Oct 14 • General discussion
I just had a business consultant tell me:
“When I left McKinsey, I assumed the reputation would follow me."
That the title alone carried its own gravity.
Then a prospect said, ‘Show me your track record.’
That sentence reset my entire view of credibility.
Because what I had wasn’t mine, it was McKinsey’s.
That realization hits every consultant who leaves the Big Four or MBB.
Inside the firm, your authority is inherited.
Outside of it, your authority must be earned.
Clients don’t buy history.
They buy outcomes.
The title might get attention, but it doesn’t build trust.
Credibility now depends on how clearly you can connect your ideas to measurable change.
What you did for the firm no longer matters.
What you can replicate without the firm does.
The independents who win are the ones who rebuild their reputation around transformation,
not tenure.
They take the thinking that once powered billion-dollar engagements and translate it into frameworks that mid-market clients can actually use.
That’s the shift.
Stop anchoring your authority to a past logo.
Start anchoring it to demonstrated results, structured processes, and repeatable impact.
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I just had a business consultant tell me:
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