2023 Top Consultants: Anne DeBruin Sample

Anne is an experienced business and HR leader with a proven track record of developing top talent and leading business-building transformation. A thought leader on talent management, her insights are regularly featured in HR Director Magazine, Kiplinger, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, Recruiting Daily and other outlets.

What has motivated you to excel over the course of your career?

My motivation to excel has been driven by my desire to set a vision for greatness, bring it to life and keep learning and growing. I am laser-focused on results. Ever since the early days of my career, I've been driven to define what success looks like. From there, I delineated the work that needed to be done and the goals that needed to be achieved to deliver those results.

Consistently identifying the connection between talent and results has also kept me motivated to take myself and Navigate Forward to the next level. I believe that by aligning an organization around culture and encouraging myself and my team to be champions for our clients, you can deliver incredible results.

What has been the biggest factor in your success so far?

The biggest factor in my success has been tied to my strong commitment to an open channel of communication, whether it is for my clients or for my team.

Communication to me is more than responding and offering a plan of action. Listening is a part of this strategy, and I strongly believe in listening to clients. I practice this by asking my clients "why" at least five times to get to the root cause of an issue. From there, I can start communicating effectively and present solutions to my client's core problem and specific needs. You must understand the client and the general marketplace to ensure that you successfully support others.

When it comes to success in leadership, I've found communication and listening to be crucial in building trust in my team. I do this by helping my team understand what success looks like, what role they play and by checking in with how they are doing. You can never communicate too much or too often.

What do you enjoy most about your career in the consulting industry?

What I enjoy most about my career is being in a position to identify opportunities to move talent into places where they can be successful. The talent market generally has a fair amount of mismatch between what a business needs and what a leader brings. All too often, leaders have followed a career path that was defined for them by others. When we work with our clients, they get a chance to step back to find their true passion.

Our clients receive the opportunity to clarify their strengths and direct their careers in a place where they can add immense value to an organization and find joy in the work they do. I truly enjoy the opportunity to support leaders as they find new opportunities.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

I am most proud of my ability to find great talent to bring onboard to Navigate Forward with the added opportunity to develop and mentor that talent into all that they can be.

As an HR leader inside different corporations, I was able to assemble incredible teams while being in leadership roles. Many of those individuals I have hired and developed in past roles have gone on to become HR leaders at other organizations.

When I bought Navigate Forward and became CEO, a great team had already been established. Four years later, we have retained 100% of those consultants and have had the opportunity to identify new consultants. I'm very proud of our firm's consultants and the quality of the services they provide. I have and continue to enjoy finding and developing new talent in every setting.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

I've been given two pieces of advice that have helped take myself and my team to the next level when it comes to delivering results for our clients.

First, you should always listen to the customer. While this may sound straightforward, I mean really listen to the customer. I don't ask them how to solve their problem. Instead, I spend time understanding their problem, pain points and the issues they are facing.

Second, you need to make sure you are solving the right problem for the clients. When solving a problem, ensure that you truly understand the root cause. At Navigate Forward, we ask "why" at least five times before bringing a solution to the table. It helps us truly and wholly understand our clients and allows us to present solutions that fit their exact needs.

What does this recognition mean to you?

I would be honored to receive this recognition as a leader and on behalf of this amazing team. They have and continue to do so much to help others fulfill their next steps in life and become passionate again in the workplace. Each employee of Navigate Forward contributes to the success, mission, and values this company runs and was built on. It would be reaffirming that the work the team and I spend with our clients is recognized by our peers in the industry.