Top 5 Skills all successful Consultants need

Do you know the top 5 skills that all successful consultants need? In this video, I share the top skills that you need to succeed as a consultant. Successful consultants in Tier 1 consulting firms such as MBB (i.e. McKinsey, BCG, Bain) will likely have mastered these skills for a successful career in management consulting. Many people are asking: What skills do I need for consulting? In the video I talk about consulting soft skills, how to become a successful consultant and key skills you need to be a management consultant. Strategy consulting can be challenging, you better learn the most important consulting skills to succeed at firms like McKinsey consulting, BCG consulting or Bain consulting.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:40 Skill 1
02:40 Skill 2
04:00 Skill 3
04:46 Skill 4
06:00 Skill 5
07:16 Additional remarks
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All views expressed on this channel are private opinions of this channel's creator Heinrich. This is NOT an official channel of any consulting firm.

[@FirmLearning]

Can you create Consulting-style slide presentations? This is my complete Slide Writing course: link.firmlearning.com/slides

[@brandondlamini9052]

Is this course still available?

[@FirmLearning]

@@brandondlamini9052 it will relaunch with lots of updates in the next ~3 months, you will get informed if you are on the list :)

[@monsieurijaiya551]

Skill 1 - Business acumen Skill 2 - Ability to influence people Skill 3 - Quantitative and analytical skills Skill 4 - Communication skills Skill 5 - Resilience techniques

[@spilledgraphics]

You missed one: ability to produce consulting memes". 😅

[@FirmLearning]

Thank you for the summary! Best, Heinrich

[@sitrakaforler8696]

@@spilledgraphics The most usefull skill ! xD

[@alvinm4250]

Great content!

[@asdasdd320]

Just here to boost the algorithm with the comment :)

[@FirmLearning]

Way to go :) Every comment helps! Thank you!

[@godwynpatricio5800]

In addition, these are some significant considerations of my clients: Punctuality and Good Planning Skills. The ability to show up on time during face-to-face/virtual meetings and being prepared for my presentations. I take note of these all the time. :)

[@yaseminhocaoglu8950]

Thank you Heinrich, especially for the book recommendations, influencing people without direct authority over them is one of the points I am still struggling 👍🏻 would be nice to hear your thoughts on conflict management, sometimes it is not easy to manage a conflict in the business setting without stepping on someone's toe 😅

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Yasemin, thanks for your comment and the next video suggestion :) Indeed quite a relevant topic, might pick this up in future videos! Best, Heinrich

[@thatgirlml]

Totally agree on resilience in order to cont ur hustle!

[@FirmLearning]

Fully agree. Thanks for watching Manli! Best, Heinrich

[@elyas.e4540]

Beautiful! This is the video that I've been waiting for since I found your channel Heinrich :)... Based on my experience I would say that resilience is probably the most important skill of them all. I noticed that showing an aptitude to quickly learn and develop one's skills as a consultant is quite appreciated by senior consultants, and this is related to being resilient I think. Thanks, and looking forward to our next coffee break ;) Best! Elyas E.

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Elias, thank you for watching. Fully agree, resilience is super important indeed :) Best, Heinrich

[@Alilalialju]

Thank you, Heinrich!

[@FirmLearning]

Thank YOU for watching Juha! Best, H

[@flondon4495]

My favorite is leading team members over who you do not have influence. Leadership is such an untaught skill set in the corporate space, but yet is so much needed. Young professionals can become such great leaders if only they are taught to be such by their leaders.

[@RahulDas-pg6ux]

Thanks Heinrich. Will be working kn the first point

[@FirmLearning]

Thanks Rahul! Lots of success to you! :) Best, Heinrich

[@aaryayadav1646]

Consistent top quality content, Vielen Danke, H. kannst du bitte auch ein praktikum bei der beratungsfirma video machen?

[@FirmLearning]

Thanks Arya! Du meinst, worauf es ankommt wenn man Praktikant bei einer Beratung ist? LG

[@aaryayadav1646]

@@FirmLearning nicht genau, ich möchte sagen " wie bekomme ich ein Praktikum (MC) bei big4 oder MBB " (Schritte und Strategie) Entschuldigung für mein schlechtes Deutsch, Ich lerne immernoch :)

[@missglow2389]

Great video....Another one is,Time management. By the way, i like your accent 🤩

[@judyl.7811]

Skill 1 - Business acumen 1:00 can be learned and developed. keenness and quickness to understand and deal with a "business situation" understand accounting and finance. they assume they can talk with these people at eye level. Skill 2 - Ability to influence people 2:50 since as an external consultant, you don't have authority to ask they do things. instead, you need to convince these people, and they want to follow. 3:20 leading without authority Skill 3 - Quantitative and analytical skills as first years, you will be responsible for this a lot. Skill 4 - Communication skills 5:00 as a consultant, you're frequently leading client meeting. to sit with other senior people. how good your powerpoint is. leave the presentation as you leave the company. Skill 5 - Resilience techniques a lot about self-reflection. personal development, and set the right boundaries when necessary.

[@alexfrank1831]

Awesome Video as always!

[@FirmLearning]

Great to hear that - thanks Alex! Best, Heinrich

[@PianolifeYiwei]

Hi Henrich! I think the ability to ask good and insightful question is also very important, both to work better and to build good conversations/professional relationships. Could you do a video about how we can better improve our ability to ask good questions? Thanks so much for the great quality content, been following this for some months and they helped me greatly!

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Yiwei, thanks for your comment! Appreciate your content idea, sounds interesting. Might pick this up in future videos! Best, Heinrich

[@bunun2422]

Hi this is very good video. Thank for sharing your experience, I would very appreciate your insight if you could give me some advice how to improve "Ability to influence people" to help me better put into practice.

[@siddharthmajhi1]

Very introspective video Heinrich! It was able to summarise the key skills needed very effeciently! Looking forward to your video on how we can improve our business acumen if you could please, that would be great! :)

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Siddharth, thanks for your comment and thanks for the video suggestion. Appreciate it!! Best, Heinrich

[@alpinangga1990]

To the author, nice video you have been made. I want to ask you what book should consultant read / mastering? I am still newbie

[@marvinschatzschneider3098]

Thank you!

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Marvin, thank YOU for watching, appreciate it! Best, Heinrich

[@sitrakaforler8696]

Short enough vidéo, with 5 key points. This is great quality content ! BRAVO ! Also is 26 years old too old to start consulting ? ^^"

[@ivogeorgiev2733]

Hey Henrich! I was wondering about your thoughts on the credibility of online MBA and MS degrees. Thanks!

[@tavsjaukaisskaistaissencis]

I would love to hear tips on how to narrow down and specialize in the consulting world. I feel like if, apart from general business acumen knowledge, I also learn a lot about my fields of interest, I might advance much faster by offerring my consulting expertise in a narrowed down industry or something like that. My goal is to work in consulting for 5-10 years so I want to maximize my profits for the time being.

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Edijs, there is usually a trade-off here. For you, you will likely learn most if you do projects in lots of many industries and functions. For the consulting firm, it is better you specialize and build deep domain expertise. Usually at MBB, you will switch around sectors very freely in the first 2 years or so and then start to specialize. Best! Heinrich

[@qiuhuayang5417]

greetings from Munich;) thanks for all your videos

[@FirmLearning]

Thank YOU for watching Qiuhua! Best, Heinrich

[@MagnicraftConsulting]

I would add being objective and listening skills

[@FirmLearning]

Fully agree! Would see this under communication skills. Thank you for watching! :) Best, Heinrich

[@frida507]

Agree, listening skills and to understand the point of view, motivation and problems of others I think is beneficial in many careers. (I'm not in consulting though).

[@nuteeella5307]

Great Sharing 😁

[@FirmLearning]

Thanks Nathan, great to hear the video is helpful. Appreciate it! Best, Heinrich

[@AnishBhola]

Hi Heinrich, could you please share links to books /courses for one to develop that business acumen? Thanks.

[@hugob.2407]

Great!

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Hugo, great to hear the video is helpful. Appreciate it! Best, Heinrich

[@ajb229]

Once again I notice a lot of overlap between internal audit skill set and consulting skill set. I have most of those but definitely would need to improve my Excel and PowerPoint knowledge!

[@FirmLearning]

Sounds great, thanks for sharing this observation Alistair! Makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks for being such a loyal viewer of the channel :) Best, Heinrich

[@Yemi927]

Hi Heinrich! THank you for your videos. YOu mentioned getting foundation courses to build business acumen on Udemy. Any suggestions, please?

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Mary, on Udemy I can see different "Mini MBA" style of courses. As I did a regular MBA myself I cannot recommend a specific one, but if you do some research based on this and pick one with great reviews, I trust this will be a good investment! All the best - Heinrich

[@christianpedersen8473]

Great video! What are the chances, I sent you a mail asking this question a couple of days ago :)

[@FirmLearning]

Thank you for watching Christian! Apologies, currently struggling to keep up with my e-mail inbox.. need to find a better way to manage it in the future. Great that the video covers the topic :) Best, Heinrich

[@namankhare7436]

Hi Heinrich, I'm a CA student in India. BCG/Bain/McK here hire either from the top bschools or only Rankholders/course toppers in CA (you don't even get a shortlist otherwise). I think it's similar for most countries. Can you tell me how to get into consulting if one isn't on the top academically? I have been told to try for smaller consulting firms to start. Can you please elaborate?

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Naman, thanks for your comment. MBB firms are definitely selective. If your academics are not top, suggest you think about whether there are other areas in your profile that are excellent and might compensate the academic parts (e.g., impressive extracurricular experience). Of course you will have lots of opportunities in other firms as well. Best and lots of success to you! Heinrich

[@mcdlr9197]

Nice video 🔥

[@FirmLearning]

Thanks :)

[@christianpedersen8473]

What are your thoughts on Microsoft Power BI?

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Christian, what I have seen it is quite a powerful and cool tool! Though not a super expert on using it to be honest. Best, Heinrich

[@christianpedersen8473]

@@FirmLearning is it something you have seen utilised by management consulting firms?

[@bisma2787]

Heinrich, do you have any recommended book to improve communication skill?

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Bisma, thanks for your comment! A classic is "Pyramid Principle" from Barbara Minto. Besides that, I have a link with book recommendations included in the video description :) Best! Heinrich

[@philthieler9438]

Yes

[@FirmLearning]

Thanks for watching Phil! Appreciate it. Best, Heinrich

[@philthieler9438]

@@FirmLearning thank you for putting together the content! I started my consulting career earlier this year, and your videos have provided some great insights that I've been able to apply in my day to day work. Hope to see and learn much more!

[@jasonmark6262]

I've observed that your Wardrobe appears to be a part of your arsenal. Any tips for poor people will be appreciated.

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Jason, not sure I fully understand. What do you mean with my wardrobe being part of my arsenal :) Best, H

[@jasonmark6262]

@@FirmLearningthanks for responding. I was meaning to ask for basic wardrobe tips to be perceived as professional. What do you recommend as staple office wear? That won't break the bank. Thanks

[@EuropeVisaReporter]

Where to we learn this skill sir

[@FirmLearning]

There are many materials online which one can use to try and develop these skills. Also check the link in the video caption to see my course on PowerPoint presentation skills for consultants. Thanks for watching!

[@user-yf1xp6xf6l]

Allow me to add time management

[@FirmLearning]

:) Thank you for your comment and for watching the video!

[@harshkapila4698]

Skills pay bills.

[@FirmLearning]

Definitely some truth to that :) Thanks for sharing Harsh! Best, Heinrich

[@leeray6719]

Top 5 skills you need to be successful as a consultant: 1. Skills not to give a shit about the mistakes you make 2. Skills not to be discouraged by all the bullshits you take from the Client 3. Skills to be stubborn even if you are not correct and you have no logic to back up 4. Skills to talk shit about your superior whenever he/she is not around 5. Skills to stay in office more than 24 hours and not to give a shit about even if you havent washed for several days

[@FirmLearning]

Hi Lee, thanks for sharing your perspective. Must say this sounds a bit too negative relative to what I experienced, but appreciate your view! Best, Heinrich