Leadership Award
Linda Imonti
Advisory and National Business Intelligence Leader
KPMG
Linda Imonti's career in consulting was definitely the result of a lucky accident. She had originally planned to go the traditional CPA route after completing her degree at San Francisco State University, but her business moved her into a consulting role.
"My accounting clients were maturing and sought out PC-based accounting systems in house. As my knowledge of ERP solutions expanded, I started looking for more complex business problems to solve and joined an accounting firm to find those larger and more complex business issues," she says. "Driving positive change at companies was incredibly fulfilling. The great potential of this field was clear; I kept right on going with it and enjoy my career every day."
Imonti has some 26 years of experience helping organizations develop innovative strategic plans and leading the efforts to turn these business strategies into operational practice. Her areas of focus include: financial management & operations, alignment of enabling technologies, shared services/outsourcing, business intelligence/BPM, performance improvement, and CRM.
Her favorite part? The clients, she says. "Solving complex issues has always been my passion, and I thoroughly enjoy helping clients find the answer to a complex issue and watching it evolve into a success," she says. "I also enjoy the teams and people I work with. And seeing people promoted through the ranks and succeed is one of my greatest rewards."
Imonti, the Chicago/West Region Advisory Leader and National Business Intelligence Leader for KPMG, credits much of her success to the example set by her mother. "My mother was a force in shaping who I am, teaching me about integrity, character, honesty and determination. My career and success is dedicated to her," she says.
And that determination clearly paid off early in Imonti's career. As a woman consultant, she says, the performance level often required of women partners had to be twice that of men. "Only exceptional performance eliminated colleagues viewing you as a woman first, rather than seeing you as an equal performer instead," she says. "Today, I am very proud to say that I believe my generation broke that performance barrier."
But breaking through is just part of the success equation. "In this industry we need to run a marathon and sometimes really talented women don't pace themselves well for a marathon vs. a sprint," Imonti says. "We cannot continue to drive change if we don't make it to the finish line."
What does winning the Women Leaders in Consulting award mean to you?
I am honored to be given this distinction, because without trusting and confident followers, there is no leader! This award is really attributable to all those that allow me, on a daily basis, to provide them leadership. In addition, this award should be attributed to those that have mentored, sponsored and trusted me along the way. From the partners that promoted me to be the first promoted female in a firm; to the leaders I follow today. I am humbled by the tremendous group of women that I'm now associated with. I hope that with this award, I can continue to inspire other women to pursue their goals."
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