Coffee and Consulting: Interviewing Account Manager Marc Leh on His Decade-Long Career With Corner Alliance
Marc Leh is Corner Alliance’s Account Manager for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) contracts. He met with Bonnie Callahan, MacKenna Hornyak, and Conroy Stout to discuss his career in consulting after recently celebrating ten years with Corner Alliance.
A review of Marc's career truly underscores Corner Alliance's values for its employees to Make it Happen, Push for Better, Focus on Growth, and Build Trust. Starting as a Consultant I over ten years ago, Marc has grown with Corner Alliance to become a Principal Consultant and Account Manager. Marc’s rise through the company emphasizes Corner Alliance’s willingness to invest in its employees and its philosophy that a successful consultant can come from any background. Discussing his career at Corner Alliance highlighted some of Marc’s favorite parts of consulting, including finding and appreciating different ways to approach problems, guiding new consultants on their paths to building dynamic careers, and championing innovation.
The “coffee” of Coffee and Consulting: What is your go-to coffee order?
To give our readers a snapshot of how a consultant starts their day, we asked Marc about his go-to coffee order. “I like to start my mornings with a Nespresso and oat milk – the more intense, the better.”
Is there a specific path to becoming a consultant?
When asked if there is one ideal path or one personality type that management seeks out when hiring consultants, Marc replied, “There is no specific type of person or one set path. Being a curious, detail-oriented, reliable problem solver with a positive attitude and willingness to adapt to different environments are the attributes I see in most successful consultants.”
After graduating from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts in History and spending a year in the music journalism sector, Marc joined Corner Alliance to make a difference at the national level. He believes his degree brings unique skills and perspectives to his work. “I think being able to interview people, to frame a problem in a compelling way, to lay out the facts, describe opportunities to move forward, and have that as a springboard for broader discussion is something that is definitely translatable.” His work in music journalism has given him a strong foundation of skills that he brings into his current role. “Unstructured problem solving, being creative, evaluating your environment, and determining the best path forward… are core skills that consultants use every day.”
Ten years later, Marc is a Principal Consultant and Account Manager, a seasoned leader overseeing large projects and providing mentorship to 25 consultants who are looking for opportunities to apply their unique backgrounds to federal client challenges.
Corner Alliance is home to employees with a variety of credentials. While some careers have strict paths to entry, Corner Alliance consultants join with varying backgrounds and interests that directly translate to adaptability. This individualized approach to consulting increases innovation, as is evident in Marc’s unique perspective and growing portfolio of successful projects. “Being able to define how your client impacts its stakeholders and how you and your team drive that impact is critical to project success. Adapting our services to a client’s mission and operating environment maximizes our value and impact, and it requires constant critical thinking and relationship building… once you identify the opportunities that are going to deliver the greatest value to all that you care about and serve, we go from initial strategic planning to implementing projects that execute on that mission.” This emphasis on the overall mission ensures Marc is suggesting relevant solutions to his client and evaluating their needs while keeping him personally connected to the broader impact of his work.
How does a consultant find their specialty?
A curious person can build functional skills that can be used across industries and to develop domain expertise - Marc still credits his success to this practice. “My time working as a journalist helped me develop the writing and facilitation skills that I still use today. Developing domain expertise by learning about different industries while building your functional skills on a project builds credibility and enables consultants to specialize more effectively later in their career.”
Marc encourages aspiring consultants to be committed to the quality of their work and letting that guide them to opportunities to try new projects. “I love working with driven, ambitious, and smart people, but rather than focusing exclusively on what is next, I think it is more important that consultants, especially those early in their careers, focus on being consistent, detail oriented, dependable, and open to new opportunities.”
Being willing to try new things and bring ideas to the table, Marc suggested, will not only help new consultants find what they hope to specialize in, but can also provide them with opportunities to propose innovative solutions, provide a unique perspective, or help achieve the goals of their client. Recalling his work with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), “I was really fortunate to have a core set of clients that I worked with closely during the first couple of years that gave me a lot of opportunity to be creative, work independently, and bring new ways of doing things to solve and develop strategies for their programs,” he recalled. “As you grow and gain more experience and exposure to different industries and organizations, you can start to specialize and take on more of that higher order strategic thinking as you build domain credibility and get more specialized functional skills.”
Corner Alliance is intentional about elevating people within the organization, and Marc notes that his relationships with his leadership team and his credibility on his projects helped him find challenging and rewarding opportunities early in his career. “I probably got access to project management and leadership opportunities earlier at Corner Alliance than I would have at a larger firm, and that's a result of leadership trusting me to do a good job.” Relationship building is an essential part of being a consultant, and, by virtue of that, Corner Alliance employees value and nurture the relationships they build. Taking on new tasks and establishing himself as a trusted partner to NIST has not only built Marc a personal portfolio of accomplishments to lean into, but solidified the trusted advisor relationship both Marc and Corner Alliance have cultivated with NIST. Under Marc's leadership, the Corner Alliance team supporting NIST grew to five times its original size.
How did you stay engaged in your work over ten years?
Discussing how new consultants can stay as engaged in their work as he has over the last 10 years, Marc advised “you can have any amount of consistency or variety in your work depending on your chosen path as long as you are proactive… If people do want a high turnover of new experiences, they can have that, but if they want to build deep credibility in a specific industry, that opportunity is available as well. I try to provide a menu of different project opportunities and in-demand skills to consultants beginning to plan their career trajectory, rather than prescribe a specific path to them.”
Corner Alliance consultants also have the opportunity to stay engaged in company initiatives by participating in business development opportunities to help the company win new work. Marc reflected that “getting to work on the business in addition to providing services and executing on contracts for clients is something that was really important to me.” Marc has enjoyed being able to play an active role in business development opportunities, having worked on over 50 proposals during his time at the company. “Being able to have a direct impact on the growth of a profitable, growing business has been really rewarding.”
More importantly, Marc cares about shaping the future of the industry. “A big motivator for me to stay in this industry has been that I care about public funds being used in the most impactful and efficient way possible,” he reflected. Marc has found a common thread in how he looks at projects with their greater cause in mind. “American citizens are the customers of the government. Customers look for high quality products and services. I think that competitive positioning, understanding how the general market perceives your organization's value creation… that's not traditionally a lens that federal contracting companies apply to their work, but it's definitely the through line across the projects that I lead.”
What does the future of consulting look like?
The motivation to use government funds effectively and efficiently has sparked Marc’s interest in embracing new tools to provide federal agencies with the best experience. “I am really surprised by the degree of anxiety around embracing new tools with a healthy degree of skepticism.” The use of tools like Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help make information more accessible, decrease times needed to complete tasks, and improve the overall user experience. Corner Alliance understands the practical implications of these technologies and how new advancements can make consultants more effective in executing missions of their own work and their clients’ work.
“I see Corner Alliance’s role as an objective third party that ‘cuts through the hype’ surrounding government use of AI, make these new technologies more actionable and accessible to government programs, and implement them in the ways that deliver more valuable and efficient services to citizens.”
Looking ahead, Marc is excited to see how Corner Alliance will expand its offerings and client base with these new tools and strategies. While some people may fear the unknown, Marc views the future of the company with the same curiosity and confidence that he brings to his daily life. “I think Corner Alliance is in a great position, and I’m excited to see how we expand our footprint with our already amazing client base moving forward… it has been ten years, and ten years well spent.”
Authors
Bonnie Callahan, Consultant I supporting the Internet for All Initiative under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), is passionate about using her skills to help both her colleagues and government clients improve processes, expand their reach, and create change in communities facing social and economic hardship. Her expertise in meeting facilitation, technical and creative writing, grants management, and creative problem solving paired with her passion for storytelling, activism, and helping others fuel her drive to be a skilled consultant and reliable team member.
Conroy Stout, Principal Consultant primarily supporting the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (OICG), is focused on providing excellence for every project and client. He has expertise in strategic communication, content writing, process improvement, and project management. Most recently, he successfully led a team from inception through data collection, drafting, and delivery of a congressional report. Conroy previously worked in the United States Senate as a Legislative Assistant, providing advice on various policy areas, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), technology, and broadband.
MacKenna Hornyak, Consultant II supporting the Internet for All Initiative under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), is committed to working with the government to improve efficiency and create solutions to maximize their reach. She has expertise in stakeholder engagement, meeting facilitation, process efficiency, and leading stakeholder engagement initiatives for NTIA, most recently with the U.S. Virgin Islands Local Coordination Workshop. She is passionate about expanding high-speed internet access and closing the digital divide so all communities can participate in the digital economy.