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McKinsey'sMarvinBower.Vision,Leadership,_img1.gif McKinsey's Marvin Bower : Vision, Leadership, and the Creation of Management Consulting
In a soon-to-be-published biography and remembrance of the late Marvin Bower, the high priest of McKinsey & Co., there's a wonderful memo that should be tacked on the wall of every leader everywhere. Bower writes of admiring "first-class brains" and "good citizens in communities" but also of despising and abhorring (his words) "toadies who suck up to their bosses" and "buck-passers and people who don't tell the truth."
The book, by Elizabeth Haas Edersheim, is as much a loving tribute to Bower as it is an insightful biography on Bower's contributions to consulting and to leadership. Bower was a remarkable man and an exceptional leader. Elizabeth, a former McKinsey partner, worked with him for more than a year, completing her manuscript before his death in January of 2003. There is no one alive who knows more about Bower than Elizabeth, and she used that knowledge wisely in crafting a book that should be read by everyone who deeply cares about leadership.

The Bower memo, on blue paper, was written by the long-time managing director of McKinsey in 1961. You'll find some of the words somewhat dated (especially the rather dated term "subordinates"), but the thoughts and ideas are as pertinent today as ever. You'll find yourself smiling as you read some of the words in this incredible communication, and you'll immediately recognize how special this man was.
"We are what we speak--it defines us--it is our image. We don't have customers, we have clients. We don't serve within an industry, we are a profession. We are not a company, we are not a business. We are a firm. We don't have employes, we have firm members and colleagues who have individual dignity. We don't have business plans, we have aspirations. We don't have rules, we have values. We are management consultants only. We are not managers, promoters, or constructors."

Bower, who invented "management consulting" as we know it, built McKinsey into a powerhouse of consulting by insisting that every employee at the firm adhere to a strict code of ethics and values. Author Edersheim breaks them down into six sets of characteristics that could serve as a template for any business:
    • Put the client's interests first and separate yourself from the job.
    • Be consistent yet open- minded. Writes Edersheim, "Marvin was consistent in his values, in culture, in mission, and in the respect he accorded others. He knew who he was, what he believed in, and what he could or could not accomplish. (He was) a man who never told people what he thought they wanted to hear and who ignored ephemeral management fads and fashions."
    • Center problem solving on the facts and on the front line. Marvin wisely knew that the most knowledgeable people in any organization are those on the front line who have access to most of the information. If you want to solve business problems, you get to capture those opinions and bring them to the top.
    • View problems and decisions in the context of the whole and in terms of the immediate actions to be taken. "Although Marvin valued the importance of facts," writes author Edersheim, "he also believed that isolated facts do not lead to solutions; rather, having imagination and context to see where the facts lead creates solutions and paths...The inventor of this profession was committed to making sure action did happen--action that was consistent with the mission of the company and that had fast payback both emotionally and financially."
    • Inspire and require people to be their best. Marvin, adds Edersheim, "managed to make the firm and its work extremely important to each member. It became, for most, the largest, most important thing in their working lives."
    • Communicate the values of the company over and over again to ensure that people in the firm will understand them, embrace them, and translate them into action.
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