The 2022 Women Leaders In Consulting: Shelley E. McDermott

Shelley has more than 25 years of program leadership experience. She has achieved significant results in both IT and operations, strategic planning, business process engineering and organizational design, delivering results in both public and private sector organizations. She excels at optimizing high-risk, high-visibility projects and leading teams.

Her Background includes assessment and implementation of complex business initiatives, program and project leadership and strategic planning; excelling at managing high-risk, high visibility projects and leading teams.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

My family has always been my first priority, but I've always been stubborn about having a career as well. Being a wife and mother and being in business is hard, and all three can be accomplished with great success but not without the gift of other people. I've had the encouragement and support of my husband who is my biggest fan. I have two badass business partners who fill in so many gaps for me. And I have a great team of consultants out there representing my firm beautifully.

Approaching my work and my life with a service mindset is the key to achieving anything. There are times when my schedule is packed and I'm in meeting after meeting, and then my son will pop in and ask if I want a cup of coffee or if he can bring me some lunch. That's my greatest success. To have raised a kind and loving kid who thinks of others. I couldn't ask for more.

What advice would you give to a female consultant just beginning her career?

Be fearless. You'll have moments of doubt, but you have to believe you can do anything. If you're stuck, reach out to co-workers and other smart people for information. We love crowdsourcing solutions at my firm, a practice I recommend for getting the answers and support you need.

Next, if you make a mistake, seek the lesson. We all stumble at times, but it's what we do after making a mistake that matters. Some put it out of their minds, others dwell on it, but those who seek the lesson and commit to making changes to prevent it from happening again are the winners. And so is your client.

Take the time to really get to know the people you work with. I take the time to meet with every employee every other week. I am committed to this practice. Some employees need help brainstorming while others need mentoring – but they all need care and concern. They value my time and the effort I put into furthering their careers.

Finally, laugh…a lot. Work is serious but don't take it too seriously.

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

The best boss I ever had was Chris Johnson, who recently passed away. Chris and I worked together as I was entering the management phase of my career. She hired me because I stated in my interview that "I really want this job and I'll do my best for you every day." "Managers love to hear that," she said. I'm not one to shy away from saying what's on my mind and Chris coached me to soften my delivery, consider the entirety of the situation and to earn the trust of others by caring about what they care about. She gave me two pieces of advice that I've never forgotten: 1) "Speak truth to power." This one is tricky because as soon as I did that, I got fired. That stung but I still speak truth to power because it is a critical skill in consulting. Project sponsors and executives don't always want to hear the painful facts, but they must if they want their initiatives to have great outcomes, 2) "You have to give people a little wiggle room." When I was younger, I thought there was only one answer – mine. Chris recognized this in me and coached me into a better way of approaching interactions or negotiations and that is that everyone needs to walk away with a win. If you go into a tough meeting with this mindset, you'll earn the respect and trust of others.