Leadership requires an ability to collaborate with and motivate others.Tell us about a professional experience that required you to influence people. What did this experience teach you about working with others, and how will it make you a better leader?

When the city of Boston pursued the potential sale of Red Sox train station, they hired a deep advisory team to help them evaluate the financial and political significance of this transaction. My team at Bain was chosen as the lead role and we were supported by legal, accounting, financial and technical advisors from nine other firms. After working together a short time, I realized that my knowledge and prior experience with these unique train station privatization transactions were far greater than other advisory team members. Seeing a void in direction among the 12-person working group comprised of analysts, associates and consultants, I assumed leadership of the team despite my title level and lack of formal authority. Throughout the experience we encountered a variety of issues that required leadership solutions and taught me a great deal about influencing others. Initially, the team lacked cohesion as a result of its broad reach with members from nine different organizations. To address this, I established bi-weekly conference calls to streamline communications and instituted regular in-person meetings to develop more personalized interactions, all of which greatly improved overall communication and cooperation. Additionally, early on in the project there were many instances of low motivation and effort within the group. I realized this issue was the result of tasks assigned to different individuals who had little insight into the broader objectives. Thus I assembled the team to bring them in on the vision, plans and goals for the project, which drove improved engagement and activity from the entire group. Finally, the team struggled with poor work quality in several areas, especially related to the evaluation of municipal bond financing alternatives. This problem persisted for some time until I recognized the prior expertise and experience of one team member in the field and reassigned him to assist with the applicable work going forward.

Throughout the experience I saw firsthand the significance of setting a shared goal and vision for a team. This process is critical for establishing buy-in from team members and ensuring they are motivated and driven to action. Ultimately when individuals feel engaged and part of a broader initiative they are more motivated and tied to enhancing the collective group’s efforts. In addition, as a leader I developed a strong appreciation for the importance of knowing your team members; it is essential for leaders to understand all resources available to them. This allows for recognition of where talents and strengths exist, as well as an appreciation for the team’s weaknesses that may need to be supplemented. The entire experience has heightened my emphasis on collaboration and going forward I will focus my attention first and foremost on building an interconnected team, as it is one of the most critical tasks for a leader to accomplish.