My Secret Initiation into McKinsey

This is something I will never forget

I joined McKinsey at age 29, and had to undergo a strange initiation ritual.

No, they didn’t make me give a client presentation dressed in my skivvies. Or calculate CAGRs with a slide rule. Or drink a shot of whiskey every time somebody said value added.

My initiation ritual was more profound than any of those frat-like pranks. I had to fly across the country to meet an old man. A very old man.

---

Please support my work—by taking out a premium subscription (just $6 per month).

---

His name was Marvin Bower, and he was born in Cincinnati in the year 1903. He insisted on meeting every new hire at McKinsey—a firm he had built from almost nothing. And because he was so important, I traveled three thousand miles to hear what he had to say.

As it turned out, Mr. Bower had quite a lot to say.

He was a wise man—an oracle for leaders over the course of decades. And now I would meet the oracle face-to-face, getting my chance to tap into his wisdom.

If I were a hero in a Star Wars movie, this would be the moment when young Ted meets his guru Yoda—and gets valuable lessons he wasn’t expecting.

They were riveting lessons—important ones that, I fear, the world (especially the corporate world) has forgotten. So I want to share them with you.