[Prompt: Describe what you feel to be your two most substantial accomplishments to date (at least one must be professional), explaining why you view them as such.]
While working for Holcim, the second-largest cement producer in the world, I found myself on a team of disparate individuals with varied backgrounds and motivations. Sent to one of Holcim’s Mexican subsidiaries to lead this team, I realized from the start that the project would not be easy.
Directed to bring savings to the subsidiary of about $29 million, my strategy team consisted of two Swiss senior colleagues from Holcim, four local subsidiary managers, and five McKinsey consultants from Mexico and Switzerland. We faced problems right away. Still, I was determined to encourage team unity by organizing social events and fostering open communication.
Unfortunately, there was local resistance to reforming the subsidiary. Learning Spanish by night and running meetings by day, I worked extensively with local managers to understand their concerns and integrate their suggestions into our plan. Ultimately, the project was successful: we surpassed our savings objectives, and I received an early promotion.
Despite the rewards of working for Holcim in Mexico, my most challenging -- and fulfilling -- accomplishment came in my work as a leading consultant to a taskforce group of eight experienced production and finance managers from a worldwide specialty chemicals company. Assigned by McKinsey as an expert in working capital (W/C), I was charged with helping the client managers identify $20 million in W/C improvement actions and ensuring that these actions were implemented within two months to prevent a default on debts.
When I started the project, I was terrified. With over 35,000 product references in inventory, the business was extremely complex. I was expected to lead a group of skeptical, experienced managers in identifying improvements for their own business. I had no idea where to begin. After much mental debate and inevitable trial and error, I eventually learned that by focusing on the fundamentals -- my analytical abilities and my strong grasp of finance -- I could convince my superiors at least to listen to what I had to say.
The managers realized that I was young and inexperienced, but they also saw that I was focused on performance. As I began to introduce innovative and methodological approaches to problem solving, they grew eager to teach me what I needed to learn. Ultimately, we implemented twice the targeted improvement, saving the company from a potential bankruptcy. The CEO personally asked me to accept broader consulting tasks within his organization, and I was promoted to associate just a year after joining McKinsey.
点评：
这篇文章可以说是一气呵成，先描述了自己的困窘之处：自己比较年轻而且缺乏一定的经验，但却要管理一个由一些专业知识和工作经验都非常丰富的经理所组成的团队，而且要承担起削减Holcim公司墨西哥分公司将近290万的开支的责任。然后叙述自己在执行管理的过程中遇到的种种难题，首先是当自己提出公司改革建议的时候立刻遭到了当地公司管理层的反对，其次是经理们不信任自己，怀疑自己的能力。这些无形之中都给了作者很大的压力，但是作者并没有退缩，而是运用自己较强的分析能力、沟通能力和专业的财务知识来解决实际的问题从而打破由经理们对自己的偏见所导致的工作的局限性。而分析能力、沟通能力以及扎实的专业知识都是成为一名出色领导者的主导因素。
但明显作者犯了一个比较大的思维错误，在解释自己为什么觉得这一次工作能带给他成就感的时候，他只是单纯地对一些客观条件进行了描述，例如他所管理的团队是由一些经验丰富的经理们所组成的，还有此次任务多么地艰巨，作者尝试借助这些来突现自己出色的表现。但事实上一篇好的描述成就类的文书应该把重点放在自己所做的和自己完成任务后的感想。只有这样，读者才能从中发现你所具有的个性特征和领导能力。而这篇文章的作者只是通过一种直述的方式告诉读者自己是具有很强的分析能力和沟通能力的，这样的一篇文书是绝对不能给人留下非常深刻的印象的，所以总体来说，这篇算不上一篇好的文书。
译文：
提示：描述至今为止你认为最有成就感的两件事（至少有一件是比较专业的），并解释为什么你觉得他们是最有成就感的两件事。
在全球第二大水泥制造商Holcim公司的时候，我是与一群有激情和有着不同背景的同事一起工作的。被派遣到Holcim在墨西哥的分公司去管理这样一个团队，我意识到这份工作的艰巨性。
我们这个策略规划团队是由两个瑞士分公司的高级员工，四个当地分公司的经理和5个来自墨西哥和瑞士的McKinsey的咨询师组成，而我们要完成的目标是要使这个分公司节约开支将近290万。当时我们就遇到了一些难题，但是我仍然希望我们这个团队能团结起来，于是我组织了一些社交活动以促进彼此间的交流。不幸的是，改革分公司的建议立刻遭到当地工作人员的反对。于是我晚上学习西班牙语，白天就和组员们开会，希望能通过与当地分公司的经理们进行交流从而了解他们所担心的问题并把他们的意见整合到我们的计划当中去。最终，这个计划成功地实现了：我们超额完成了指标，而我也被提前晋升了。
这个目标的完成使我觉得很有成就感并不是因为我在此分公司获得丰厚的酬劳，而是在那里我作为一名首席的咨询师，管理的是有8名来自世界各地化学制品公司的富有经验的生产和财务经理所组成的一个团队。由McKinsey委任的身为一名企业周转资金方面的专家，我的任务是协助分公司客户经理完成节省开支200万的目标以及确保目标在两个月内完成以避免公司陷入负债的困境。
当我开始接手这个任务的时候，我是比较担心的。因为从有关存货的35,000条记录中我发现这个分公司的业务极其复杂的。而我需要管理的是一个由比较挑剔的富有经验的经理们组成的一个团队，任务是帮助这些经理们实现他们所管辖的业务的改进工作。一开始我根本不知道该从何入手。在经过无数次讨论、试验和出错后，最后我认识到要说服我的上级或至少让他们听我的建议的话，我就必须较好地运用我的分析能力和我专业的财务知识。
虽然经理们都觉得我比较年轻和缺乏经验，但是我在公司的表现他们也是有目共睹的。当我开始引进一些能解决实际问题的创新方法的时候，他们就迫不及待地教我必须学的东西或是我不懂的东西。最后，我两次达到了预期的目标，成功地挽救了这间面临破产的公司。公司的董事长亲自叫我负责公司里面更多的咨询工作，而在加入McKinsey的一年后我也如愿的当上了公司的副经理。
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