Dan Hawkins | Source | Founder & CEO at Summit Leadership Partners
Dan Hawkins
Dan is the CEO and Founder of Summit Leadership Partners. He advises boards, CEO's, investors and business leaders on strategy execution and value creation through leadership and organization performance.
After a successful corporate career, Dan founded Summit Leadership Partners to help growth-oriented companies and business leaders scale and improve performance.
Under Dan’s leadership, Summit has become the industry leader for PE investors and high growth companies in leadership and organization assessment and performance and recognized as America’s Best Management Consulting Firms in 2022 by Forbes, ranked as one of the Inc. 5000’s Fastest Growing Private Companies in America in both 2020 and 2021, and was listed as #5 on Consulting Magazine’s 2020 Fastest Growing Companies.
He partners closely with clients to catalyze change and is an expert in leadership, strategy, assessment, executive and organization development. Dan is practical, insightful, highly focused on outcomes and is appreciated for his direct, courageous, and well-informed insight.
Previously, Dan’s worked with leaders as CHRO at top global public and private companies such as Asurion, Ingersoll Rand, MagneTek, and Hoechst Celanese, and has worked across a variety of industry sectors, such as life sciences, chemicals, technology, health care, consumer products, retail, industrial and financial services.
Dan is a member of several industry and professional organizations, such as the Bloomberg Breakaway CEO Network, Forbes Coaches Council, the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and the American Psychological Association (APA).
He serves on the boards of Clemson University Powers College of Business and the Belk College of Business, University of North Carolina Charlotte. Previously, Dan served on the board of Aquesta Bank, Best Practices Institute (BPI), Center for International Business and Economic Research (CIBER), Central Indiana & Central Carolina United Way, and the Purdue Krannert Business School. He also served as an active member of the Charlotte Business Innovation & Growth Council (BIG) and the Nashville Healthcare Council's Leadership in Healthcare.
Dan has authored and presented numerous topics on CEO performance, leadership, organization change, strategy, leading in global contexts, and strategic talent management. He is regularly featured in top business publications, such as Fast Company, Bloomberg, Forbes, and Chief Executive Magazine, and industry publications, such as HR Executive, M&A and Middle Market Growth.
Dan is a Board-Certified Executive Coach (BCC) and holds a NACD Directorship Certification along with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Management from Clemson University and a master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
He has a passion for youth education and partners with local non-profits in North Carolina making a strong community impact, including Heart Tutoring and Girls on the Run. He enjoys skiing, hiking, wake surfing, exercise, and anything outdoors with his family.
About Summit Leadership Partners, LLC
Summit Leadership Partners advises boards, investors, CEOs, and senior leaders on scaling business and improving organization performance through talent assessment, executive coaching, management team acceleration, leadership development and organization assessment and improvement. In addition to using advanced behavioral science and data driven tools to uncover opportunities and challenges, our exceptional consulting team deploys real-world solutions based on proven business experience and acumen. Summit has been recognized as one of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms in 2022 by Forbes, ranked as one of the Inc. 5000’s Fastest Growing Private Companies in America in both 2020 and 2021, and was listed as #5 on Consulting Magazine’s 2020 Fastest Growing Companies. Summit also made the top 10 spot in Charlotte Business Journal’s 2020 Fast 50. Summit Leadership Partners is located in Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Miami, and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.summitleadership.com, and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
Who Summit Works For: Summit’s markets are around 2/3 private equity and 1/3 public traded companies and serve the technology, healthcare, manufacturing, consumer products and life sciences industries.
# Of Employees: 22 (full & part-time employees)
Founded: 2014
Founder & CEO: Dan Hawkins
Website: www.summitleadership.com
Corporate Headquarters
1300 S Mint Street
Charlotte, North Carolina
Suite 400
United States
(704) 237-4677
Office Locations
Austin, TX
Charlotte, NC
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Los Angeles, CA
Nashville, TN
New York, NY
San Francisco, CA
Miami, FL
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Summit Leadership Partners
Founder & CEO
started Nov 2014
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Fast Company: The most genius founders can also be erratic CEOs. Here’s how to fix that
Many founder CEOs struggle to adapt their leadership and operating skills to scale their business to the next level. According to Dan Hawkins, CEO of leadership advisory firm, Summit Leadership Partners, scale requires something that most great founders do not possess or even enjoy – consistency. Check out this 4 minute read in Fast Company where leadership expert, Dan Hawkins, discusses the need for founder CEOs to adapt and think of themselves as CCOs — “Chief Consistency Officers.”
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Forbes: How Leaders Can Keep The Best Of 'Crisis Mode'
In a recent article written for Forbes, Dan Hawkins, CEO of leadership advisory firm, Summit Leadership Partners, shared four key leadership principles that leaders should continue to implement after the crisis is over.
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Bloomberg Live: Shaping Company Culture in the New Normal (Opinion)
Now that most organizations have shifted to working remotely during the pandemic, CEOs are challenged to shape and lead a new company culture as traditional levers for driving and building culture are no longer the most effective. In this article, Summit Leadership Partners CEO, Dan Hawkins, and Partner, Todd Fryling, discuss how leaders can create a stronger company culture and emerge from this crisis stronger than ever.
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What suggestions do you have for PE investors and human capital experts working with Founder CEOs?
"For Founder CEOs, taking investment from a PE firm is an emotional experience. Investors need to understand this and find ways to deliver early wins that support the Founder’s success and ensure that the Founder experiences the value the PE firm can provide, beyond capital alone. Ideally, that process should start before the investment is made. Investors should ensure that there is an agreed-upon plan with the Founder and an understanding of how the partnership will work, available resources, communications expectations and barometers for success. After the transaction, investors can support Founders by understanding what they are most passionate about and engaging them in those areas as well as by providing resources that can help them develop professionally. Finally, investors should act as a partner to the Founder, as opposed to a manager or controller." ~Dan Hawkins, Founder & CEO, Summit Leadership Partners
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Post-COVID-19 – What Comes Next?
“The workplace as we know it is done. The leadership behaviors of CEOs have the strongest correlations with shaping a culture. The equalizing and humanizing aspect of the current workplace dynamic can be a culture accelerator. More interactive and face-to-face communications can help build better connections." ~Dan Hawkins, Founder & CEO, Summit Leadership Partners
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What are the fundamental shifts underway in private equity talent acquisition strategies?
"Collective management team assessment and performance are more important than ever. Investors now realize it is not enough to assess and upgrade just individuals on the team. They must better understand the capacity of the team to solve complex business challenges, make rapid decisions, and effectively align the organization. Accelerating team performance for portco management is more powerful than simply focusing on the CEO alone.” ~Dan Hawkins, Founder & CEO, Summit Leadership Partners
