The 2020 Rising Stars of the Profession: Mike Stephens

In his junior year at Indiana University, a professor of economics recommended that Mike Stephens take his consulting course. He was hooked after his first case competition. Following that, he was recruited into EY and has been there ever since.

Today, he's a Senior Manager at EY and being recognized as one of the Rising Stars of the Profession for Excellence in Leadership.

Ask him about his greatest accomplishment thus far in his career and he'll say: "A client of mine just reached a milestone of giving back 100,000 working hours per year to its employees through automation," Stephens says. "Partnering with the client team of incredibly talented colleagues and a network of software vendors to improve the working lives of so many client employees is the professional accomplishment I'm most proud of to date."

Meanwhile, he says spending more time at fewer clients has led to his success in delivering long term, sustainable value, which in turn has led to his successes in the firm. While fewer clients and more success might seem counterintuitive, it works for Stephens.

"I've had fewer than 10 clients in my 12 years in consulting, which means I have had time to deeply understand each of my clients' operations, priorities, culture, and how to get things done," Stephens says. "It's also allowed me to build trusted teams that know the client environment as well as I do."

The increasingly complex challenges he's taking on with his clients is what excites him the most, he says. 

"A client executive that I'm currently working with is working to transform into the most digital finance function in the world, and he wants to get there in less than one year," Stephens says. "That's the type of client challenge that excites me!"

As far as being named a Rising Star of the Profession, Stephens says it's a tremendous honor to be regarded in such elite company by the leading publication for the industry, and to have even been nominated by EY. "It also feels like validation of all the hard work that my teams and I have put in over the past several years," Stephens says. 

Q&A: What's the best advice—personal or professional—you've ever received? 

Stephens: "Early in my career a mentor of mine told me that curiosity is the number one trait to stay successful in consulting over the long term. That stuck with me, and I think that staying curious is a big contributor to my success."