The 2020 Top 25 Consultants: Andrew Blum

"When I got out of business school, there were really three paths available—investment banking, consumer products, and consulting," he says.  "I wasn't good at math and didn't want to live in New York, so investment banking didn't seem like the right career choice. I also couldn't see myself in the Midwest in a consumer products field, so I pursued consulting, which seemed to be both interesting and dynamic."

As he continued down the path and learned more about the practice, craft, and potential for impact, it became very clear that consulting was the right choice, he says.

"Much of my career—over 22 years in fact—has been leading and growing Trium, which is no small feat. I've now led the firm through three full-on recessions and through radical evolutions in the business world," he says. "This has given me both the direct lived experience of leading change, and great gratitude that I'm still doing what I set out to do. I'm very proud of the entity I've created, the success we've had as a firm, the people we've touched, and the impact we've had throughout."

He's also proud of the fact that people have come back to Trium many, many times over the years and expressed their appreciation for the work and the impact it has had on their personal and professional lives.

"At Trium, we believe that our impact comes from our own lived experience and the wisdom that we are able to help bring to problems, situations, and opportunities," Blum says. "So, I'd have to say that the biggest factor of my success has been my continual focus on integrating my own internal development with the realities of our client needs and building products and services out of them. Needless to say, none of this happens alone—I'm very proud of the team I've built at Trium who also engages in the practice of ongoing personal development."

As far as winning Consulting's Top 25 Award, Blum says it is an incredible honor to receive this recognition. "I feel like this award is as much for the work we have pioneered at Trium as it is for me personally. More than ever before, the world today needs leaders who are aware, evolved, and clear," he says. "Winning this award provides greater credibility to the importance and imperative of our mission of changing the world by changing the way business leaders think, and helps us share it with a wider network. Thank you so much for this wonderful distinction."

Q&A: What has motivated you to excel over the course of your career?

Blum: As a CEO and Founder, I feel a profound sense of responsibility to serve my team and my clients as the very best version of myself…and that gives me a lot of motivation. Over the years, the world has seen firsthand how important a leader's evolution is to the success of their business, and that has been very validating as it has been Trium's focus since our inception. Seeing the personal and professional impact on the leaders we serve is humbling, because the leaders we work with end up becoming better people—better leaders, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, colleagues, friends. The importance of that has always inspired me to excel.