Judith Wallenstein
Managing Director,
Senior Partner
BCG
Leadership
Judith Wallenstein leads Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute in Europe. She is a core member of
the German Health Care practice, focused on serving clients
in the pharmaceutical industry.
Wallenstein became a BCG Fellow in 2015; through her analysis, she is examining the implications of the sharing economy
and the future of work.
But ask Wallenstein how she ended
up as a consultant, and she’ll admit it
was mostly by accident. She is a his-
torian by background who wanted to
join the diplomatic service. “After
having taken a closer look at it during
my master’s studies, I decided a Plan
B was needed,” Wallenstein says. “I
had vaguely heard of consulting, and it
sounded like a good mix of intellectual
stimulus and real world problem solv-
ing. So, BCG became my new plan!”
And a pretty fortuitous Plan B at
that. Wallenstein joined BCG’s Mu-
nich office in 2000. Her pharma work
has centered on strategy, marketing and
sales, and portfolio management. She
serves as the firm’s global topic lead for
launch excellence in the pharmaceuti-
cal sector. Most of her client work is
focused on diabetes, immunology, and
oncology, as well as on rare disease.
“I am passionate about my indus-
try—pharmaceuticals. I spent six
years in an oncology clinic with my
father during my university years,”
Wallenstein says. “It ignited my pas-
sion for healthcare, and I never left!
And I love serving clients I have
known for over a decade. I am par-
ticularly excited about the tremendous
freedom one has as an advisor.”
Wallenstein recently took over
BCG’s CEO Advisory Practice in Eu-
rope. “At BCG, we have done a lot of
research on what sets successful CEO
tenures apart, and developed a struc-
tured and highly exclusive program to
work with our key clients taking new
CEO positions to shape their CEO
agenda and plan,” she says. “I am sup-
porting a number of colleagues deliv-
ering this program to their clients and
look forward to more in 2020!”
She is proud of the fact that she
has a key group of client CEOs who
appreciate that when they go home,
there is someone—Wallenstein—still
thinking about their business.
Beyond her client work, she is also
involvedinWomen@BCG.Sh e says
she would tell female consultants just
beginning their careers to focus on
what they are truly passionate about.
“Don’t worry about the tales you hear
about the male consulting culture and
don’t try fitting in too desperately,” she
says. “Only you can decide if this is a
career for you, and if you are your authentic self, things will fall into place.”
As far as winning the award, Wallenstein says that it is such a great privilege
that she is truly grateful for. “It is fantastic to have such an award and raise
awareness that women in consulting are
not a rare species anymore,” she says.
What’s the best
advice—consulting
or otherwise—you’ve
ever received?
“There is endless good advice that has helped me over the years.
The key piece of advice was to follow my heart and pursue
healthcare at the time where in BCG Germany this was a very small
practice area, and I had no life science background. This decision
has clearly shaped my entire career.”
CONSULTING
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