. I love that, as consultants, we get to do that in at least some small way every single day.