Did you meet your peers before you signed the contract?
As you can see from this graph below, the people you spend most of your adult life with are your partner and your co-workers. So you better like them!
Connectivity is critical to our well-being and happiness.
Human beings are a social species, wired to connect.
According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, besides food, water, and safety, love and belonging are the most important needs we must fulfill. This includes our desire for interpersonal relationships, intimacy, to connect with others, and to be integrated into a group.
When these needs are met, our overall well-being improves, and we live a more fulfilled life.
The 2021 World Happiness Report found that people who experienced an increase in connectedness with others during the pandemic had:
✔️Greater life satisfaction
✔️More resilience
✔️Better mental health
Human connection also decreases health risks and improves physical well-being and longevity. Strong social connections strengthen the immune system and increase your chances of a longer life by 50%.
We find the contacts in our community who really enjoy their roles are the ones who get along with and respect their colleagues.
Given we recruit in the strategy and management consulting space, the caliber of their colleagues seems to be a big contributor to this as many of our candidates come from prestigious consulting firms where they are surrounded by like-minded individuals.
On moving into industry, a consultant needs to be able to work alongside many different types of stakeholders at all levels from the mailroom to the c-suite, this is great experience for them and invaluable for their growth. If they can prove they can influence at all levels they often thrive.
However, we find ex-consultants are happiest when the immediate team they are working with, and the leadership they report to, are made up of smart, dynamic, interesting, and ambitious individuals.
A big complaint we get from some strategy & management consulting candidates who have moved into industry is that they are missing the intellectual stimulation that they received previously in consulting and their pace of learning and growth is affected by this.
The industry clients who use our services ensure the quality of the individuals in their teams remains high. Their teams are made up of excellent talent which in turn attracts more excellent talent.
Many of our clients offer a peer coffee as they make offers, and some of our candidates insist on this which we encourage.
You may be bought into the line manager or interviewer but ensure you have the full picture so do proper due diligence on the tribe you are signing up to belong to. Did you meet your peers before you signed the contract?
#managementconsulting #connectivity #strategyjobs
