Sin City…the dark side of management consulting
Terence was a consulting partner at 2 leading international management consulting firms. He has worked on engagements in the USA, UK, Brazil, Turkey, Russia, France, Mexico, South Africa, Dubai and Canada. He rose rapidly through the ranks and made partner in a very short time frame. He has graciously agreed to write a limited series of posts about his journey from Pepsi into management consulting and his life as a consultant. This is his eight post.
In his first post, he discussed his move from Pepsi to Bain & Company. His second post discussed his early years at Bain & Company. His third post discussed his first client-facing engagement as an analyst at an airline client. His fourth post examined his role in developing the business case on an IT strategy project for an airline company. His fifth post examined turning around a struggling Eastern European airline in preparation for an IPO. His sixth post reviewed a project to create a new low-cost airline. His seventh post discussed a bench marking project. This is his eight post.
The curtains of the Grand Sheraton Sukhumvit in Thailand, Bangkok are thick enough that they should keep out the mid-afternoon heat and light. They should. Somehow, a bright enough block of light had sneaked in and had settled on my forehead. The cocktail of sunlight on my forehead, a switched off air conditioner and copious amounts of pale blue alcohol the night before was playing havoc on the pain centres of my head. I absolutely hated getting up in this state. I also hated getting up with a woman next to me. I generally like awaking alone. Somehow, the passion of the night before evaporates quite quickly in the heat of the morning. I stumbled out of bed, phoned the butler to arrange our lunch and switched on Bloomberg. I genuinely wanted to know what was happening in the world. I had a visceral fear of being asked a question about business and not knowing what to say: a typical a-type paranoid consulting personality. Read more
