Kurt leads McKinsey’s global CEO services and has previously led the firm’s global work in the insurance sector, the Strategy & Corporate Finance Practice in the Americas, the Global Client Council serving priority clients of the firm, and the New York Office. He is a senior partner in the firm’s financial institutions group and has led major McKinsey governance efforts, including reshaping senior partners’ evaluation and development.
Kurt serves life- and wealth-management, property and casualty insurance, health, and asset-management groups on strategy, organization, operations, and transformation. He works with CEOs, CFOs, chief strategy officers, and boards on strategy formulation and execution. He has expertise on strategy across industries, corporate governance, leadership in talent-rich organizations, the future of hybrid work, CEO transitions, and leveraging the role of the CEO as a catalyst for transformation.
He is driven by a desire to help elevate the skills, culture, and purpose of companies and individual leaders. He has served as a counselor to CEOs across industries, working at the intersection of strategy, personal leadership, mission building, and enterprise transformation.
Over the past ten years, Kurt has led pro bono efforts in education, including work with Teach for America, where he was formerly on the national board. He is a member of the board of trustees and the executive committee of Carnegie Hall. He is a co-author of the book, The Journey of Leadership.
Published work
“The versatile leader: How learning to adapt makes CEOs better,” McKinsey Quarterly, August 2024
“The ‘inside out’ leadership journey: How personal growth creates the path to success,” McKinsey & Company, June 2024
“How to transition out of the CEO role,” McKinsey & Company, January 2024
“How to make a strong start as a CEO,” McKinsey & Company, August 2023
“Sending it forward: Successfully transitioning out of the CEO role,” McKinsey Quarterly, July 2023
“Staying ahead: How the best CEOs continually improve performance,” McKinsey Quarterly, May 2023
“Rising CEOs: Lessons from the McKinsey Leadership Forum,” McKinsey Quarterly, April 2023
“CEO alpha: A new approach to generating private equity outperformance,” Mckinsey & Company, March 2023
“Actions the best CEOs are taking in 2023,” McKinsey & Company, March 2023
“Stepping up: Becoming a high-potential CEO candidate,” McKinsey Quarterly, March 2023
“Starting strong: Making your CEO transition a catalyst for renewal,” McKinsey Quarterly, November 2022
“Where delegation fails: Five things only the enterprise CEO can do to build new businesses,” McKinsey & Company, August 2022
“A wave of innovation: The state of insurance in Asia and North America,” McKinsey & Company, May 2022
“The CEO’s risk agenda: An insurance perspective,” McKinsey & Company, April 2022
“Developing an effective M&A blueprint for insurers,” McKinsey & Company, March 2022
“Creating value, finding focus: Global Insurance Report 2022,” McKinsey & Company, February 2022
“How insurance can help combat climate change,” McKinsey & Company, January 2021
“CEO brief: The future of business building in insurance,” McKinsey & Company, June 2021
“A better approach to M&A in North American insurance,” McKinsey & Company, March 2021
“How do you measure success in digital? Five metrics for CEOs,” McKinsey & Company, January 2021
“Climate change and P&C insurance: The threat and opportunity,” McKinsey & Company, November 2020
“In conversation: The CEO moment,” McKinsey & Company, October 2020
“Reimagine insurance: Five keys to innovation,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020
“How US insurers can build a winning digital workforce for the future,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020
“The CEO moment: Leadership for a new era,” McKinsey Quarterly, July 2020
“How to win in insurance: Climbing the power curve,” McKinsey & Company, June 2019
“Short-term pain for long-term gain: The new CEO’s dilemma,” McKinsey Quarterly, April 2019
“Closing the gender gap: A missed opportunity for new CEOs,” McKinsey Quarterly, October 2018
“How functional leaders become CEOs,” McKinsey Quarterly, April 2017
“What makes a CEO ‘exceptional’?,” McKinsey Quarterly, April 2017
“How new CEOs can boost their odds of success,” McKinsey Quarterly, May 2016
“A strategy for a digital age,” McKinsey & Company, March 2017
Education
University of Oxford
PhD, political economics
MPhil, politics (Marshall Scholarship)
Harvard University
BA, economics and philosophy