Marvin Bower (McKinsey)

“If you are not willing to take the pain to live by your principles, there is no point in having principles.” Everyone knows that McKinsey is the top management consultanting firm in the world. But few people know that the real brains of the operation was a man named Marvin Bower.

In 1933, he joined McKinsey at age 30 when McKinsey was just an engineering and accounting company made up of only 18 people. He founded the concept of management consulting and transformed McKinsey into a firm of 2,500 consultants by the time of his retirement in 1992. He worked at McKinsey for 59 years before retiring at the age of 89!

He was a creature of extreme intellect, a leader’s leader, and man of integrity and class. When asked how he could stick by such impeccable standards, he replied, “If you are not willing to take the pain to live by your principles, there is no point in having principles.” Here’s some pictures of Marvin:

Marvin Bower holds a Bachelors (Philosophy, Economics) from Brown, a law degree from Harvard Law School, and an MBA from Harvard B-School. His father would always ask him, "What did you learn?" Image from Investor’s Business Daily.	Marvin in his office. Behind him hangs a painting called "Forces at Work," which reminds him of all the chaotic forces each and every day. His goal is to make the forces work for him, rather than against him. Image from Investor’s Business Daily.	Excellent biography of Marvin Bower by a former McKinseyite. After reading it, you'll understand the origin of McKinsey's hiring practices and why you should never wear argyle socks to a McKinsey interview. Image from Amazon.com.