2023 Top Consultants: Wayne Messina

Wayne serves as a Vice President and Public Sector lead at North Highland, bringing more than 25 years of consulting expertise to the role. His key specialisms include helping clients successfully action large complex transformations, working closely to optimize processes so they can perform more efficiently and effectively, and collaborating with applicable governing bodies to secure appropriate funding. The latter enables agencies to introduce strategic objectives to improve their services.

In addition, Wayne has a particular passion for serving public sector entities and understanding how the services they provide directly impact the lives of our citizens.

North Highland makes change happen, helping businesses transform by placing people at the heart of every decision. It's how lasting progress is made. With our blend of workforce, customer and operational expertise, we're recognized as the world's leading transformation consultancy. We break new ground today, so tomorrow is easier to navigate.

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

Helping our clients succeed and thrive has been a significant motivator for me throughout my career. As I developed, grew and climbed to leader status, I've always kept our clients' ambitions at heart. What's more, I'm driven to support other consultants as they grow and accomplish their career aspirations.

Helping clients succeed, especially in the public sector, is extremely gratifying. We're able to create an impact that betters the lives of our neighbors. What's more, I've established relationships with client teams who've dedicated their careers to serving the public, meaning I can serve others in many ways.

In addition, I was fortunate to have several incredibly helpful mentors throughout my career. So, I'm passionate about paying it forward by coaching and mentoring a diverse group of consultants—a rewarding and highly motivating aspect of my career.

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

Without a doubt, the main contributors to my success so far are the team members I work with every day. I feel strongly that consulting is a team sport requiring collaboration to drive successful results. I also genuinely value the power of mentorship and coaching, so I believe that by upskilling others, I'm helping my team and myself grow.

I'm intentional about giving our consultant team members the space to learn, fail and succeed. My successes have reached higher levels than I could have accomplished on my own. It's been a collective success—only managed by encouraging my team to leverage their talents. And we've triggered a positive ripple effect as a result: a culture of building up individuals that build up teams—and the cycle repeats itself.

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

Everything I enjoy in my career revolves around a central theme: people. I love helping our clients succeed, and supporting my team members to grow and accomplish results they never thought were possible. During my career, I've been extremely privileged to meet many talented and diverse individuals, and this means I'm always learning. Interacting with clients to understand and appreciate their challenges has helped me become a better listener and trusted advisor. The chance to work with committed and dedicated public servant leaders to deliver better solutions and outcomes for their constituents is highly rewarding—it's one of the things I love most about my consulting career.

Plus, we've grown our public sector practice from $2 million annually to over $150 million. Such growth has provided opportunities for our people and has given me the chance to help others maximize their potential. I genuinely enjoy leveraging my skills to encourage others to learn, innovate and grow.

One of my key passions is developing individuals, so I set up an internal program focused on early-career public sector consultants. Since its launch, the program has evolved to provide opportunities that accelerate our team members' growth and career aspirations while creating our future leaders.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

There are a few key achievements that stand out to me, such as selling the Florida HAF (Homeowner Assistance Fund) project and going full-time billable to guarantee that the program (which had failed under another vendor) was successful. In a more general sense, I'm proud of my ability to never do just what the client asks. Instead, I strategically partner with them, involving myself in difficult decisions and tough discussions so that I can ensure each and every client's success.

However, I'd say the achievement I'm most proud of is not a one-time event or win. Neither is it something I have achieved by myself. It's something we, the team, have built over the long term. Specifically, it's how we've managed to stay true to our values while growing. We've built a team of dedicated professionals that work tirelessly to succeed for our clients and each other.

I'm a leader of a team that has experienced significant growth and I'm incredibly proud that we've committed to our people-first approach and developed a strong foundation while ensuring excellence in delivery for our clients. It may not be something you can put precise figures or an individual name to, but it's the best achievement that we could have possibly reached.

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

Immediately after joining North Highland 17 years ago, I was told "don't be afraid to ask for help." And this has never left me.

But at the time, it was a foreign concept to me. I've always been a very independent person and felt that asking for help was a show of weakness. I quickly learned that this isn't the case at all. Collaboration and support from others actually drive much better outcomes. I've found this approach builds better relationships and trust in others. No single person has all the answers, and that realization is the key to success.

I share this lesson with every new member of our firm as part of their onboarding. To grow a company, you must develop and enable the individuals within. It's simply not possible for one person to do everything themselves. And so, you need to support others, trust them and allow them to fail, learn, succeed—and grow.

What does this recognition mean to you?

Considering those who've previously been awarded this recognition, it would be an honor to be listed among them. I love what I do every day, and acknowledging my hard work to make change happen would be humbling and rewarding.

As I've gained more leadership responsibilities over my career, I feel it's important to develop and support those around me. This recognition equips me with the opportunity to help my colleagues and clients build their own paths.