Leadership Award
Lori Steele
Managing Partner, Global Business Services
IBM
What does IBM's Lori Steele enjoy most about consulting? "Making a difference," she says. "I love being able to help our clients solve problems, transform their business and leverage leading edge technologies and capabilities to drive better outcomes. I am fortunate to work with some of the world's best professionals who share the same thirst for knowledge, have the creativity to apply it to problems and produce results for clients."
She's been producing results for her clients ever since she accepted an internship position at Price Waterhouse more than 30 years ago. "It didn't take me long to realize that consulting was the profession for me… and I never left. I have had an incredibly rich career helping clients and leading our consulting business," Steele says. "After more than 30 years, I am still passionate about what I do, the clients I serve and the wonderful teams of people I have had the pleasure of developing, and that have developed me, to be the leader I am today."
As Managing Partner leading IBM Global Business Services for North America, Steele sets the strategic direction and is responsible for client relationships and operations in the U.S. and Canada.
"At IBM, we continually reinvent our company to be on the leading edge of innovation for our clients, ourselves and society," Steele says. "We are helping our clients to innovate and win in the new era of IT, where the forces of digital, mobile, social, analytics and cloud computing are fundamentally reshaping industries, markets and professions."
Steele says it is "fascinating" how IBM uses advanced analytics and cognitive computing to uncover patterns in vast amounts of data to improve outcomes in Healthcare, Insurance, Life Sciences and other industries. "I love that our teams come to work each day realizing that they are making a difference, and have an impact that goes beyond the business world," she says.
Steele says the best advice she's ever received is three-fold: Be humble; listen more than you speak; and, think big, act with purpose.
As for any advice she would you bestow to a female consultant just beginning her career, Steele echoes the advice she received. "Listen to your clients, understand their needs, put their success first, and help them achieve their goals. If you do that, your own success will follow," she says. "Balancing is never easy, so set your priorities; be decisive; speak up: and never give up!"
Finally, Steele says she asks women to… look up! "Since coming to IBM more than 12 years ago, I have always "seen" and "felt" the commitment to diversity," she says. "When I look up, I have always had a woman in my management chain, most recently, as the leader of our North American Consulting business, I report to a woman, who reports to a woman, who is our CEO."
What does winning the Women Leaders in Consulting award mean to you?
"I am both humbled and honored to be recognized for my achievements in a career that has been both rewarding and inspiring. I have benefited from having many encouraging mentors at IBM, and am thankful to work for a company where developing our leaders is of utmost importance. My greatest reward is seeing those that I have mentored and developed make their aspirations a reality."
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