Mayowa Kuyoro (MBA 2015) grew up in Nigeria and currently lives and works there. Nigeria is her home. Yet, an important part of her story resides outside of the Continent, and it has shaped her as a leader. As Kuyoro often shares, “It took me leaving Nigeria to learn about Nigeria.”
Early Career Exploration
Kuyoro spent her childhood in Nigeria before continuing schooling in the U.K. After completing her degree in Engineering at the University of Warwick, she was eager to continue her education and study the intersection of economics and politics. However, before doing so, Kuyoro first returned home to Nigeria for a year of National Youth Service, a program designed to engage young people in the development of the country.
During her year in Nigeria, Kuyoro considered her next steps and recognized an important theme for how she operates as a student and professional—she wants to try everything. In school and in her career, she enjoyed starting as a generalist before specializing and was energized by exploring industries and functions. The consulting world, specifically McKinsey, offered that exact opportunity.
“I knew I wanted to be based on the Continent and I knew I wanted to work for a firm that was global in nature,” Kuyoro shared. “McKinsey was for me the perfect combination of, you can try different industries and we're one global firm, with the Lagos office very much rooted and grounded on the Continent.”
Developing as a Leader at HBS
After two years as a Business Analyst at McKinsey and a year in banking in Australia, Kuyoro arrived on the HBS Campus excited to continue her career exploration in a general management MBA program. At HBS, Kuyoro gained a deeper understanding of Nigeria’s context in the global world, delved into her interests in business, government, and politics in BGEI, and developed herself as a leader.
“I think it took me going to HBS for me to shape my views around what kind of leadership I wanted to have on the Continent,” Kuyoro shared. “I think about leadership across those three dimensions - leadership of self, leadership of others, and leadership of complex systems. (HBS) was very helpful in shaping my leadership of self, honing my leadership of others, and giving me the tools to think about leading complex systems.”
In particular, a leadership course at HBS, The Moral Leader, sticks with Kuyoro to this day. “We read the book Things Fall Apart and talked about being rigid versus having a set of tools that can enable you to adapt to change,” she recalled. “The reason why that has stuck with me is that the pace of innovation and the pace of change has been so rapid. I think if I'd not had the time to think about what my core principles are I would probably be a very different version of myself today.”
Returning to the Continent
Post HBS, Kuyoro was certain it was time to return home and build the next chapter of her career in Nigeria. She enjoyed her time at McKinsey as a Business Analyst and rejoined the firm in 2015 as an Associate. Since that time, she has been recognized for her exceptional work with promotions to Engagement Manager and Associate Partner, and in 2021, she became the first Business Analyst to make Partner at the firm.
As a Partner at McKinsey, Kuyoro leads a financial services practice across Africa and into Eastern Europe and the Middle East with a specialty in payments. Alongside this work, Kuyoro’s “try everything” mentality continues as she wears a number of other hats for the firm. Her “side hustles” include leading economic research on macro trends, gender parity, and technology, and providing support to early-stage companies as part of the McKinsey Fuel and Ignition Club.
“McKinsey has given me the platform to try new things,” Kuyoro said. “I think there's no other place in the world where I would have the backing of a global firm to support entrepreneurs who will be critical to the growth and development of the Continent, or to more deeply understand the impact of gender parity. McKinsey enables me to pursue problems I’m curious about solving.”
Advice for Students
When asked about advice for current HBS students, Kuyoro reflected on her MBA experience as an opportunity to do important inner work to develop as a leader. “The inner work that the school forced me to do was my biggest benefit,” she said. “This piece of the experience can be equally if not more important than hard skills.”
At the same time, she recognized the experience as an opportunity to experiment. “Looking back, I wish I would have tried even more of the things I was curious about,” she said. “People who are goal-oriented tend to look for the next thing, but I would just say ‘Stop, smell the roses, be present in the moment and in the experience it offers you.”
