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174 The McKinsey Mind

world’s bookstores bristle with titles purporting to help you get
ahead, get organized, get happy, get romance, and get thin. Some
of them may even come good on their promises.
Our goals are more modest. In the course of our research, we
have come across a few lessons that may help you be more suc-
cessful in your career or balance the competing demands of work-
place and home. We pass them on to you in the hope that they may
prove helpful. We make no promises.
More than any other topic in this book, this subject permits
no “one best way.” We are all, by definition, unique individuals,
and the strategy that helps Tom balance life and career may do
nothing at all for Dick—and may prove an absolute disaster for
Harriet. Having said that, the McKinsey alumni who have helped
us throughout this book have a wealth of life and professional
experience and are almost universally successful. They must know
a few things about getting ahead while maintaining one’s sanity.

YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE

We assume that anybody reading this book would like to get a lit-
tle closer to the top of the corporate ladder, if you have not already
reached it. In this section, we discuss a few techniques for making
that progression easier and, perhaps, quicker.

THE McKINSEY WAY
McKinsey-ites had a lot to say about climbing the Firm’s greasy
pole of success.
Find your own mentor. Take advantage of others’ experience
by finding someone senior in your organization to be your men-