Lifetime Achievement Award
Nancy Killefer
McKinsey & Company
Like so many other consultants before her—and particularly those that have been recognized as Women Leaders in Consulting—Nancy Killefer came to the profession in a peculiar way. "Essentially, it was an accident," says Killefer. "I joined coming out of business school because I did not know what I wanted to do, and I thought it would be a good way to see a lot of different industries and roles, and in a way get a post-graduate degree, before launching my career."
That was in 1979, and little did she know she was launching her career with that first job. "What I found out when I joined is how well suited the work was for my interests and personality," Killefer says. "I love working in teams with others. I love helping my clients succeed in whatever endeavor they wanted. I love solving problems. I find it intellectually very stimulating and exciting to work in a variety of industries on a variety of problems. Looking back, I have always been intellectually engaged and never bored."
Killefer says when she started in consulting she was viewed as "somewhat of a curiosity" since there were so few female management consultants—a fact she used to her advantage. "My clients had a lot of interest in who I was and what I was doing. I was sort of foreign to their organizations, as well and did not pose a threat, so I was able to provide a great listening ear," she says. "I was quickly able to gain deep personal and trust-based counseling relationships with them. I always develop deep client relationships, which has given me a great deal of energy and have served me well as a consultant."
The bigger challenge, Killefer says, was to be recognized and be taken seriously as a woman within the consulting profession "since there weren't a lot of women that had succeeded," she says.
Killefer says she is grateful she had two things in those early years that helped her succeed. One, she had one of the first female partners in McKinsey take her under her wing and serve as a mentor. Two, she was fortunate enough to have the support of a group of male colleagues who believed in her, worked with her and urged her on. "That was a huge plus for me: I was taken seriously and respected within my peer group," Killefer says. "That helped me believe that I could really make this work."
And did she ever make it work. For over three decades, Killefer has been advising McKinsey's top clients in strategy, marketing, organizational effectiveness and efficiency issues with an emphasis on consumer-based and retail industries. In 1997, Killefer turned her attention to Washington D.C. where she served as Assistant Secretary for Management, CFO and COO at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
In typical Killefer style, she led a major modernization at the Internal Revenue Service, prepared Treasury's systems for Y2K and reshaped management processes. In 2000, she returned to McKinsey where she ran the firm's Washington D.C. office for the next seven years. She also served on the IRS Oversight Board, including being its chairperson from 2002 to 2004.
As Killefer looks back over her consulting career, she says another huge challenge for her—as well as many woman consultants—was balancing family and work life. The mother of two, Killefer says she sometimes felt like it was difficult to do justice to work or her family.
"What has meant the most to me was the undying support of my husband, who totally and always has believed in me and pushed me to continue to do what I love to do, she says. "He always encouraged me. Had I not had that kind of support, I never would have done this."
While looking back at a lifetime in consulting—and as part of receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award—Killefer was asked to reflect on her career and identify her greatest achievement. It was one of the few times she seemed at a loss for words.
"I guess I don't think about my life that way," she says. "I think about the greatest reward as being the many people that I have seen grow both within McKinsey and at my clients. When I look around, those are the things that have given me the greatest personal joy and I view as the most important things that I have done."
—Joe Kornik
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