Nick Lovegrove

Nicholas Charles "Nick" Lovegrove is a management consultant,^[4] business advisor, and author.^[5] From 1982 until 2012 he worked with McKinsey & Company.^[6] He served as a senior partner in London^[7] and the European leader of the "media and information services" practice^[6] before serving as managing partner of the firm's Washington, D.C. office.^[6] While with McKinsey he advised for private corporations, the non-profit sector, and governments,^[6] for example advising the UK and US governments on various aspects of implementing and delivering public service.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} He also served as a senior advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair's Strategy Unit from 2001 to 2004.^[9]

From 2012 until 2014^[13] Lovegrove was a senior director at Albright Stonebridge Group,^[9][14] and in 2014 he joined the advisory firm Brunswick as managing partner in the United States.^[7] In recent years Lovegrove has remained active as an educator, author and a public speaker. He has published papers on topics such as collaborative leadership and "tri-sector" leadership in publications such as the Harvard Business Review,^[15] and has regularly lectured at Harvard University,^[9] the Brookings Institution,^[7] and Oxford University.^[7] In November 2016 Lovegrove authored The Mosaic Principle: The Six Dimensions of a Remarkable Life and Career through PublicAffairs in the United States.^[16] A United Kingdom and international edition of the book will be published by Profile Books in January 2017.^[5] The book met with reviews in publications such as Publishers Weekly^[16] and Kirkus Reviews.^[17]

Early life and education

Born in Hastings,^[1] New Zealand, Nick Lovegrove spent his childhood in the United Kingdom^[2] in London.^[3] He attended Oxford University in Oxford, England, graduating with an M.A. degree in modern history.^[9][7][2] He was subsequently selected as a Harkness Fellow and Kennedy Scholar,^[2] and earned a Master's Degree in public policy from Harvard University's^[9][7] John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[2] He later earned an MBA from INSEAD^[9][7] in France.^[5][2]

Career

Early work with McKinsey (1982-1999)

In 1982 Lovegrove began working for the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company out of London.^[9] He was elected a partner at McKinsey in 1989,^[9] and by 1990 was advising on issues such as the television and film markets.^[18] In 1995 he was elected a senior partner of the firm, based in McKinsey's London office.^[9][2] While in London he led McKinsey's European Media Practice, working with "broadcasters, publishers, information service providers and regulators."^[2] He afterwards founded and led the firm's European Public Sector Practice.^[2] According to McKinsey, while based in Europe Lovegrove led several practice areas "notably in Media and Information Services, and in the firm’s Government and Public Sector work."^[7] In 1998,^[12] he led a probono^[12] McKinsey project for the British government,^[12] when according to The Independent he "wrote a report on productivity that formed the backbone of Lord Falconer's reforms to the town and country planning system."^[12] Beyond government advising, he also worked with organizations in the business and non-profit sectors.^[5]

Later probono advising (2000-2005)

Lovegrove worked as an unpaid adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2001 until 2002,^[8] and was a senior advisor to Blair's Strategy Unit from 2001 to 2004.^[9] In the role he advised on topics such as "industry regulation, education strategy and the knowledge economy."^[9] Advising on other issues around this time as well, in early 2002 he worked with Tessa Jowell^[10] on IT strategy^[11] and Gordon Brown on productivity.^[10] At this time he also advised the British government on a transport study, focusing on rail maintenance among others issues.^[12] By that point, he had worked with Lord Birt on implementing "producer choice" reforms at the BBC, where he had "set about introducing hard-headed business principles to what was a creative but flabby organisation." The Independent later argued that the BBC policy changes "tightened the BBC structure and introduced transparency," with other initiatives such as the internal market working less successfully.^[12]

Advising in the United States (2006-2016)

Lovegrove served as director and managing partner of McKinsey's Washington, D.C. office from 2006 to 2012, where he was "responsible for its overall operations and client services."^[9] According to McKinsey, while in Washington "he and his leadership team more than doubled client activity and revenues" for the office.^[7] In 2012^[13] Lovegrove became a senior director at Albright Stonebridge Group, an international public affairs advisory firm.^[9] He held the position for two years,^[13][7][6] during which time he took part in "client service management and development and overall institutional advancement."^[14] In May 2014, Lovegrove joined Brunswick as its managing partner in the United States.^[7][9][6] The role, which had been vacant since January 2013,^[13] included oversight for Brunswick's four American offices.^[13] He retained the role as managing partner^[9][5] of Brunswick Group LLP in the United States as of 2016.^[9]

Recent academic work (2013-2016)

In recent years Lovegrove has remained active as an educator, author and a public speaker. He has been interviewed on economic and policy issues,^[19] and in April 2013 he spoke about collaborative leadership at the White House Forum on Cross-Sector Leadership, hosted by the White House and the InterSector Project.^[20] One of his papers, published in the Harvard Business Review in September 2013, explains his concept of "tri-sector leaders." Lovegrove argues such executives and corporate leaders are able to interact equally well in the "private, public, and social sectors." He further states that through interviews with "more than 100 tri-sector leaders around the world," he had identified six common skillsets setting these leaders apart.^[15] By 2014^[7] he was serving as a senior fellow of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University,^[9] where he lectured^[5] in the Center for Business and Government and also performed research.^[9] Also as of 2014, he had recently been a non-resident^[7] senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.^[7][5][9] He is a visiting lecturer^[9][21] at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government,^[7][5] where among other recent events, he spoke at the 2016 Challenges of Government Conference hosted by the school.^[21]

The Mosaic Principle (2016)

In 2016 Lovegrove authored The Mosaic Principle: The Six Dimensions of a Remarkable Life and Career, which he published on November 1, 2016 through PublicAffairs^[16] in the United States.^[5] A release date in the United Kingdom was set for January 26, 2017 through Profile Books.^[5] Using case studies such as his own career^[17] and the careers of individuals such as Paul Farmer, David Hayes,^[16] and negative examples such as Jeffrey Skilling,^[22] Lovegrove argues that over-specialization can harm career trajectories and personal lives.^[17] Arguing against a “jack of all trades, master of none" outlook,^[17] the book affirms that having several deep specialties allowing expansion into different subjects is more useful than a single specialty.^[17] He also "lays out six skill areas he feels are crucial: a developed moral compass, a prepared mind, an intellectual thread, an integrated network, contextual intelligence, and transferable skill sets."^[17] Released early for reviewers, the book met with a positive reception in Publishers Weekly^[16] and Kirkus Reviews.^[17] Publishers Weekly dubbed it a "convincing manifesto" that provides a "refreshing new viewpoint on [readers'] personal and professional lives."^[16] Kirkus Reviews wrote that "Lovegrove balances his book neatly between the nuts-and-bolts approach to being successful and the more philosophical sense of understanding yourself first before seeking to change the world for others."^[17]

Personal life

Lovegrove has citizenship in New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom,^[2] and he and his wife Alyssa live in Washington, D.C. with their family.^[5] They have four children together.^[5][3] Lovegrove has served on the boards of several nonprofits, including the Royal Shakespeare Company and TeachFirst.^[2]

Publishing history

See also

• List of University of Oxford people
• List of Harvard University people
• List of INSEAD alumni
• Collaborative leadership

References

External links

• NickLovegrove.net
• Nick Lovegrove on Twitter