5 McKinsey partner lessons that apply to lawyers

Lawyers and management consultants share similarities: both advise on high-stakes matters in a client-service model. What can lawyers learn from go-getters who just made partner at McKinsey? This article talks to four new partners. I saw five recurring themes that apply to lawyers who are part of large teams and want to rise:

1. Develop your expertise. A partner who leads McKinsey’s data science and technical teams talked about focusing on a few things and leaning into his strengths “at the intersection of analytics, technology, and human judgment.” From there he could make his “contributions clearly valuable to clients.” Similarly, you should find the intersection of your strengths, learn the craft, and show your value.
2. Focus on where you will have an impact. One partner said he knew to “lean in disproportionately when something is truly important and mission-critical.” For him, it was “the COVID-19 pandemic or supply chain disruptions, [where he] saw opportunities to shape responses that would meaningfully impact the firm’s performance in the moment and for years to come.”
3. Get sponsors (your champions).
   * How? “Sponsors don’t come from networking alone — they form when someone sees your authentic passion in action and wants to build alongside you,” said one interviewee. A senior leader saw early in her career how well she worked with a client: he ”noticed that energy and asked me to partner with him on similar client work and later on internal initiatives. His support lasted for years, and he was one of the first people I called when I was elected” to partner.
   * Sponsors can give you key insight. One interviewee had been working with only one client, and her sponsor got her “to think more deliberately about expanding [her] sphere of influence.” For another interviewee, her “sponsor suggested we discuss how I could become a partner within 3 or 4 years. I hadn’t expected that conversation — especially with another promotion still ahead.”
4. Build relationships and teams. Your promotion depends on getting known and making other people successful.
   * The interviewee who worked pretty much with one client had to deliberately expand her sphere of influence: “I began focusing on understanding the broader market and gaining exposure to more clients, while also being more intentional about the teams and people I worked with and building those relationships over time.”
   * Another partner credited getting promoted to his “invest[ing] deeply in people, taking the time to understand what motivated team members, support their careers, and create environments where they could do their best work.” He said, “The biggest shift was moving from being good at my own work to making first a few, then many, other people successful. As I progressed, I became more intentional about building teams and creating impact for clients beyond any single project.”
5. Read signals on whether you are on track to partnership/management. Sometimes senior leaders will discuss a timeline and strategy, but it’s often less clear. One partner knew she was on track for partnership by “the growing trust they placed in me,” specifically “when a senior partner invited me to join a client offsite to discuss strategy changes.” Absolutely, you know you are doing well as a lawyer when you are invited to key business meetings and advise on strategy.

Bonus: despite all the work they put in to become partner, they all had a non-negotiable: keeping time with their loved ones, which is super important to not burn out in a high-stress client-facing career.