1 Very Important But Forgotten Soft Skill

My first job out of college was at McKinsey & Co. (a.k.a. McKinsey), where I worked my butt off!  Fortunately or unfortunately, I learned quickly that hard work was not enough and sometimes does not even help. I had to work smart. In working smart, I realized that I had to devote more time to an often forgotten, but very important soft skill: self-promotion.

Here’s a story that took place just about a year after college and taught me a valuable lesson. I was on my 3rd project at McKinsey, and my manager was a junior engagement manager. He wasn’t officially a manager, but he was up for a promotion soon. This project was his proving ground. I was naive and eager so I tried my best to do a good job. I worked almost every weekend on this project. I distinctly remember him asking me to work one weekend to summarize a mountain of research into two slides. I was diligent, and I worked about 10 hours each day. I was able to do it all that weekend and sent the slides to him by Sunday night.

I remember feeling relieved and accomplished that night. To my surprise, he didn’t use those slides for four weeks! When the senior manager finally saw the slides four weeks later, they used them in the client presentation.  Guess who got the credit for it? Well, it wasn’t me. A few months later, when the client wasn’t happy with a part of the project, guess who received the blame? Well, it was NOT my manager.

How did this happen, you may ask? I wasn’t in many of the senior level meetings as an analyst, so my manager could say whatever he wanted about my performance. That included blaming me for the client’s dissatisfaction while also taking credit for my work. I only received an “average” rating for that project, but I learned about office politics and what it takes to be successful. Looking back at it, here were my mistakes:

• I spent 150% of my energy on doing good work, and almost none on publicizing my good work to anyone but my manager. I could have easily done some subtle PR and copied those slides to the senior manager and partner, too, under the guide of getting feedback or in case they needed to use them. Either way, they would have known that it was I who made them — and 4 weeks earlier, too!
• I didn’t take any time to build relationships with the partner, senior manager, or the client. Nor did I take any time to build a support network at the office with other senior folks. I followed my upbringing, kept my head down, and worked hard. So, when the manager blamed things on me, no one could question him about it. They didn’t have any other reference point.
• I also assumed that my manager would represent me fairly.  This was a bad assumption that I would not make again. He was up for promotion, so any blemish on his performance could affect it. He didn’t really believe in developing others, making me a good scapegoat. Not all managers are like him, but they are definitely out there.

At the end of the day, I learned a lot during my two years at McKinsey. Years later, the partner on that project met up with me in San Francisco for coffee (I learned and had kept in touch with him). He actually apologized for that manager’s behavior and asked if I was interested in re-joining McKinsey after business school.

Key lessons learned:

• Perception is reality. Whatever others perceive about you is true in their mind. If you don’t spend time shaping their perception of you, then someone else (e.g. my manager) will and for their own benefit.  This is why you should know how to leverage politics to as you advance your career and also why the first impression you make at a company is very important.
• Self-promotion is key: Hard work helps with success only if the right people know about it, and if it delivers results.  Here are some ideas on how to subtly promote yourself to build your reputation.
• Soft skills help us work smart instead of hard to achieve career success.  This is why I’m passionate about writing articles on the soft skills every professional should learn.  This way you can work smart (not just hard), and always be recognized for the brilliant work you do.