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ghSMART & Company, LLC

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Vault’s Verdict

ghSMART isn’t a place for entry-level consultants, but it’s an intriguing option for anyone who’s ready to graduate from a name-brand firm and wants a mix of engaging work with best-of-the-best clients and unparallelled flexibility work-life balance. The firm is fully remote, and it takes the concept of ‘choose your own adventure’ to a new level, letting its consultants work as much or as little as they want after clearing a reasonable minimum.

Compensation and career development, like work-life balance, at ghSMART are defined by freedom and flexibility. Consultants earn commission for all work they deliver above their required minimum, and they can advance through clear promotion criteria at their own pace. This means there’s essentially no ceiling on growth or earnings at the firm, but it does mean that a ghSMART consultant needs the maturity to set boundaries and take ownership of their own career. 

All told, this firm will appeal to self-starters who prioritize taking ownership of their own career choices. With the ability to work with the clients they want, in the location they want, and on the schedule they want, this firm’s consultants make a big impact without the fuss and bureaucracy of some competitors. 

Firm Culture

“It's a choose your own adventure culture--if you have the competency, there are no artificial limits to growth or promotion. Lots of people leapfrog here.”

“ghSMART prides itself on not wasting anyone's time. We are intentional about the number of meetings we have, the requirements to be in person, and so on. I take more vacation than the typical European, yet still have great client work and colleague relationships. You can really have a life and work at the highest level”

“ghSMART enables me to have direct client relationships with the most impactful senior leaders while also giving me the autonomy and freedom to work on my terms. That allows me to do my best work and manage to live a full and happy life, which in turn makes me more effective with clients.”

“Every single person in the consulting staff can stand on their own. ghSMART consists of truly A players all around who are also nice people.”

Quality of Life

“Our core value is ‘Freedom and Flexibility,’ which means that I can be in a board meeting one day at a Fortune 50 client and volunteering at my children's school the next. Moreover, as a dual-career household, I'm able to flex my own schedule up and down depending on how busy my partner is. I'm also able to easily create a buffer around holidays, vacations, and special events without compromising my value or credibility internally or with clients.”

“ghSMART has, since long before the pandemic, believed in remote work and the ability to structure work so that it fits with your individual lifestyle. This has allowed me to be present (physically and mentally) for my children before and after school while still engaging deeply in work during my working hours. There is no required travel, and I travel less than 1 day a week.”

“It's a pay-for-performance model, so if you're not careful you can take on a lot which leads to being on all the time. At the same time, that’s optional. ghSMART was founded on the principle of 'Freedom and Flexibility' and that is never going to change. Live where you want, work with who you want on what you want, from where you want. Not having a central office means you can work remotely anywhere you have an internet connection.”

“There is ultimate flexibility in this firm. You choose your own projects, clients, and how much volume of work you want to take on above a minimum threshold. And that can vary from week to week and month to month. We have unlimited vacation time with permission required for vacations longer than two weeks at a time. This allows you to manage your own time and when you want to take an afternoon for personal reasons, but also makes it critical for you to set boundaries around your work life.”

Career Development

“‘Choose your adventure’ is a real aspect of career development here, with a tremendous amount of freedom and flexibility on your career path and speed. It also requires people to be the boss of their own careers and take charge and make it happen with the resources and people the firm has to offer.”

“We do a good job tuning into the specific needs of each consultant, and we are clear about what is necessary to get to the next level. What's more, we adjust the timing of the promotion process to suit the needs of the consultant, so some can progress on an accelerated basis, and some can decide to take more time.”

“I really appreciate how transparent and objective the promotion criteria are. I also appreciate how unlike large consultancies, it's not an up-or-out culture. You can decide at your own pace when or if you want to get on the partner track. Training programs over the course of your tenure are very carefully designed and led by our most experienced partners and consultants who are experts in the relevant area.”

“We offer enough formal training but also give people freedom to do more externally if they desire. Our informal training and mentoring are strong.”

Compensation

“This is the first place I have worked in over two decades where my compensation matches my effort, output, and goals. We are required to generate an extremely reasonable amount of revenue for the firm, and then we get a handsome commission for work that we do exceeding that level.”

“The commission model is exceptional. You earn commission as a percentage of work delivered and there is no cap on the compensation range. You can earn as much as a manager at another firm, or as much as a partner, in the same role depending on how much work you take on.”

“Compensation is crystal clear. Ranges for each role are published, and consultants have excellent visibility into their compensation path. The 401(k) match is quite generous, and so is our compensation, allowing me to live the lifestyle I'd want, including fully funding college education for my kids, travel, and so on.”

“Compensation is linear. The more you contribute, the more you make. It's highly meritocratic and fair. The employee has their hands on the dial to set the amount they work and thus the amount they earn. That allows people to meet their compensation and lifestyle needs.”

Community Engagement/DEI

“We are excellent on DEI! More than half our partners are women (I am one). I mentor a gay colleague, who is at home here. We have several military veterans, as well. On one of my client service teams, I have a military veteran, a Black woman, and a gay man. It's an absolute rock star team, in part because I have the flexibility to choose it and align the skills of the team with the client's needs. Our work-from-home setup is geared nicely to individuals with disabilities, as well.”

“DEI is a huge priority. We have tons of female partners and a wide range of diversity on our team across gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and so on.”

“More than 50 percent of the firm’s partners are women.”

“ghSMART is an incredibly diverse place, not only in traditional dimensions, but also in terms of experiences, thought processes, and interests.”

Business Outlook

“We continue to be on a solid growth trajectory across the business and continue to open new geographies. Our work is bespoke and requires the hands-on work of extremely talented individuals and teams, so we're not as easily scalable as some other firms.”

“We have a terrific brand that is expanding globally thanks to the strong work of our Europe team and our small but growing Asia team. We weathered the consulting downturn much better than larger competitors, and we have a seasoned, capable team that might be a little hungrier than it was two years ago. That will lead to healthy growth.”

“ghSMART is the pioneer that has defined the leadership advisory industry. There are many followers in this growing field, but ghSMART remains the gold standard.”

“ghSMART has really helped shape the leadership assessment, CEO succession, and broader next generation talent landscape over the last several years. Boards and CEOs consistently refer us to colleagues and note the high impact our work has on their talent decisions.”

Hiring Process

“We seek candidates who spike on both IQ and EQ. They should be internally driven, team-oriented, have great hands for clients, and see the ‘who’ questions of executive leadership as being their true calling.”

“We often recruit out of strategy consulting shops, as these professionals have excellent client service skills and strong project management capabilities.”

“Our ideal candidate is someone who has thrived in challenging ‘academy’ companies and industries like strategy consulting, investment banking, and private equity. They also must have the EQ and drive to help leaders excel.”

“We’re looking for people who are passionate about leadership, are people persons, and are kind and incredibly sharp and analytical.”

Interview Questions

“We use the same five-hour career assessment that we offer to our clients in succession planning and executive assessment and selection.”

“We ask candidates to assess a sample, anonymized candidate, as a way to replicate what we do.”

“We use a sanitized case study from our client work as part of our recruiting process, and also run our recruiting assessments following the exact same methodology we use with our clients.”

“What do people get wrong about you? What is the most provocative thing you've ever said to a client?”

Uppers

“The ability to advise and have real impact on individual leaders and the teams and institutions they serve.”

“Challenging work, top-notch colleagues, freedom to choose across engagements.”

“Lifestyle, comp, and high-level work with great colleagues”

“The people are extremely talented, but they are also nice. For real. You don't see that in top firms.”

Downers

“Imbalanced workload: The top performers are oversubscribed, and the others can be in the position of wanting more work. Plus, it takes some time to learn our work and do it well.”

“Freedom is a double-edged sword. Sometimes the extent of the freedom we have is overwhelming.”

“We're a distributed organization, so I don't get to see all of my colleagues as often as I might want to.”

“I miss seeing people in person sometimes!”

ghSMART & Company, LLC

203 N La Salle St
Ste 2100
Chicago, IL 60601

Firm Stats

Employer Type: Private
Chairman: Dr. Geoff Smart
CEO: Jeff McLean
2025 Employees (All Locations): 167

Major Office Locations

National
Global

Major Departments & Practices

Leadership Advisory