MICHAEL PUGLIESE/CAPCO
Michael Pugliese is the Managing Director and Head of Capco U.S. Pugliese has more than 25 years of industry and consulting experience providing finance and risk solutions to financial services clients. He has specific expertise in the areas of management reporting, planning and forecasting, the design and implementation of multidimensional profitability reporting and Basel II compliance.
But it almost never happened.
Pugliese's entry into consulting
was more an accident than design.
He had been at Citi Bank for seven
years and was working in Finan-
cial Planning and Analysis. One
of the things he loved about Citi
was the project-based nature of the
work. "I was at the office one day
when a former colleague came in
and said he was now working for
KPMG," he says. "I asked him
about his day-to-day, and it sound-
ed very similar to what I enjoyed
most about my role at Citi. After
an introduction, I interviewed for a
position, and three weeks later my
consulting journey began."
Throughout his 30-year career,
there are numerous personal ac-
complishments and achievements
he is proud of, he says, but noth-
ing means more to Pugliese than
the countless relationships he's
established.
"As a leader, I've been fortu-
nate to provide people with the
opportunity to accelerate and
grow their careers," Pugliese
says. "Watching people at various
stages of their careers make the
most of those chances has helped
fuel and motivate me to be the
best leader possible."
Pugliese says he believes his
work ethic and ability to put him-
self in other peoples' shoes have
played a significant role in his
success. "My goal is always to
be approachable and visible to all
people in the organization," he
says. "If I had to pinpoint a sin-
gular thing, the most significant
factor to my career success is my
ability to connect with people
across all levels of an organiza-
tion to work toward a common
goal and objective."
Meanwhile, the most enjoyable
part about working in consulting
is he gets the opportunity to inter-
act with a wide spectrum of peo-
ple. "In a business where people
are your most important asset, it is
crucial that you can connect with
people and that you enjoy it," Pug-
liese says. "
As far being recognized as one
of the Top 25 Consultants, Pug-
liese says that winning the award
means he's received recognition
from the industry, clients and col-
leagues for his contributions to the
consulting profession.
"Throughout my career, I've
made it a point to use my strong
work ethic and leadership skills
to be someone that both clients
and colleagues are proud to work
alongside," he says. "This award is
the validation of all that effort."
WHAT'S THE BEST ADVICE—
PROFESSIONAL OR
OTHERWISE—YOU'VE
EVER RECEIVED?
PUGLIESE: "The best advice I ever received was to be genuine and authentic. If you don't operate genuinely and authentically, it's only a matter of time before people catch on. The practical application of this advice has manifested itself by me leading by example, being reliable and not asking people to do something I otherwise wouldn't." QA &