About
One of Chris's Favorite Quotes - His Own
"I grew up around the outhouse people in Mississippi and lived with the White House people at Harvard. There is no difference in the quality of the two-only in the quality of the coaching, guidance and support they receive."
Chris Simmons
I spent thirty years deciding who would lead, and thirty years learning why clients choose one person over another.
At PwC I chaired the US Partner Admissions Committee, which determined who became a partner across the country. I sat on the firm's Governing Board and its Succession Planning and HR Committees. I ran a $600 million business unit with ultimate relationship building responsibility for dozens of clients. I led 3,000 partners and staff and coached people from new hires to CEO candidates. I reviewed promotions at every level — manager, director, managing director, partner, and partner leading forty partners.
I saw a lot from different perches.
What I do now
I speak to leadership audiences — corporate leadership development, EMBA and executive education, law firms and professional services, sales and business development groups, associations, and employee groups — about how people actually get chosen, by the people above them and by the clients they serve, and how organizations develop the leaders they'll need.
I coach individual leaders, from CEOs to emerging managers. Some come to me because someone has told them something about their style and impact has to change. Others come because they're being prepared for something bigger and nobody has explained what's different at the next level.
My new book, Chosen to Lead, is out September 30
The Book Signing Line
The roles
Regional Managing Partner
$600 million business unit, dozens of client relationships, 3,000 partners and staff across multiple cities
Governing Board, elected member
Eighteen people governing one of the world's largest professional services firms
Chairman, US Partner Admissions Committee
Responsible for determining new partners nationally
Succession Planning and HR Committees of the Board
Board-level planning for the firm's most senior roles
US Leadership Team
Ten years
Head of US Corporate Development
Firmwide growth strategy and acquisitions
What people say