1
Jocelyn Cunningham is more than a consultant. She likes to consider herself a brand as well. “It’s a brand that’s recognized internally by Deloitte but also externally in the marketplace,” says the Deloitte principal, who has been advising in the financial services and technology spaces for more than 20 years. But being a brand, Cunningham emphasizes, is about substance, not hype. “I base my personal brand on content and being known for that,” she says.
And Deloitte certainly has invested in the Cunningham brand. At the firm, she runs the securities and capital markets practice for the consulting group. Another key investor in Cunningham is Goldman Sachs, for whom Cunningham oversees all Deloitte services, not just consulting.
The financial services sector, especially with the U.S. economic downturn, is certainly getting a lot of press these days, but Cunningham takes the turn in stride, adding that the services clients buy changes, but their need for a consultant doesn’t. “There are clients, both European and domestic, who have had a harsher impact from the economic cycle, and so we’re seeing what they’re doing with consultants and professional services firms change somewhat in terms of the type of services they’re looking to buy and the sort of projects they’re doing,” she says, adding, “everything from turning down the dial on the amount of spend on professional services firms to full out cost reduction and restructuring. And there are those who have had a lesser impact that are maintaining their strategic focus and seeing the down cycle as an opportunity to pick up resources [like talent].”
Regardless of the economic cycle, Cunningham is keyed in to what clients need—and it’s not talk, it’s action. “I honestly think that firms buy expertise; they expect expertise. They don’t expect general management skills; they don’t expect project management skills. Although the expect that the ability comes with the package. I think they look for deep industry expertise whether it’s around a specific asset class in our space or around a specific technology or around a specific line of business; they expect deep, deep, deep industry expertise.”
Cunningham is looking to share that expertise with others—peers and future leaders alike. Through mentoring opportunities, as well as her roles as past president and board member of the Women’s Bond Club of New York and board chairwoman of the Association of Management Consulting Firms, Cunningham is looking to expand her personal brand and help others develop theirs. “I work my network, both internally and externally. I value the relationships that I’ve built.”
Cunningham says the current corporate mentoring environment is vastly different from the one she saw 20 years ago. “In my early days, the concept of mentoring and counseling was not a formal thing. I think it’s become much more formal, and I would say now that I have formal mentors and counselors, but I have many more informal [ones]. And I think the informal ones are the ones I gravitate toward because there was a lack of female role models. My mentors have been primarily men.”
As for advice to up-and-coming consultants, Cunningham stresses taking the same path to success that she took: “Get known for something,” she says. “Build your own expertise in a subject matter area, and the personal brand is going to be very, very important; it will take you a long way.”
—Jacqueline Durett
