The 2010 Women Leaders in Consulting: Kelly Chambliss

Future Leader AwardKelly ChamblissApplication Innovation Services Leader, North AmericaIBM

Kelly Chambliss remembers a time very early in her consulting career when a the CIO of a major company walked into a meeting, looked at her and asked somebody on the team who she was and why she was in the room. "It was as if he was asking… 'how is she possibly going to help us?' In those situations, Chambliss says she "held her head high, spoke with confidence, admitted when I didn't know the answer, and, most importantly, went into meetings prepared."

That ethic has gotten her to where she is today—the leader of IBM's largest consulting unit in North America. But when she started in the profession, she "thought consulting would provide a breadth of experiences, exposure to intelligent and highly motivated people, and unmatched opportunities to learn," she says. "These perceptions turned out to be true, and I've continued a career in consulting for many of the same reasons."