Excellence in Leadership
John Tobin
Founder and National General Manager
Slalom Consulting
John Tobin, founder and National General Manager of Slalom Consulting, just led the firm to the most successful year in its 10-year history. In 2010, Slalom increased revenue 45 percent to $209 million, but the real groundwork for the success was set a few years earlier, Tobin says.
"In 2009, we were flat, and we got used to growing 30 percent every year," he says. "We decided to roll the dice and used 2009 as a time to focus on who we wanted to be and where we wanted to go."
Tobin and his team decided they wanted Slalom to be more purposeful and develop services around clients' business outcomes, rather than being reactive. That included a strategic shift to the local model that Slalom had employed since its inception.
For the first time, the firm invested in what it calls the Slalom Network, leadership teams that would work across all the offices, offering additional support and service.
"I really feel that we're pioneering a new model around the local model. There are many companies that have done this before, but a lot of times companies get to a precipice where they feel like they can't go forward; they feel like they have to go to a national model, an industry model or a global model," Tobin says. "We are trying to buck that trend."
The Slalom Network investment, as well as the opening of an additional office in New York in April, has propelled the firm to 1,000 consultants—and it won't stop there. By the end of the year, Tobin expects the firm to employ 1,400 consultants and generate $280 million. Additional offices will soon follow in Boston, Washington D.C., Minneapolis, Houston, London and Sydney.
Tobin's five-year plan, meanwhile, has Slalom topping $500 million. "I feel really great about what we've done, where we are and where we're going as a company."
—J.K.
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