What I learned in 2 years as an M&A Consultant

I spent the last 2 years in financial services M&A consulting – here are the top 3 principles that I learned along the way:1. Personal Responsibility & Leadershipa. Every week, identify the most urgent and important work you can do for the success of your project and align your daily actions towards it. Delegate or de-prioritize work that is neither urgent nor important.

b. Identify and solve problems while they’re small, or they’ll grow into bigger headaches down the line

c. Lead from the front – show people how you are solving problems, rather than telling them how to solve them2. Effective Teamworka. Manage up and don’t be afraid to propose solutions when there is confusion, regardless of hierarchy

b. Make connections across work streams and functional areas – a broad network is a powerful problem-solving mechanism

c. Support your deal team when they are in need and foster a culture of collaboration amongst each other3. Client Relationship Managementa. Build trust with clients by establishing rapport, honoring your commitments, and being competent at your role.

Achieve this by:

b. Be true to your word by doing what you say you will do, and proactively manage expectations if scope begins to creep outside of your domain of expertise

c. Understand what’s most important to your clients and other key stakeholder’s needs so you are able to provide advisory

d. Take a genuine interest in your client’s personal lives and don’t be afraid to chat about non-work topics. It’s important to remember you are working with other human beings.

Conclusion

Most importantly, make sure your achievements are visible to leadership. Working hard in the shadows gets you nowhere in Corporate America.

You must be able to ‘show and tell’ the value you bring to your superiors so that when the economy gets tough, they know who you are and what you’ve done for them recently.