Mazen Ghalayini
West Monroe Partners
Excellence in Leadership
Mazen Ghalayini's family came from humble beginnings and immigrated to the United States when he was just three years old. He didn't even speak English until he was six years old. Ghalayini credits that experience, which "created a level of grit" for enabling him to persevere and succeed. That grit also gave him the courage to recognize what he wanted early in his career, and make the necessary changes to achieve his goals.
Coming out of college, Ghalayini had offers from big consulting firms, but decided to start his career in technology sales. After a few years, he realized that he wanted more to his career. "I wanted to work for a smaller organization where I could have a big impact," he says. "I also wanted a career path that allowed me to lead and develop people."
Fifteen years ago, timing and opportunity aligned, and he found his way to West Monroe Partners where today he is a Managing Director and a member of the Executive Team. He leads the firm's Customer Experience practice.
"By far, the most enjoyable and rewarding aspect of my role is leading and developing people—at the firm and at my clients. That is why I have stayed in the consulting profession," he says. "I get great personal satisfaction from watching people grow personally and professionally over time and supporting them in doing so."
Throughout his career, Ghalayini has advised clients as they navigate the journey to become customer-centric organizations that deliver effective, profitable, and engaged customer experiences. He created West Monroe's CRM practice in 2010 and continues to guide its growth. One of the great things about the firm, he says, is the entrepreneurial atmosphere and the chances employees have to build and lead. "I started our CRM practice and have helped develop it into a cohesive team of more than 100 people across the firm."
More recently, he led the creation of a compelling vision and strategy for the future of a firm-wide Customer Experience (CX) practice, which included successfully integrating different CX service offerings across six offices and building a cohesive firm-wide leadership team. "I am proud of this not for the accomplishment itself, but because of the significant career opportunities it has created for everyone involved," he says. "Selling interesting and challenging work will excite and engage our people and create opportunities for them to grow as professionals, while also helping our clients and their people achieve new heights."
To that end, he has twice received West Monroe's Sequoia Award for leadership and mentorship—but more importantly, he says, he has motivated many others in the CX practice to become passionate about mentoring. "While the CX practice only represents about 15 percent of our workforce, one third of all 2018 Sequoia Award recipients were from our practice."
What's the best advice you've ever received?
Ghalayini: "Pay it forward and make it your purpose. This has been a central lesson in my professional story and my in my personal life. An additional perspective and way of being that I strive to live by is not direct advice that I have received but rather something that Maya Angelou once said: 'People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.' This sentiment guides me as I interact with people and build relationships in life."
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