We are incredibly proud of Kristen Carroll, founder and CEO of The LMC Group, who was recently honored by Insights Success magazine and named to their annual list of successful business leaders, “The League of Extraordinary CEOs.” Insights Success chooses executives with exceptional achievements, business acumen, and strategy execution. Kristen was recognized specifically for her ability to nurture top-tier talent and to empower organizations to achieve their visions in her position as CEO of The LMC Group.
Kristen explained why being named to The League of Extraordinary CEOs was so gratifying:
I was truly honored to be included in this group of innovative CEOs, but even more, I appreciated the opportunity to pay homage to the incredible mentors, coworkers, and employees who have played critical roles in my success. I also enjoyed sharing my unorthodox career path—I want people to know the path to the C-suite doesn’t have follow the usual business school to MBA progression.
Insights Success sat down with Kristen for an interview, which is available in its entirety on their website.
What were the past experiences, achievements or lessons that shaped your journey?
Early in my career, I had the absolute gift of working for Helen Drinan, now the president of Simmons College in Boston, MA. She had just left her position as the president of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and was serving as the CHRO for a large hospital system. Helen was the most charitable and affirming leader I have ever known: a brilliant altruist and mentor. She assembled the strongest team of senior HR leaders I ever seen and orchestrated a collaborative, cross-training environment where we all left our respective roles with significantly more than we arrived with and offering significantly more to the organization we operated within. She embodied the core of the very best HR has to offer, in her flawless understanding of an organization’s business needs and her ability to leverage employees as the catalyst for an organization’s growth. I still strive to be a leader on par with Helen Drinan.
While large organizations may be successful and long-standing, that doesn’t mean they always know the best ways of doing things. That was a great realization for me to have early in my career, empowering me to challenge the norms and status quo as I worked with different clients and industries later on. Since I was able to save tens of millions of dollars for a billion-dollar organization early in my career, I knew I could help any company find better ways to do things through my consultancy work.
What were some of the primary challenges and roadblocks that you faced during the initial phase of your journey?
As a non-traditional thinker, I go into each situation seeking the whys and hows of every decision and process. While this iconoclasm may have gotten me in a bit of trouble when I was starting out in my career, it has served me well in the ensuing 20 years as I find innovative solutions for our clients.
I’ve also grown in self-awareness throughout my career. I know my strengths, and I surround myself with a team whose talents and insights complement me and compensate for my shortcomings. I always recommend that CEOs hire employees who are smarter than they are!
Where does The LMC Group see itself in the near future and what are its future goals?
We plan to broaden our approach as we provide high-level resources at multiple access points. We want to level the playing field for small- and medium-sized business to compete with the industry leaders.
One access point we are implementing now is the automation of some of our resources. We will always take a customized approach, but through automation we can make our knowledge available to smaller companies that aren’t currently able to invest in a deeper engagement.