The 2023 Rising Stars of the Profession: John Sibbald

John Sibbald is an Engagement Manager in Oliver Wyman's People & Organizational Performance and Energy & Natural Resources practices. His work focuses on operating model re-design, strategy enablement and cultural transformation, working with leading companies from around the globe. He co-leads Oliver Wyman's LGBTQ+ Network (PrOWd) globally, focusing on mentorship programs (traditional and reverse mentoring), leadership development, and enhancing inclusivity and belonging for gender-nonconforming colleagues.

John is known among his team members, leaders, and peers for relentless dedication to developing talent, doing what's right (rather than being right), and bringing novel approaches to problem-solving and creating impact. Having spent his childhood working at his family's resort in Northern Ontario, serving the needs of teams, clients, and the business is deeply embedded in his leadership style.

Before Oliver Wyman's Boston Office, John obtained a Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) from Queen's University in Canada, where he founded the Smith School of Business's LGBTQ+ network (Q+), became the first male executive for Queen's Women in Leadership (Q.WIL), and was named by his peers as the student who had the greatest impact on the school during their time there.

Outside of work, John is highly focused on athletics (he is a true Canadian at heart, enjoying all winter sports, especially figure skating, skiing and curling).

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

The biggest factor in my success has been deep-rooted values instilled in me by my family. I grew up living and working in Northern Ontario, Canada, where a century's worth of family business learnings and values were drilled into me from childhood: unrelenting integrity, humility and resilience.

Unrelenting integrity: Your word means everything; break it and the impacts can lose you valuable client relationships and impact your image in the community. Only do what you will forever feel comfortable explaining to others. Through this value, I build rock-solid trusting relationships with my clients and teams.

Humility: We were always blessed to learn and be supported by our community and our guests. Since we did not have the money to be innovators through financial investment, we have to innovate through an unassuming nature paired with a strong sense of curiosity. Through this value, I am a stronger partner for tackling some of the greatest challenges facing an organization, actively avoiding flawed assumptions.

Resilience: Over the course of a hundred years in hospitality (a very economically sensitive industry), myriad hard times are experienced. My family always understood that when times get tough, we come together, make the needed sacrifices, do our best to weather the storm and celebrate success. This value has helped me through challenging times, giving me the strength to keep myself and my teams moving forward, and rewarding success at the end.

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

I find my career in the consulting industry to be extremely rewarding, as I feel energized by learning from the best and brightest, being entrepreneurial and creating the "a-ha" moments. This career is so development-centric; having the opportunity to work with true experts in the field, apprentice under them, and rapidly grow your skillsets and knowledge is exhilarating. Whether they are the best at co-creation, medical quality and safety, learning and development, logistics or aircraft repair, there is so much to learn from the brilliant people I work with (both co-workers and clients).

I enjoy feeling free to be entrepreneurial despite working in a "large company"; in consulting, and specifically at Oliver Wyman, I can take on new initiatives (developing a commercial strategic activation platform for inclusivity) and passion projects (building communities within the company) that are met with excitement and virtually limitless support from leaders and colleagues.

Finally, and most importantly, the core of the work that we do is exhilarating. There is no better feeling than creating that "a-ha" moment in a clients mind that helps them approach their every day in a different way, allowing them to view their world, lead, make decisions in a completely different way that allows them to achieve their goals. Constructing thoughtful, compelling, data-driven narratives that create these high-impact "a-ha" moments is the (highly addictive) bread and butter of consulting.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

My "PrOWdest" achievement to date is not the largest scale impact that I have delivered, but one that is the most meaningful to me and to my community: Subtly helping shape the culture of my company to be a place for all members of the LGBTQ+ community to be able to thrive. When I took over the role to co-lead "GLOW" (originally standing for Gays and Lesbians of Oliver Wyman) in 2021, I decided I wanted to pivot the network to more accurately reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community at Oliver Wyman. This included re-branding to "PrOWd", a shift that enabled us to move from focusing on the "G" and the "L" to the entire spectrum of sexual orientation and gender identity.

This shift sparked conversations globally on the topic, and I have been told how validating this change was for individuals who previously felt like they never truly belonged within the community we had tried to create. This change opened doors for larger conversations I hosted on the gender-nonconforming (nonbinary and transgender) experience in the business world and in the consulting industry. The experiences shared in these discussions permeated our organization, building empathy, which is the core driver of creating a culture of inclusivity and belonging.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

I often can get wrapped up planning my life three, five, 10 years down the road. There is constant pressure from my peers, university graduating class, and family to achieve a specific, but also ambiguous, vision of success; we are bombarded by this idea that life is short, so it has to be done right.

One of my mentors could see this phenomenon would often throw me into a bit of a crisis, or honestly just lead me to sacrifice things that were important to me for this ambiguous long-term image. She said to me something that was so simple, yet so meaningful to me:

"Your career is a long time, slow down, do what you love in the present, and you will get to exactly where you need to go"

This has helped lead me to make decisions that make me feel fulfilled every day. I am so much more motivated, energized, and able to deliver better quality by just looking out for my present self, rather than making sacrifices to achieve goals that may not even truly satisfy me when I achieve them.

What does this recognition mean to you?

I genuinely believe that this recognition is not so much about what this means for me personally but what it means for others that look like me, talk like me, act like me… As an openly gay man, I remember being told that this was not the right career path for me—that I shouldn't even try to apply for it. Once I got it, I remember being told I need to be careful, because the world can be cruel to people like me. Celebrating this success to date and potential in the future shows others that there is not a trade-off between being your authentic self and being successful.