The 2019 Top 25 Consultants: Lifetime Achievement Award—Paul Laudicina

Paul Laudicina, Consulting's 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award winner, has spent some three decades in consulting, but he ended up in the profession somewhat serendipitously, he says. It all started when he was looking to transition out of government service. One of his U.S. Senate colleagues left to head up the Washington office of SRI International and asked him to join him to start an international consulting practice. At the time, Laudicina was serving as Legislative Director to then U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., in a strategic planning role for a major global energy company, in a research capacity with a global think tank and with the United Nations. That was way back in 1981 and he's been consulting ever since. 

As serendipitous as all this may seem, in retrospect, he now believes it was a logical progression. "At each step of these career paths, I have sought to integrate the tools I gained from other disciplines," Laudicina says. "I sincerely hope that it allowed me to carry out my career work—especially for the more than three decades I have dedicated to consulting—more effectively than I might have otherwise."

Today, Laudicina is Partner, Chairman Emeritus of A.T. Kearney, and Chairman of the firm's Global Business Policy Council. He served as A.T. Kearney's Managing Partner and Chairman of the Board from 2006 to 2012, taking on the role after the firm regained its independence via a management buyout. During his nearly 30-year tenure, he guided A.T. Kearney through an extraordinary turnaround, recording consistent double-digit growth and expanding its global footprint by 30 percent to offices in nearly 40 countries.

Ask him what accomplishment stands out the most and he says that he's "most proud of the A.T. Kearney Global Business Policy Council, which I founded in 1981 and continue to serve as chairman," Laudicina says. "The goal of the Council is to help corporate and policy leaders anticipate and take competitive advantage of the huge forces of change transforming the global policy environment. And while the circumstances have changed dramatically in the past 28 years, the need for the kind of strategic insight provided by the Council is every bit as important. Even more, I would argue."  

His leadership of the Council includes many highlights, he says,  but he's especially proud of the work to develop proposals for the economic strategy of the Government of Korea. This economic blueprint is still on the shelves of Korean bookstores. "It helped the country transition to a new development paradigm as a modern, creative services-based economy, generating extraordinary economic growth and social benefits for the people of Korea," he says.  

Another important accomplishment, Laudicina says, was being elected Managing Partner after a difficult period of transition following the firm's MBO. "We faced serious obstacles, and I am proud of the role I played in helping put A.T. Kearney back on firm footing, guiding it to sustainable growth, and re-connecting the firm to its foundation of principles advanced by our founder, Tom Kearney," he says. Indeed, shortly thereafter in 2007 Laudicina was named a Top 25 Consultant for those efforts. "Finally, I count my blessings for the remarkable interaction I've had with leaders in business and government who are making the world a better place."

Laudicina says he's been motivated by the opportunity consulting offers to help clients not only do things right, but also do the right things. 

"We've transitioned from consulting success based principally on knowledge arbitrage to helping leaders understand their success is based on leadership anchored in values, character and purpose," he says. "I'm also motivated by the opportunity consulting has offered me to help private-sector leaders understand that they cannot succeed without a supportive policy environment, and to help public-sector leaders know that their success in delivering on the citizens' needs is dependent on creating a supporting and enabling environment for sustainable private sector growth." 

Laudicina says these days, mainstream organizations—governmental, civil society, private-sector, religious—are embattled. By contrast, there is compelling evidence indicating that public trust in traditional institutions is falling sharply. 

"My sense is that now more than ever, leaders need to rededicate themselves to imagining alternative futures, to transforming their organizations to meet changing circumstances, to pushing their workers to pursue purpose-driven pathways, and to finding new and creative solutions," he says. "We have a tremendous opportunity to make a big difference at a time of convulsive change, daunting complexities, and unprecedented pressures. But it is more important than ever that consulting firms help leaders navigate this difficult future in ways that are authentic, imaginative and effective; and to do it with integrity." 

Meanwhile, Laudicina counts the strong support and good will of his partner colleagues at A.T. Kearney among the biggest keys to his success. "In my 28 years with A.T. Kearney, they have consistently made the right decisions—and not always the easiest ones," he says.

That those same colleagues nominated him for this award means the world to him, he says. It's also an important affirmation of the principles by which he's tried to live his life, personally and professionally. 

"Winning this award also establishes clearly that consulting is a team sport, and that I have been fortunate to have partners, clients and professional peers from whom I have learned, been inspired and followed," he says. "Finally, I've been blessed to have a wife and four children who have supported me every step of the way, sharing both the burdens—and hopefully, the benefits—of a successful and fulfilling career."

What's the best advice you've ever received? 

Laudicina: "Five great pieces of advice, all grounded in Andrew Thomas Kearney's insistence on "essential rightness" in the work we do, stand out: 1) Understand that purpose drives performance, not the other way around; 2) Financial return is an outcome, not a goal, which is achieved sustainably when one adds real value to one's clients; 3) Be omnivorous in your learning. Your clients need someone with authentic peripheral vision that comes from not only knowing the business of business, but also understanding the shifting social setting within which business operates; 4) Anchor yourself in rich relationships. They will enhance your life and pay handsome dividends over time; and, 5) Never forget your family and friends come first. If you and they are unfulfilled and unhappy, you will not be able to deliver for your clients. Balancing personal and professional interests needs to be a central concern in all you do." 

Video! Before the gala, Joe Kornik, Consulting's Editor-in-Chief, sat down with Laudicina to discuss the award and his career.