The 2022 Top Consultants: Gary Pinkus

Gary serves as McKinsey's chairperson of North America. Previously, he was managing partner in North America and led McKinsey's Western United States office. He co-founded and served as global leader of McKinsey's Private Equity & Principal Investors Practice and is a longtime elected member of McKinsey's Shareholders Council, chairing numerous board committees.

Gary joined McKinsey in Los Angeles in 1987 and came to the firm's San Francisco office in 1992. Throughout his career, he has worked for Dole Food Company in Honduras, Bear Stearns' M&A group in New York, and in McKinsey's Houston, Mexico City, Sydney and Zurich offices. He serves on the boards of Wake Forest University and US Ski and Snowboard Association and am a prior board member of the San Francisco Opera, California Academy of Sciences, Menlo School, California Business Roundtable, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, ReSurge International, the SF Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the investment committee for Woodside School Foundation.

Gary received a bachelor's degree with honors from Stanford University and an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School.

His greatest joy is being a devoted husband to his wife, loving father to his four children, and caring friend to many.

What has motivated you to excel over the course of your career?

The individuals with whom I have had the privilege of working – clients and colleagues alike – have continuously motivated me to raise the bar and deliver my best. Their expectations and drive to be exceptional, paired with the expectations I have for myself, have been my driving inspiration. Over the course of my 30+ years at McKinsey, there's also a mindset I've embraced that summarizes my approach to partnership, development and growth: The sign of a true partnership is when you believe your partner's success is as important, if not more important than your own.

I interpret this phrase using my own marriage and family as a model: if my wife or children achieve success in life, I find that even more rewarding than my own wins. Translating this into a professional context, the success of my colleagues and the firm have been a genuine source of motivation for me. Seeing your professional partners, colleagues and clients succeed is as important, if not more important, than your own success.

What has been the biggest factor in your success so far?

I believe there are two key elements that have contributed to the career I've had.

First, the client service of which I've had the privilege to be a part has brought me immense energy, purpose and many lasting friendships. I find incredible satisfaction in working with a client in whom I believe, helping to change the trajectory of their organization for the better. As a leader, it is immensely rewarding to create the space and opportunity for clients to propel their company forward, while extending their network and evolving how they view their own organization. On a personal note, I've also made lifelong friends and formed lasting connections with many of my clients.

Second, I owe a great deal of my success to my family's love and support, as I've worked to find balance between my family, my community and my friends. My wife of almost 33 years has been a steadfast partner since the start of my career—from taking a leap of faith to live abroad twice, to raising our four amazing children together. I have tried to "have it all"—between managing my travel, coaching my children' sports teams, civic involvement, and engaging in schools and nonprofit work. It would not have been possible without my family.

What do you enjoy most about your career in the consulting industry?

As mentioned previously, an element that continues to excite me is the journey I take with a client from ideation to execution. It's that moment when we are co-creating something that we believe will change the trajectory of their organization, then bringing that vision to life alongside them. It's invigorating and incredibly energizing. The relationships I've created along this journey stay with me far beyond the life span of a single project.

Further, I firmly believe in McKinsey's two-part mission of providing excellent client service and building a great firm. Like two sides of the same coin, these dual ambitions are powerfully symbiotic – each advancing the other. For example, doing amazing and high impact work not only retains the incredible minds already within the firm but also attracts strong talent to continue strengthening us. And as a leader, I have enjoyed creating the space and opportunities for others to take part in this journey and experience this rewarding process.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

This may be a nontraditional answer, but I'm deeply proud of the work-life balance I've managed to sustain throughout my career. It has enabled me to serve my clients and the firm wholeheartedly, while also allowing me to be the best husband, father, friend, and community member that I can be. Early in my career, I decided balance was a priority of mine. I vowed to pay attention to the collection of small decisions I made that could create a larger impact. Actions and events that could seem small in the moment —like parent-teacher conferences, coaching my children's sports teams, and volunteering in their classrooms for an afternoon— truly add up over time, and I made intentional decisions to prioritize those moments. In doing this, I was often asked how I "found the time." But finding an hour to meet with a CEO would never be a question – so it was never a question in my mind whether I could carve out an hour to attend something that mattered to my family, friends or community.

My career at McKinsey has enabled me to do it all, and then some. The firm, my partners, and colleagues have been supportive of my life inside and outside of work. As one of my mentors once told me, and as I tell my teams today, "McKinsey should be more than a job, but less than a life." I've found that statement to be profoundly true over my three decades with the firm. What's the best advice you've ever been given?

Professionally, the best advice I received came from a longtime colleague and mentor. When I was leading McKinsey's San Francisco office, I asked him to interview the teams, clients, and colleagues I worked with to gauge how I could improve as a leader, collaborator and client service practitioner.

After a robust round of conversations and interviews, he presented me with a reality-check that set my career on a fresh path: "You're doing great work, but you could be doing much better. Is 'good enough' really where you want to stay?"

In that moment, I believed I was in a groove, but his feedback identified that I was, in fact, in a rut. I was starting to get stale.

His advice: Be more courageous. Push yourself – don't settle. Identify aspirations that define what you want to accomplish and deliver against them. Don't just "show up" for what's in front of you.

Importantly, this is not simply about a will to power (or leadership roles). These aspirations should be designed around specific things you want to accomplish – for the firm, your clients, yourself – and they should always push you slightly out of your comfort zone.

This feedback was an epiphany. It became clear that I needed to define my vision and aspirations – something toward which I would always strive – to deliver my full potential at work without sacrificing the person I wanted to be outside of it.

I've sought to do this every day since.

What does this recognition mean to you?

I am tremendously humbled to be nominated for this award. Our firm, my clients, and my colleagues have consistently pushed me to deliver my best and ensure we are always striving to be exceptional. To create opportunities for others to do the same and watch them grow and excel on their professional journeys has been one of the greatest honors of my career.

As a lifelong student within the consulting space, I hope to energize others from the lessons I have learned throughout my own journey. I hope to inspire individuals to be more intrinsically motivated, to define their "North Star." By identifying what drives you forward, you're able to understand what it will take to deliver the best you can possibly be.

And being your best doesn't happen in a vacuum – it's measured as much by your own sense of accomplishment as it is by your colleagues', clients', and community's sense of it.