Who we are

Led by former business executives with deep behavioral science expertise, we operate as trusted business partners and strategic advisors who guide individuals and companies on how to reach their full potential.

Our history

Summit was originally founded in 2014 by Dan Hawkins, a global executive and former CHRO with a passion for advising growth-oriented companies and business leaders to scale and improve performance. Since then, we have attracted some of the finest talent and organizational performance experts in the industry and helped a wide range of businesses meet the demanding expectations of boards and investors.

Our philosophy

Having held senior leadership roles with high performing global companies, we bring a pragmatic, outcome-focused business mindset to every project. We think holistically about organizational context, underlying issues, and potential implications, and we deliver solutions that are practical, effective, and sustainable. We are collaborative, courageous, and client-centric.

Our commitment

At Summit Leadership Partners, we thrive on our differences, individuality, and courage to express ourselves. Racism, injustice, and exclusion have no place in our firm and will never be tolerated. Our company values are grounded in openness, collaboration, respect, and support, which help make our team the best in the industry. We are all imperfect and may make unintended mistakes from time to time, but are listening and learning to be better advocates for positive change. We will always support each other equally while holding ourselves to the highest moral and ethical standards. Together, we can make a difference in this world one client at a time.

Our Values

Our company culture is unique—in fact, it’s different from any professional services firm in the world.  Our people are brilliant, experienced, and committed as well as fun, real, and very collaborative.  We work hard, love to delight our clients, and truly enjoy what we do.  Several years ago, our entire team at Summit passionately debated and agreed on the below company values to guide how we operate:

•  We are partners and advisors with our clients through the use of objective date and business insights.

•  We think and act like business owners.

•  We lead with agility and a sense of urgency.

•  We demonstrate growth mindset through courage, openness, and valuing differences.

•  We are committed to each other’s success through support, transparency and accountability.

Our team

Based in Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Nashville, New York, and San Francisco, our consulting team combines deep behavioral science expertise and trusted real-world C-suite acumen and board experience in ways that measurably improve individual, team, and organizational performance. We hold advanced degrees, have backgrounds in a wide range of industries, and are certified in the most effective individual and organization assessment tools.

Interested in joining our team? See our open positions.

100%

of clients

would recommend Summit to others.

95%

of clients

report improved executive team performance as a result of our work.

95%

of clients

notice an improvement in the leader’s performance as a result of our coaching.

96%

of clients

report that our talent assessments were accurate and helpful in the hiring decision.

Summit’s real-world experience and approach are much more effective than other firms we have used.”

Chief Executive Officer

Summit goes well beyond just sharing findings and observations, they help drive change within an organization.”

Private Equity Partner

Summit’s understanding of the business is huge; therefore we have seen huge progress in those executives they have coached.”

Chief Human Resource Officer

Summit provides clarity and very direct feedback to help an organization take a harder, closer look at itself.”

Private Equity Partner

They tell us things we need to hear and help us make decisions to support the future direction of the business and organization with very positive outcomes.”

Chief Executive Officer

Summit’s organization assessment helped unstick and unearth actions that moved our organization forward.”

Chief Human Resource Officer

They bring very specific expertise, as well as a great touch with people and a great ability to deliver feedback in a very constructive manner.”

Private Equity Partner