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162 The McKinsey Mind

lessons also helped them. Based on our interviews with them, we
have isolated two particular considerations:

• Identify the client.
• Create a pull, rather than a push, demand.

Identify the client. Does this sound intuitive? Perhaps it is eas-
ier said than done, especially at the level of understanding that is
necessary to ensure successful interaction. Take the government,
for example. You might think that in this traditionally hierarchical,
structured organization identifying your client and your client’s
needs would be simple. Not so says Sylvia Mathews, who culmi-
nated eight years of public service as the Deputy Director of the
Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton administration:

This is a place where identifying your client is not always
that easy—it is by no means transparent. For example, I cer-
tainly don’t have just one client. The president and vice pres-
ident are Client Number One. Then there are the different
cabinet departments, each with various individuals wanting
to be the point person. There are also interagency teams that
must be managed. Then there is Congress, which is a criti-
cal client since it passes the laws that make things happen.

The challenge is not just identifying your client—you must then
go deeper. Each client has a particular agenda that you must con-
sider and balance. Mathews describes the best way to handle this
as “constant negotiation.” Knowledge of the true identity of your
clients and a strategy for handling competing sets of needs is not an
easy task but is one to which you should dedicate time and atten-
tion up front.
Create a pull rather than a push demand. Bill Ross left
McKinsey as an engagement manager, just below the partner
ranks, and never had to spend too much time worrying about sell-