Client Service Award
Kim Wagner
Senior Partner
The Boston Consulting Group
Kim Wagner, a New York-based Senior Partner of The Boston Consulting Group, came to consulting by accident. When she was finishing her PhD, there was a hiring freeze across the pharmaceutical industry in R&D. As she began exploring different opportunities to 'wait out' the downturn, several consulting firms arrived on campus looking for scientists. Before she knew it, she says, she was doing final round interviews and getting offers.
"I thought consulting was something I'd do for a few years and move on, but the constant change and variety remains appealing," she says. "I most enjoy working with clients. I tend to work on projects where failure isn't an option and the degree of difficulty is high. Being in the thick of the challenge with clients and helping them achieve their goals and be successful is extremely rewarding."
Wagner, who joined the firm in 1994, helps lead some of BCG's largest and most important accounts and has client relationships spanning over a decade. Her clients include the top executives of large companies across a range of industries—from biopharma and agribusiness to industrial and consumer goods. Wagner specializes in product development, innovation, productivity, sourcing, sustainability and globalization.
She also serves on the global leadership teams of two of BCG's key practices: Global Advantage (Globalization) and Operations. She also leads its growing work in Global Agribusiness and New Product Development.
Outside of BCG, she serves on several boards for not-for-profits with agricultural, sustainability and educational missions, including Junior Achievement of New York and the Cornell University Council. Wagner says she would offer young female consultants this advice: Cultivate a network of mentors and colleagues and ask them for help and advice.
"Asking for guidance is a sign of strength, not weakness, so don't feel like you have to solve every problem alone," she says. "I'm lucky in that the generation of women consultants that came before me broke down most of the barriers and made great strides in leveling the playing field."
That said, Wagner knows there is still a lot of work to be done. "Rather than get distracted or frustrated by these situations, I use them as a reminder that we each have to deliver excellence every day to earn the trust and respect of clients and colleagues," she says. "I do my best to rise to the challenge."
Wagner says she got some of her best advice from her mother, who told her to treat others the way she would want to be treated. "While this applies to just about any interaction, I find it to be the most helpful when navigating a difficult situation."
Even with all she's accomplished thus far, Wagner says she hopes that her greatest achievements are still ahead. In her spare time, she owns and operates a winery with her husband.
"I would say starting and building a business with my husband, literally from the ground up, has been a wonderful experience and achievement," she says. "I think many consultants sit on airplanes dreaming of having a winery one day. More than a decade ago, the two of us decided to make that dream a reality."
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