After seven years of active U.S. Navy duty spent aboard a ballistic-missile submarine, Ronald Nicol returned to the surface and soon plunged into the consulting profession. He hasn’t come up for air since.

After a successful postnaval stint in industry, Nicol accepted — on the spot — an offer to join Boston Consulting Group’s Chicago office in 1987. Four years later, he was promoted to partner. In 1993, Nicol opened the firm’s Dallas office; in 1998, he accepted an offer to run the firm’s worldwide technology and communications practice. After shuttling among Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe, and the United States for two years in that role, Nicol became head of BCG’s Americas region, responsible for the firm’s business in North, Central, and South America, in 2000. He currently serves as worldwide head of the firm’s organization practice.

Nicol immediately accepted BCG’s offer nearly 20 years ago in large part because a recent suggestion from a trusted adviser was still fresh in his mind: Never surround yourself with people less capable that you are. “When I interviewed at BCG, my first thought was, ‘Wow, these people are really, really good,’” he notes “They were very personable, possessed an incredibly high intellectual curiosity, and absolutely excelled at what they did. The challenge of keeping up with my peers has sustained my excitement about the profession ever since.”

That excitement is evident in his innovative and dedicated approach to client service: He developed BCG’s “delayering” processes, which help client organizations become more nimble while reducing costs by reshaping their management structures; he played a key role in developing BCG’s value-based cost reduction methodology; and he co-developed the firm’s “discovery” framework, which also guides client companies to higher profitability. “The evolution of my career has been very similar to the evolution of the firm, which is moving from more of a project orientation to an impact-relationship orientation.”