Diana, Steffi, Thomas and Marc-Philipp are alumni of a private business school called “High Potentials.” At 24, they’re significantly younger than the average graduate, yet they’ve known the meaning of ambition and discipline since childhood. And they know exactly what they want: A job in one of the world’s leading management consulting firms. If they can manage to hold their own in the extremely selective recruitment process, visions of a salary around 60,000 euros, a company car, cell phone, laptop, myriad business trips and benefits shimmer in the distance. But most of all, they’ll belong to the network of global organizations that thinks of itself as “one big family.”

Claiming to belong to this achievement-oriented society, and even extensively sacrificing their private lives, however, is no guarantee for a career in the industry. If they truly want to get ahead, they have to live by the motto “grow or go.” They must consistently demonstrate their ability for ruthless self-criticism. And if they find the motto threatening or constraining, they should just pack up now, because “not going forwards is going back.”