Former McKinsey and Company consultant Shu Hattori shares 47 strategies for becoming a top corporate leader

“The McKinsey Edge is filled with deep insights and easy-to-use tips. Apply these, and you can enjoy more success—as well as happiness.”
—Tal Ben-Shahar, New York Times bestselling author of Happier

"Few books have truly cracked leadership concepts into tangible, practical day-to-day principles like The McKinsey Edge. If you are keen to become a strong leader and learn the fundamental insights necessary, this book will definitely get you there; it’s what every aspiring leader must focus on to succeed!”
—Don Stalter, Former International Managing Director with Groupon, Airbnb, and Handy

“Leadership is an art and, as in every art, practice and reflection makes perfect. This book has plenty of great ideas and advice to help us to master the art of leadership. It is full of practical wisdom for those that are initiating their leadership journeys and those that are already on it.”
—Juan Antonio Fernandez, Professor of Leadership, China Europe International Business School

“Today’s business world is super competitive and unforgiving and career growth is more often than not, a perilous journey. The McKinsey Edge is absolutely terrific. It provides a wealth of knowledge and practical tools to help you stand-out among your peers and to amplify your career.”
—James Huang, Vice President, ChannelAdvisor Corporation

“Among the plethora of books about leadership, this book stands out by its sheer practicality. As a very readable combination of leadership principles, insights from famous people and the author’s own intriguing day-to-day experiences at McKinsey, this book is required reading for any aspiring future business leader.”
—Dr. Ludwig Kanzler, former McKinsey Partner

“As a former McKinsey consultant, I found Hattori’s book to be a nostalgic walk through memory lane. At the same time, I was struck by how just many of the concepts captured have been instrumental to my leadership development. The McKinsey Edge provides the right mix of the theoretical and practical, and is well suited to students of business as well as managers at all levels.”
—Stanford Lin, Head of Products for Visa China, Former McKinsey Consultant

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A GREAT LEADER?

The ultimate guide to managing your career—at every level, through every transition—The McKinsey Edge culls the best practices of an exclusive group of executives and consultants from McKinsey & Company, the legendary consulting firm that services eighty percent of the world’s largest corporations. Drawing on his time as an Engagement Manager with McKinsey, Hattori presents rigorously selected, battle-tested tips that will give you the edge you need to up your game, raise your profile, and take your career to the next level—using a proven four-step program:

• Learn more effective ways to get ahead by making multiple self-improvements.
• Strengthen your skills of communication, connection, and understanding to influence your team and other stakeholders.
• Increase your productivity and performance using tools that work best for your specific environment.
• Push yourself further to focus your energies, renew your life, and revitalize your career with a new leadership profile.

Each section of this empowering guide includes precise strategies and hard-won advice that will help you tackle the challenges that are unique to each level of management. By applying these 47 principles to your own situation and workplace, you’ll be able to change not only your personal mindset and managerial effectiveness but others’ perceptions of you as a leader. You’ll discover the best methods for dealing with clients, solving problems, motivating teams, and surpassing expectations. These are the strategies that have taken McKinsey’s managers and trainers to the top of their fields—and this is the program that shows you how to take your career wherever you want to go.

Whether you’re climbing your way up the corporate ladder, starting on the very first rung, or feeling stuck somewhere in the middle, The McKinsey Edge gives you the edge you need to take the next step and make it to the top.

Shu Hattori is a Japanese-British national with extensive experience in management consulting, start-ups, online social commerce, and news media.While at McKinsey & Company, he served in advanced industries, high-tech, and media in Asia, North America, and Europe for more than five years. Now, he runs a leadership development start-up. Shu earned an MBA from National Taiwan University with a full government sponsored scholarship and a bachelor’s degree in commerce with distinction from McGill University in Canada.