The Dynamic Between Leaders and Followers at Guidehouse

Guidehouse is organized between the C-Suite, partners, sector leaders, associates, directors, senior consultants, and consultants. In my internship experience so far, I have observed that despite these titles and differences in responsibilities, all people at the company are treated with the same respect. I admire how people higher up in the company with more experience in the industry value their follower’s opinions no matter how much experience they have. The leader-follower relationship at Guidehouse emphasizes educating and learning at the core of the firm.

The past year has presented some difficulties for the firm and Guidehouse has experienced waves of wins and losses. COVID-19 changed the nature of work at Guidehouse because the firm, like many others around the world had to adjust to the work-from-home lifestyle. This past week I was able to speak with a girl named Teresa who recently started at Guidehouse during the pandemic. In our conversation she gave me a lot of advice for my internship experience, especially being remote. I have noticed how unusual it is being at home rather than in person because I am not able to form those connections with people in the office.

Additionally, an aspect of my internship that is important to note is the trust that all levels of leadership place in one another and people with fewer responsibilities. As an intern, I feel that my supervisor and others on my team trust me with sensitive client work and with speaking roles in client meetings. I was allowed to speak during a meeting with clients which made me feel part of the team. I think this is an example of how the organization is well structured and has positive relationships amongst leaders. These relationships are built on trust and communication that helps Guidehouse perform its best for the clients in all different sectors. The dynamics between people of all different responsibilities are interesting to observe. When two consultants who began in the past year are speaking with one another it is very casual however when an intern like myself is speaking with the sector leader it is very professional. However, no matter who is involved in a conversation or specific task each individual is always treated with respect which I greatly admire and appreciate about the organization.

The specific work that Guidehouse completes is organized between different clients, programs, projects, and teams. The four vertical accounts are the DHS, DOJ, ICP, and DOS whereas the two vertical accounts are financial management and cyber security. Each of these different accounts is led by a different partner and each is broken into different clients. For example, this summer I interned under the Department of Homeland Security, specifically on their financial management team, and even more specifically working with the FEMA client. Under the client, there are different programs. In my case, I will work on DCM and US&R programs. This structure was provided to me earlier in the summer which helped me process who is in charge of what group and who is in charge of which projects.

The programs are typically assigned to consultants and senior consultants who perform the actual analysis. The director oversees different programs within the same account and the partners review all of the work before being submitted to a client. This chain of events involves everyone in the organization. From my participation, I learned that it is important to review my work but also meet deadlines because there will be a clear impact if I fail to do so.