What do you do if your promotion in management consulting seems out of reach?

Be realistic. You can be ticking all the right boxes, doing all that can be done but not getting the promotion because there is a queue of others who got there before you. The reality is that unless you see a solid indicator that it will happen, the market conditions and changes in chargeability etc. can derail any of your efforts, So assess your options, maybe there are better opportunities for group internally in other regions or even better growth opportunities outside your firm. Place all the pros and cons in the balance and critically assess the options and take action. Be active and never bank your future on empty promises. and Always manage your expectations!

The Consulting Career Ladder can be predominantly broken down into 𝟑 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 - 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 - Individual contributor delivering high quality service to the client 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 - Creating a high performing team delivering high quality service to client 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞 - Prospecting new work for the high performing team to deliver high quality service to the client As you move up the Consulting Value Chain, you have to quickly switch gears and hone the next needed skill. Since the skill required to excel at each level is quite different. This gives rise to an interesting difference between the criteria for upward mobility in consulting and any other industry.

𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 in Consulting - 1. 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 2. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 Most industry judge and promote you on your performance in your current role to move you up the ladder. But in Consulting firms not only judge you on your current role performance but also your readiness in delivering the next skill set needed. So at key transition points in your consulting careers take up stretch roles to showcase that you have the necessary skill to keep climbing up the proverbial ladder.