Brian Turner
Slalom
Excellence in Leadership
Brian Turner was heading to medical school, working in a laboratory at UCSF, and realized he really didn't like blood. He lived in the bay area, and the .com boom was still a few years out. "I looked at opportunities in finance and consulting, and I immediately became attracted to the consulting," Turner says. "The idea that I could work in a variety of industries and technologies and learn with the best in the business was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I realized early on that I would be a lifer in consulting."
Turner is currently the President of U.S. Markets at Slalom. He took on this position after serving as the Denver office General Manager and then the Southwest Regional Manager.
Although he was proud when he made partner at a Big Five firm, Turner says hands down, his proudest accomplishment was starting and building the Denver office. "Building a team from scratch to go through the highs and lows creates a special bond," he says. "It was an amazing mix of leaning on all that I had learned over the years with growing and learning new skills. I developed more as a leader in that one year than the ten years of consulting prior to that."
Turner says "paranoia and people" have inspired him to excel over the course of his career. "You never know when you are going to get another opportunity, so I try to make the most of the ones I get," he says. "Then it is the people. I always want to come through for my teams and those relying on me whether that means the clients I am serving or the people by my side. The different teams I have been a part of, the different relationships I've built, the various problems I have been able to solve."
Turner says the best experiences always come with the most significant challenges. To that end, helping Slalom and its clients come out of this pandemic stronger than they were when they entered will be amazing. "It will probably be the hardest I have ever had to work, but the team will be amazingly close when we are done," he says. "The wins where you had to grind together are always the sweetest, and this one is going to be quite a grind. I think the other side will be sweeter for all of us."
As far as being named one of Consulting's Top 25 Consultants, Turner says it's pretty humbling. "The people in the consulting industry are some of the sharpest, dedicated hard working out there," he says. "To be recognized as being a part of that peer group is flattering enough. To be thought of as a top performer in that group is an honor I never expected."
Q&A What's been the biggest factor to your success?
Turner: Hard work. I am rarely the smartest person in the room, but I love what I do and can often outwork or just out effort many of those around me.
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