Jan Smith

Jan Smith specializes in leadership development and organizational effectiveness. She partners with executives and leadership teams to foster growth and resilience in rapidly scaling organizations through her firm, Smith Signature Consulting. In addition to designing leadership programs, coaching senior leaders and teams, and advising on organizational strategy, Jan is passionate about creating cultures where leaders and teams thrive.

Highlights from Jan’s 25-year career include scaling Red Hat from a $750M company to a $4B+ global leader, co-creating its iconic open culture, and leading cultural integration during its $34B acquisition by IBM. She has coached more than 1,000 leaders globally, blending her technical background with open leadership principles. Earlier in her career, she led restructuring efforts at Nortel during its Chapter 11 process and helped prepare the organization for multiple successful M&A opportunities after serving in multiple leadership positions within the talent and engineering functions. Jan has also worked with several pre-IPO businesses, providing executive and team coaching to prepare leaders for the rigor demanded of publicly traded companies.

Jan co-hosts a podcast, We’ve Been Thinking - All Things Leadership. Through this platform, she shares valuable insights and experience to help leaders navigate real-world issues and thrive in today’s dynamic organizations.