Getting Naked

The book is a business fable followed by a nonfiction model section. In the introduction, the author argues that vulnerability is one of the most undervalued qualities in professional life. Service providers who embrace it, becoming what he calls "naked," earn levels of client loyalty that others cannot match. He identifies three fears that prevent this vulnerability: the fear of losing the business, the fear of being embarrassed, and the fear of feeling inferior.

Jack Bauer, the narrator, heads sales for the strategy practice at Kendrick and Black (K&B), a prestigious international management consulting firm in San Francisco. For years, Jack has competed against Lighthouse Partners, a small consulting firm in Half Moon Bay, California, founded by Michael Casey. Lighthouse has beaten K&B in nearly every contest, fueling Jack's resentment. His boss, Marty, who leads the strategy division and is nearing retirement, shares this hostility.

When Jack learns that Casey is leaving Lighthouse, he is ecstatic, assuming it signals failure. His excitement evaporates when Jim Kendrick, the firm's founder, reveals that K&B has already purchased Lighthouse and assigns Jack to oversee the integration, positioning it as a stepping stone to leading the strategy division.

Casey departs without a transition meeting, and Marty sends Jack alone to Lighthouse's office, a converted elementary school with "Boys" and "Girls" signs still on the bathroom doors. Jack meets the three partners: Amy Stirling, who greets him warmly while covering the reception desk; Dick Janice, the oldest, a big and friendly man; and Matt O'Connor, the youngest, who appears nervous. The meeting produces shocks. Lighthouse's profit margins slightly exceed K&B's, their fees are significantly higher, and clients rarely complain. Jack also learns that Lighthouse recently won the Boxcar account, a client he thought K&B had nearly closed. Rattled, he makes a defensive remark about cutting costs, and the goodwill evaporates. He later addresses Lighthouse's employees, dismissing their culture as a "country club" and a "playground," which creates an uncomfortable silence.

Marty arranges a follow-up at K&B's offices where both firms present their methodologies. The tools are remarkably similar, deepening the mystery of Lighthouse's superior results. One key difference emerges: Lighthouse consultants spend four to five days per month on-site with each client, far more than K&B consultants. Marty reassigns Jack's existing clients, freeing him for full-time immersion at Lighthouse.

During his weeks at the firm, the partners reveal the real reason Casey left: His eldest daughter's husband died and she was seriously injured when a semi truck hit their car in Texas. Casey relocated permanently to care for her and her two young children. Jack begins to feel grudging respect for Casey.

Jack's education in Lighthouse's methods begins in earnest. Accompanying Dick on a visit to Mariscos, a regional Mexican restaurant chain, Jack watches Dick bluntly tell the CEO that new brand designs are wrong and share difficult feedback about the CEO's son being the weakest manager on the team. At a sales call with Ram Transport, a trucking company, Dick arrives with no presentation and no prepared research. He asks questions, draws diagrams on a whiteboard, and engages the executives in collaborative problem-solving. The clients extend the meeting by an hour and schedule a follow-up without discussing fees. Jack realizes that Dick is not a salesman: He starts consulting from the first interaction, eliminating the costly sales cycle that consumes up to 60 percent of Jack's time at K&B. Nearly all of Lighthouse's business comes from referrals generated by satisfied clients.

Jack accompanies Amy on a two-day off-site with MediTech, a medical software company. Amy repeatedly asks about terminology she does not understand, sometimes provoking amusement but often revealing that others were equally confused. She makes a seemingly naïve suggestion that MediTech license a competitor's technology, which the technology officer quickly validates. Amy also confronts Mikey, the head of marketing, about her persistent negativity, prompting the team to address the issue openly. She later tells Jack about Casey absorbing public criticism at a client meeting without retaliating, serving as a "strategic piñata." That client became one of Lighthouse's most enthusiastic references.

Jack conducts a solo session at St. Therese de Lisieux Regional Medical Center, where he argues against expansion based on a model from a previous client. When he realizes the model is inapplicable because the previous client had converted from non-profit to for-profit, he publicly confesses his error. The team responds with grace, and they collaborate to determine that building a new outpatient wing is the right strategy. Jack describes it as the most enjoyable consulting day of his career.

Approaching his twelfth week, Jack presents his findings to K&B leadership, arguing that K&B must learn from Lighthouse. The reception is hostile. Marty frames the evidence as Jack's own failure, and Kendrick dismisses the claims. In desperation, Jack calls Gene Kravets, the CEO of Boxcar, on speakerphone. Gene explains that K&B seemed focused on proving their expertise, while Lighthouse simply asked questions and started helping. Jack reveals he is now the lead consultant on the Boxcar account and walks out.

The next day, Jack returns for a second presentation before a room packed with department heads. He adopts the vulnerable approach he learned at Lighthouse and presents his model of three fears. The first, the fear of losing the business, includes principles such as consulting instead of selling, giving away the business, telling the kind truth, and entering the danger. The second, the fear of being embarrassed, includes asking dumb questions, making dumb suggestions, and celebrating mistakes. He illustrates each with stories from his Lighthouse experience.

Mid-presentation, Marty enters, whispers to Kendrick, and leaves. Kendrick reveals that the meeting has been monitored by Tom Paulson of Strategic Insights, a competing consulting firm, and by Michael Casey. K&B is selling Lighthouse to Strategic Insights. Marty pushed to cut losses over cultural differences, and Kendrick agreed, concluding that K&B could not adopt the naked approach. Jack is stunned at having been used without his knowledge. Kendrick leaves without hearing about the third fear.

Janet Neves, the head of financial consulting, and several other partners stay behind. Jack presents the third fear: the fear of feeling inferior, which concerns one's sense of social standing relative to a client. He describes four principles: take a bullet for the client, make everything about the client, honor the client's work, and do the dirty work. The remaining audience members connect the model to their own work and commit to teaching it within their divisions.

Marty apologizes and offers Jack leadership of the strategy practice. Jack accepts the apology but feels unexpectedly unenthusiastic about the promotion he once desired. Then Tom Paulson and Michael Casey, whom Jack meets face-to-face for the first time, fly in to ask him to run the Lighthouse office under Strategic Insights. With Dick planning to semi-retire and Amy stepping back for family, the office needs new leadership. Casey has convinced Matt to stay if Jack agrees to lead. Jack accepts immediately and turns down K&B's offer. As he walks through the converted schoolhouse one last time, passing the child-sized drinking fountains and bathroom signs, he decides to send a thank-you note to Sister Rose Marie, the second-grade teacher whose lessons about treating others well have echoed throughout his journey.

The concluding nonfiction section, "The Model," describes the origins of the naked service approach at the author's own firm, The Table Group. The author defines naked service as embracing uncommon levels of humility, selflessness, and transparency, details the practices for overcoming each fear, and concludes that these principles apply to any relationship-based service and that vulnerability strengthens all relationships, professional and personal.