Top management consulting firms set a high bar for soft skills. Consulting is a full-contact sport. Creating impact doesn’t only depend on intellectual ability, but also on readiness to work well with people and to influence decisions. As such, top consulting firms coach and evaluate their staff on soft skills such as:

1. Influencing skills

• Stakeholder alignment: Major business decisions require the alignment of multiple stakeholders (e.g., sales and product need to agree on rolling out new products). For a consultant to develop an impactful recommendation, they’ll need the input and approval of professionals from different backgrounds. As such, consultants learn to consider and synthesize input from multiple stakeholders, to communicate problems from the other person’s perspective, and to act as an independent voice in the boardroom.
• Storytelling: People remember stories. They rarely
  recall data points even though those data points are critical to support
  the narrative. Consultants are trained to communicate recommendations
  in a compelling and coherent way.
• Presentation: To gain the trust of top executives
  and leaders, consultants must present as confident and credible. They
  are expected to prepare for any possible question, and to demonstrate
  confidence through body language and tonality.
• Framing: There’s rarely one right solution to business problems – they’re instead about judgment. A consultant must lay out a solution in a way that resonates with the client. For example, say a client wants to grow their business internationally and is unsure about the best approach to the problem. A consultant may suggest the following:
  • Comparable companies typically expand organically or through acquisition.
  • Organic growth is typically less expensive and and preserves the culture of the organization, but it can take a long time; whereas an acquisition-based strategy requires large amounts of capital and may come with some post-integration complexities, but done right can be executed much faster.
  • Since the client is under high pressure to grow and has access to funding, and the acquired company can operate independently, then inorganic growth is the best option in this scenario.

2. Teamwork skills

• • Managing up: You’ll be reporting to someone senior to you, and they’ll be key to your success in your role. You’ll need to get their insights and guidance on your work, seek their approval at the appropriate decision points, and keep them informed of your progress.
  • Leading: As a more senior consultant, and sometimes at junior levels, you’ll have team member(s) to delegate work to. This will require an ability to give clear instructions, assist in problem-solving, distribute work fairly, and set deadlines while maintaining high morale throughout the project.
  • Collaboration: Many times, you will need to go above and beyond to help your team. Everyone remembers that colleague who stayed at the office late to help them debug an Excel model. It’s considered a part of the job to coach junior team members, to share information and insights across the team, and to build team rapport.

3. Process skills

1. • Prioritization: There will always be more work and problems to solve than there is time. Effective consultants prioritize which problems to solve first. For example, getting the client’s approval on a proposed approach for building a financial model will lead to fewer iterations in the future.
   • Managing meetings: Business decisions involve multiple stakeholders. Consultants learn to manage meetings toward a desired outcome. They’re expected to set a clear agenda for meetings and to define next steps. This is to make the best use of people’s time and ensure regular progress.
   • Time management: For consultants to deliver on their workload, they need to learn to optimize their time and energy throughout the day. For example, I used to do my best to protect the first 2-3 hours of the day to create content (e.g., excel modeling or writing decks) because that’s when my energy level is highest.