as a young consultant at booz allen hamilton inc. i was the luckiest guy in the world. why? because i was hired by a guy named joe mallory who immediately became my mentor for all the years that i was with the firm.
joe was brilliant and understood consulting like no one that i had ever met. he had a renaissance mind, studying many things from knot theory to the mathematics of music (at the Juilliard). whenever i had a difficult assignment where the recommended answer could go left or right with just as much justification from the research and data, he would ask me one question which always made the way forward very clear.
that question was "what is best for the client"? not what is best for booz allen revenue, or me, or joe, but what is best for the client.
the other thing that i often worried about was marketing; how do i build my business? joe's answer was clear there also. you don't overtly market, your work is your brand and your brand is your marketing. just do your very best on every assignment to "over-deliver" intellect, creativity, honesty and thoroughness and you won't have to look for clients. they will look for you.
joe was and is an inflection point in my life -- someone you meet who through their intellect and caring changes the trajectory of your life.
be open to the inflection points in your life.
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