Insights /tips you have learnt over the years dealing with difficult clients/bosses/engagements that you wish you had known earlier... Looking for crowd sourced modern day "art of war"... Go

1) No one owes you anything, the faster you get "fair" out of your vocab, the faster you'll do well. The flip side is that no one is going to look out for your career except you, so don't feel bad networking or jumping ship for greener pastures (this is the fastest way to get a huge bump).

2) my personal rule : anything you say to ANYONE else at the firm can and will be used against you. You might think that manager is a great guy and fun to get drinks with, but your confession of studying for the GMAT may very well be communicated up the chain right away.

Document document document - use the SOW and tie everything to defined deliverables. Flex as needed but focus on driving to the defined scope. That keeps everyone accountable.

Focus on the outcome and what they want, not what you can do or just how to get there. It sounds basic and intuitive but there is a buyer (client) and a seller (us) - they have options and we have competition so you have to focus on their goal and deliver calue for what they are paying. You sell the value and what they leave the engagement with.

3) get stakeholders on your side if possible : take them for drinks on the firm, don't railroad them with negative observations , get them to give you the data you really need- they know where it is. Oh, and bring food on the first Thursday morning, people love that shit: $30 in donuts and you become a golden God.

Every single client is a person too. Ask them about their weekend. Ask them about something not work related in their office. Treat them as a human being. Note that some clients won't talk about anything personal but many will and they appreciate those moments to step away from the hustle bustle of the day.

6) If you want to get promoted, and you meet minimum requirements like years experience, time with firm, etc, TELL YOUR PERFORMANCE MANAGER. Do not be bashful, be confident! Too many have been casualties of a distracted MD who just didn't know they wanted to be considered. That's Step 1. Step 2 is to do your advocate's job for them. Understand how the process works: all the candidates are listed and a panel of your practice managers discuss each one, and then make their recommendations to HR. HR doesn't know anything about you, and they will ask your PML/coach/whatever for a business case- so write it for them! Put together a deck with your case and send it to your PML, so when The HR rep asks "why her", all your PML has to do is click forward.

4) at the end of the day, all the firm cares about is revenue and hitting targets. At KPMG at least, partners are actually only paid 80% of their base until the end of the FY, with the rest riding on whether we hit planned goals. This means a couple things: A) the fastest way to get promoted and paid well is to help with business development (BD), if you find yourself on the bench (or even if not) , ask to help with proposals, research firm clients for pitch ideas for partners, look for public rfps- tie yourself to revenue and you will easily be able to define your worth. B) when you overstate your hours (aka chillin' and Billin') and burn an engagement WIP, aren't careful about expenses, or just nickel and dime a tight budget, you are figuratively taking money out of your partner's pocket. That's okay to do sometimes, just understand that when you bring up hours and time to your partner, her perspective is that every hour extra you bill is lost bonus to her.

5) While 1st year staff bear no responsibility for their utilization (all on their management to keep them busy), Your utilization as a staff employee is pretty directly connected to the brand you create for yourself. Do you get shit done no matter what? Do you whine or mope when you don't get a sexy assignment? Are you a hard worker but make a lot of errors? All these things get communicated between managers and affect whether they want you on their engagement and therefore your utilization.

Beast @ kpmg1

Honesty is always the best policy. Similar to be A1- be strong in your convictions but know when to back off. That difficult client will begin to trust you because you were honest and strong but also knew how to be flexible.

Yea, we make more than many of our clients. The goal is to make money, not make you happy and that is the key priority. Anything else is gravy.

Ask them for small favors that they have no possible reason to say no too. If it's difficult supervisor ask them stuff that you may already know about. The first step to being liked is when someone does not think of you as type A competition in anyway. Consulting has mostly Type A personalities and it is the best way to make them like you.

K1 is killing it.

Stand strong in your convictions/beliefs, whether its turnaround times, sops, guidances, etc. you waver or second guess yourself you're done. They smell fear and love the kill 🤗

Excellent inputs, FB family .

Also dont be afraid to ask for a counselor change - its easy enough to request and manage optics and it has a massive impact. Your year is often only as good as the effort your counselor puts into prep. Numbers can be fudged in many cases because they systems are easy to manipulate.

What is that little extra (not necessarily a play by the rule thing) that gave you that edge, moved the needle, closed the deal and made all difference ? #realtalk

To* gosh typo

Great insights - keep them coming.