Rising Stars of the Profession: Warren Wills

Warren Wills is a business strategy professional with over a decade of experience providing business, operational and workforce strategy expertise for leading Fortune 500 companies. He combines deep industry knowledge with experience leading transformational initiatives that drive profit improvement, operational efficiency and business growth.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

My proudest achievement is being able to take a significant part in growing our Retail Strategy team from less than a handful of consultants into a larger formalized team within our firm. The biggest challenge with growing quickly is maintaining personal engagement and a fire that is meant to inspire creative and unique solutions for our clients. I'm a firm believer that strong team connections enable better results for our clients. Our internal connection can be easily felt and experienced by our clients and supports building trust quickly to solve their problem. As an organization becomes larger, it must become smaller – meaning, intention must be put into maintaining close relationships as if we are still a "small but mighty" team. I love seeing how our team continues to engage, support and inspire one another as we are now in different places across multiple clients.

What advice would you give a professional just beginning in a career in consulting?

Identify leaders that will value your gifts and support your growth and development. The biggest factor in my success is the leadership I've been under over the life of my career. Over time, I've been fortunate enough to have strong leaders that have given me the blueprint for what success actually looks like. Formal training and first-hand experience is one major part of success but I believe seeing the leaders around me apply their own expertise and experience has by far been the best teacher for me. I'm grateful for the leaders that not only provide the right example for success but also believe in me to deliver successful results to our clients and to pass along what I've learned to the next generation of leaders and consultants.

What have you loved most about your consulting career?

The thing I enjoy most is being able to see the heart of America. I've been fortunate to work with clients across a number of different cities in urban towns and rural communities which enables me to engage with people from all walks of life. My perspective on many things in life has been shaped beyond what I experience in my home base. It has truly made me think differently about what people across America care about and even what they fear. As a result, I have a much better appreciation for why different people in different parts of the country care about the things that are most important to them. This is so important in consulting because our client solutions should be scalable but more importantly, they should be local. Understanding and valuing the differences in Americans is what inspires creative and sustainable solutions for our clients.

What's the best advice—personal or professional—you've ever received?

The best advice I've been given is to trust your gifts. There's a Proverb that I live by that states, "your gifts make room for you". We all have inherent talents and gifts that make us uniquely who we are, and if we invest time and effort to practice and hone our God-given gifts, there will be room for us to succeed. It's easy to look at what others do well and try to obtain the same style or level of knowledge as someone else, but if we focus on what we inherently do well and grow that skill or gift, there is a demand for your unique supply.

What does being honored as a Rising Star mean to you?

This recognition is an amazing honor and a testament to how focusing on growing and nurturing your unique gifts creates space for you to be successful. I hope to encourage my team through this recognition that it is beneficial to wholly trust your experience to deliver successful and transformative results for your clients. We are all on Earth and in our roles at work for a unique purpose (whether you know it or not) and it is up to us to nurture, trust and have confidence in our gifts and experiences.