This Women’s History Month, we’re chatting with McKinsey leaders about their role as women in the workplace and beyond. Today, we’ll hear from Anu Madgavkar, a McKinsey Global Institute partner who leads global research focused on labor markets and human capital, technology’s economic impact, gender economics, digital and financial inclusion, and inclusive growth. For more Q&As throughout the month, bookmark this page.
Tell us about a career-defining moment.
For me, an important, career-defining moment was at the time of the global financial crisis. I was a consulting partner serving clients, but the McKinsey Global Institute opened up a position, and I was attracted to it.
I think it was the disruption in the environment around me that prompted me to really think about what I wanted to do with my professional life and where I would find purpose and meaning. I seized the opportunity, and it defined the next 10 years or more of my professional path at the firm.
What are you most proud of?
I’m most proud about how we, as a firm, and at the McKinsey Global Institute, really shape and influence the way global leaders think about important issues. I think our work around gender parity and sizing its economic value changed the course of the debate. We were also the first to put society issues side-by-side with economic ones, as we thought about capturing that opportunity. That changed the way world leaders like Shinzo Abe, Hillary Clinton, and Melinda Gates talked about these issues and framed them.
More recently, we are setting aspirations for whole nations in terms of economic empowerment, rather than just poverty reduction. That changes the way world leaders are thinking about these issues, including most recently, at the B20 in Indonesia, where we really set the course for a much bolder set of aspirations for countries to take forward.
What’s a big or surprising lesson you’ve learned as a woman in the workplace?
As a woman in the workplace, I think one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is to recognize and embrace sponsors very proactively. I don’t think I, myself, over the years was fully aware of the degree of sponsorship and support I was receiving from many firm leaders.
Often times, I would wonder why people set up time to chat with me or pointed me in the direction of opportunities. I just wasn’t aware of how I could work with my sponsors and had I been so, I might have done more. So this is something I would encourage every young woman to really think about; cultivate those sponsor relationships very proactively.
How do you stay energized?
I find that staying energized is closely linked to whether I feel I’m learning new things. I like to learn, and I’m fortunate in that with the work that I do, and I guess that’s true for many of us, we find learning opportunities, new topics to think about all the time.
I also like learning new life skills. So I feel I’ve learned some important life skills relatively late in life—swimming, driving, cooking—but these have given me energy every time I’ve pursued them. I also love spending time with relationships that matter and de-stress me—my children, my dog. These are important to me and provide energy to me.
What advice do you have for women in their professional journeys?
For women considering their professional journeys, it is important to have the mindset that they can and should stretch themselves. Don’t feel constrained by the role that you are currently in. Don’t feel constrained by things that you feel you can do relatively easily, or that you’re good at, and you’ve proven that you’re good at it.
You can stretch into new less-defined areas that might challenge you—that might even frighten you. It’s well-worth doing that, because it’s by stretching yourself, taking on new challenges, and learning new skills that you really advance. The chances are, you can discover your potential and live up to it if you do that.
PUBLISHED WORK
Rekindling US productivity for a new era
Performance through people: Transforming human capital into competitive advantage