Consulting Lessons Learned 19: Always be ready to step up
When working together with your boss, I strongly recommend following the 0,5 steps behind strategy. What does that mean?
Always be half a step behind your boss!
Basically, this means two things:
- You should do everything you can to make your boss shine in front of the client
- You should always be ready to step up upon his or her request
Consulting can be quite a competitive playground. While it is great to challenge yourself in the project team, make sure to act united and fully supporting in the external communication towards the client. This also means anticipating the work and tasks of your job manager.
You have the feeling your job manager forgot about a reply to the customer – remind him or her! Your job manager is too late for a client workshop? Make up a good excuse and do some small talk so nobody notices.
Always being able to step up means making yourself reliable. Your job manager will be most satisfied with you, if he or she has the feeling you can take over any time without any major implications.
Your job manager sends you a text 2min before that meeting that he cannot make it? Now is your time to take the lead!
This means, always prepare in a way that you are able to take your job manager’s position. Even if you are just asked to write the minutes, always prepare a meeting so you could moderate it yourself!
