Really like this article. I recently transitioned to industry still with consulting skills, reading the room and choosing what to say has helped progress an outcome I had in mind using the same algorithm noted in your article.
I don't work in consulting, I lead teams within a domain which is crowded with aspirational projects, technical debt and tons of things that need high degree of negotiations and convincing. I think I just found an answer, rather a mantra to preserve and focus my energy and still get the stakeholders convinced. This is a must read for leaders. I am going to spread the word.
I’m curious as to the connection between less hair and more silence… do you think that a lack of physical self confidence meant you were more willing to stand out a little less? Where did the valuable hesitancy come in and why is it proportional to hair loss?
Really like this article. I recently transitioned to industry still with consulting skills, reading the room and choosing what to say has helped progress an outcome I had in mind using the same algorithm noted in your article.
Fantastic! I'm convinced we acquire so many skills in consulting that we can transfer across other domains...
This is something I used to struggle with a lot. Always good to have a reminder to shut up. Thanks for the good read!
We all need it sometimes!!
“Empty space between their ears” 😀 Well said. And that doesn’t necessarily correlate with the other reasons
I don't work in consulting, I lead teams within a domain which is crowded with aspirational projects, technical debt and tons of things that need high degree of negotiations and convincing. I think I just found an answer, rather a mantra to preserve and focus my energy and still get the stakeholders convinced. This is a must read for leaders. I am going to spread the word.
Thanks for the kind words, Sumit. And glad I was able to help! All the best in 2026.
As a woman,
I’m curious as to the connection between less hair and more silence… do you think that a lack of physical self confidence meant you were more willing to stand out a little less? Where did the valuable hesitancy come in and why is it proportional to hair loss?
Oh no, nothing like that. It's maybe the opposite, at least for me: less hair made me *more* confident.
I took it as basically Nature telling me I was "mature", and therefore I had to grow out of certain suboptimal behaviours... Very weird, I know!