[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.]
Consulting Achievements
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：
本文题目是要申请者描述一下目前为止最有成就的两件事。
一个人的品质和人生观往往是从一些重要经历中形成的。如果讲出来能让人信服，这些经历就能成为很有趣的故事。招生委员会希望申请者有这种自我反省的能力，这种能力有助于人们在回望人生的过程中，善于留意某些具有重要意义的人生经历。有了这样的能力，表明你的成熟和自我意识。招生官员之所以问这个问题，还因为他们想了解你的价值观。通过哪些你所说的、有意义的事情，你也就对自己的价值观进行了阐述。
本文作者所描述的第一件事是在Holcim工作其间，被派到墨西哥一个分公司去领导一个团队时，团队中的同事有着不同的背景，不同的语言，外界环境的改变，都导致了这次任务的艰巨性。但在面临各种困难的时候，作者还是不断的鼓励队友，最终取得了胜利了，并且得到了提前晋升。
另一件事是作者到McKinsey工作时，领导咨询师运转资金，帮助客户经理证明2000万美金去预防债务拖欠。项目刚开始时作者对35000产品参考书目，完全不知道从何做起。在经历了精神斗争，不可避免的考验和一系列的错误后，最后执行了两次对目标的改进，终于潜在的破产中挽救了回来。公司CEO对我十分重视亲自要求我涉及更广泛的咨询任务。在McKinsey工作一年后取得了晋升。
这两件事情作者并没有冠冕堂皇的做一些表面描述与夸浮的吹嘘，或是指挥别人做了什么事，而是自己实实在在的做了事情。要理解所谓的有成就的事情并不一定是什么惊天动地的大事，对自己有多大的冲击，或是对将来有多大的改变。只要你能从这些事情的细节中体会到了变化，从这些变化中体会到了自己的成长与进步。美国招生办真正想看到的也就是你真实的做了哪些事，从中学到了什么，悟到了什么，你真正的能力体现在哪里。
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