ghSMART

What ghSMART does

ghSMART (legal entity G. H. Smart & Company, LLC) is a privately held, employee-owned global leadership advisory firm founded in 1995 by Dr. Geoff Smart and headquartered in New York. The firm delivers a suite of 14 core advisory services spanning CEO and C-suite succession, CEO advisory, board effectiveness, executive selection, executive development and coaching, executive onboarding (Executive Launch), emerging-talent identification (nextGEN), AI-era leadership assessment (SHAPE-AI), executive team acceleration (ETA), capability building, talent and organization strategy, management team assessment for private equity value creation, and human-capital due diligence for M&A. It also offers the founderEDGE methodology for founder-investor-s successor dynamics. The underlying methodology combines psychological assessment science with business consulting expertise and is powered by a proprietary data asset: the CEO Genome research database covering over 30,000 CEO and C-suite assessments and 29,000+ executive assessments. The firm is best known for the bestselling book Who: The A Method for Hiring (co-authored by founder Geoff Smart and Senior Advisor Randy Street) and the Harvard Business Review–published CEO Genome Project.

The firm operates a pure professional services revenue model with quote-based, multi-year enterprise engagements delivered through direct partner-led relationships — no resellers, distributors, or self-service channels. Customer segments are organized vertically into three groups: Corporate (Fortune 500 and large enterprises), Private Equity & Principal Investors (firms and their portfolio companies for human capital diligence and value creation), and Public & Social (foundations, universities, hospitals, non-profits, government). Named customers span Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Corteva Agriscience, Ariadne Labs, The White House, The Rockefeller Foundation, and MiQ among 1,000+ clients served. The firm employs 195+ professionals across 34 cities in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, including partners drawn from McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Goldman Sachs, Korn Ferry, and Disney, supported by a global team of analysts, executive business partners, and operational functions. In July 2025, KKR acquired a significant minority stake through its Ascendant Fund to fund digital expansion and client base growth while ghSMART retained majority ownership; founder Geoff Smart serves as Chairman and Jeff McLean as CEO.

Name

ghSMART

Legal name

G. H. Smart & Company, LLC

Website

https://ghsmart.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ghSMART is a privately held, employee-owned global leadership advisory firm that helps CEOs, boards, and investors with executive succession, selection, coaching, and team effectiveness, backed by a proprietary database of over 30,000 CEO assessments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Leadership Advisory & Management Consulting

NAICS

Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Executive Leadership & C-Suite Development (EDABAAAA)

Keywords

• Leadership advisory services
• Executive coaching
• CEO succession planning
• Management team assessment
• Board effectiveness consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices20 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Leadership Advisory Services: Professional services revenue generated through bespoke consulting engagements with CEOs, boards, and investors for leadership assessment, succession planning, executive coaching, and organizational effectiveness. Engagements are typically project-based or retainer arrangements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ghSMART is a global leadership advisory firm that delivers bespoke consulting engagements to CEOs, boards, and investors covering CEO and C-suite succession, executive selection, executive coaching and development, board effectiveness, founder-investor partnership advisory, and management team assessment. Services are grounded in proprietary research including the CEO Genome (30,000+ executives analyzed), founderEDGE methodology, SHAPE-AI assessment tool, and a database of 29,000+ executive assessments, and are organized across three client segments: Corporate, Private Equity & Principal Investors, and Public & Social.

Product overview

ghSMART is a global leadership advisory firm offering a comprehensive suite of advisory services organized across three client segments: Corporate, Private Equity & Principal Investors, and Public & Social. The portfolio includes 14 core service offerings centered on CEO and executive succession, advisory, assessment, coaching, and team effectiveness. Key products include CEO and C-suite Succession, CEO Advisory, Board Effectiveness, Executive Selection, Executive Development and Coaching, Executive Launch, nextGEN, SHAPE-AI (AI-focused leadership assessment), Executive Team Acceleration (ETA), Capability Building and Learning, Talent and Organization Strategy, Management Team Assessment, Due Diligence and M&A, and founderEDGE. These services are delivered through a proprietary methodology combining psychological assessment science with business consulting.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CEO and C-suite Succession Advisory service for selecting the right senior leaders and ensuring smooth leadership transitions at the CEO and executive level; designed for boards, CEOs, and CHROs of large organizations.
• CEO Advisory Provides trusted advice and critical perspective for CEOs on their most important leadership decisions.
• Board Effectiveness Enhances board working relationships and unlocks board potential through advisory services for boards of directors.
• Executive Selection Helps organizations choose the right person for executive jobs aligned with their strategy; applies the proprietary Who Interview methodology.
• Executive Development and Coaching Maximizes individual executive performance through coaching and development programs using Power Score methodology.
• Executive Launch Onboarding solution that launches new executives at full power with structured support in their critical first months.
• nextGEN Identifies emerging talent needed to ensure sustainable organizational growth and leadership pipeline continuity.
• SHAPE-AI Assessment tool for hiring and developing leaders equipped for AI transformation within organizations.
• Executive Team Acceleration (ETA) Aligns leadership teams to work better together and achieve results faster.
• Capability Building and Learning Trains organizations to hire and lead using ghSMART's proprietary methodology.
• Talent and Organization Strategy Connects people and organization design to strategy for superior business results.
• Management Team Assessment Transforms management teams into competitive advantages for private equity value creation.
• Due Diligence and M&A Provides human capital diligence for investment decisions, assessing management team capabilities in M&A transactions.
• founderEDGE Research-backed framework for building enduring bridges between founders, investors, and successors through Founder Blueprint, Founder Foundation, and Founder Reinforcements components; addresses founder-CEO transition risk which occurs 2-3x more often than other leadership handovers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Founder-CEO transitions fail 2-3x more often than other leadership handovers, but ghSMART's framework enables successful navigation of these transitions
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• BrightSkyminorOthersghSMART logo appears on BrightSky cloud platform materials, indicating a branding partnership or co-marketing relationship

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): CCL is a global leadership development and executive education provider with proprietary assessment tools and research. It is comparable to ghSMART in executive development, coaching, and leadership research, serving Fortune 500 and public-sector clients.
• Spencer Stuart: Spencer Stuart is a leading global executive search and leadership advisory firm with a renowned board and CEO practice. It is a close direct competitor to ghSMART in CEO succession, board effectiveness, and C-suite advisory, serving many of the same Fortune 500 and PE clients.
• Russell Reynolds Associates: Russell Reynolds Associates is a global executive search and leadership advisory firm with deep CEO succession and board practices. It directly competes with ghSMART in executive search, succession planning, and leadership advisory, serving similar enterprise and PE clients.
• RHR International: RHR International is a leadership advisory firm specializing in executive coaching, top team effectiveness, and leadership development. It is closely comparable to ghSMART in its boutique, senior-led model and concentration on CEO succession and executive team acceleration.
• Egon Zehnder: Egon Zehnder is a privately held global leadership advisory and executive search firm known for its CEO succession and board work. It is highly comparable to ghSMART in methodology, clientele (Fortune 500 boards and CEOs), and boutique senior-led engagement model.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry is the largest global organizational consulting firm with a deep executive search and leadership advisory practice. It directly competes with ghSMART in executive search, CEO succession, and leadership development, but operates at much greater scale with a broader portfolio spanning RPO and consulting.
• Korn Ferry (Hay Group legacy) / Leadership & Talent Consulting: McKinsey's Organization Practice offers leadership advisory and CEO succession consulting as part of its broader strategy offering. While not a pure-play competitor, McKinsey's senior advisor model and Fortune 500/PE relationships overlap materially with ghSMART's enterprise and PE practices.
• ghSMART adjacent: Bain & Company (Organization Practice): Bain & Company provides organization and leadership advisory work alongside its strategy consulting. Several ghSMART senior advisors (e.g., Carol Lee, Heidi Smith, Murtaza Nagrawala) came from Bain, and the firms compete for similar enterprise leadership mandates.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Heidrick & Struggles is a publicly traded global executive search and leadership advisory firm serving corporate and PE clients. It competes directly in CEO succession and executive assessment, but offers broader talent advisory services and consulting at larger scale.

Emerging players

• DDI (Development Dimensions International): DDI is a leadership consulting firm focused on assessment, leadership development, and executive selection with proprietary assessment technologies. It overlaps with ghSMART in executive assessment and selection but is more productized and serves a broader mid-market segment.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ghsmartco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ghsmart
• Xx.com/ghsmartco

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles23 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ghSMART