For the exclusive use of M. Al Ayfan

9-407-037
REV: APRIL 23, 2007

BORIS GROYSBERG
CHRIS MARQUIS
AYESHA KANJI

Tim Keller at Katzenbach Partners LLC (A)
As Tim Keller was printing his boarding pass for his first weekend off since starting his new job, he reflected on his first few months at the Houston office of consulting firm Katzenbach Partners
(KPL). Not everything had gone well since he joined the firm, but he had started to establish relationships at the firm and was developing as a consultant. Most of his time thus far had been spent working on a competitive-dynamics model for one of KPL’s most important clients. He had also been spending a surprising amount of time reflecting on and questioning his career choice.
Keller had just …show more content…

He also took classes at the Kennedy School to delve into politics. Keller recounted his experience at HBS:
The first semester was really challenging, and I felt maxed out, so I did little besides study.
In my second year, I felt more comfortable, and that’s when I was able to branch out. I played rugby, far and away the single greatest extracurricular thing I’ve ever done. And then I joined the debate team, which I had always wanted to do in high school and in undergrad. I did the
Harvard-Yale debate and was heckled the entire time.
In his final semester at HBS, Keller was committed to finding the best job opportunity. In one of his field-study classes, Keller and three of his classmates bid to buy a ceiling-paint company with the intent of managing the company for five years after graduation. Unfortunately, the team was outbid by other HBS grads. By the year’s end, Keller had interviewed at more than 40 firms across several industries and received multiple job offers. Keller carefully weighed his options:
Professionally, I’ve had a lot of disparate interests, which made it difficult to pin down a specific job I wanted. So I went from the bottom up and focused on the little things that mattered to me: leading groups in decision-making processes, flexibility, lots of interpersonal interaction, less than 50% of my time in front of a