The Strategy Skills Podcast: Management Consulting | Strategy, Operations & Implementation | Critical Thinking

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 492, an interview with the co-author of the book Personalized: Customer Strategy in the Age of AI, David C. Edelman. This book is a playbook for delivering true personalization at scale that will help executives learn how to put personalization at the center of their strategy and accelerate growth. BCG's Mark Abraham and HBS's David C. Edelman describe five promises of personalization: Empower Me, Know Me, Reach Me, Show Me, Delight Me.   David C. Edelman is a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, an executive adviser and board member to brands and technology providers, and an adviser to BCG. Previously, David was chief marketing officer at Aetna and has worked with dozens of companies on personalization, AI, and agile marketing at BCG and Digitas. Forbes has repeatedly named him one of the Top 20 Most Influential Voices in Marketing, and Ad Age has named him a Top 20 Chief Marketing and Technology Officer.   Get David’s book here: https://shorturl.at/Qj6Ys Personalize

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 491, an interview with the author Directional Living: A Transformational Guide to Fulfillment in Work and Life, Megan Hellerer.    In this episode, Megan shares her experience as an executive at Google and how she realized the misalignment in her career path, which led to physical and mental health issues. She also discusses how she navigated through it by listening to her inner voice and experimenting with new paths. Additionally, Megan explains how she built her coaching practice, how to find clients that are a good fit for you, the common issues clients face, and how to help them solve those issues.   Megan Hellerer is a career coach and the founder of Coaching for Underfulfilled Overachievers. She has led hundreds of women, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to transform their lives by transforming their careers. After checking all the traditional boxes of success—graduating at the top of her class from Stanford University and spending eight years as a Go

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 490, featuring an interview with the author of Likeable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve, Alison Fragale. In her book, Alison addresses the recurring questions from high powered and early career women alike: How do women thread the needle of kindness and competence in the workplace? How can women earn credit for their accomplishments, negotiate better, and navigate complex office politics without losing the goodwill of their peers?   Alison Fragale is the Mary Farley Ames Lee Distinguished Scholar of Organizational Behavior at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School. As a research psychologist, award-winning professor, international keynote speaker, and author, she is on a mission to help others — especially women — use behavioral science to work and live better. Her scholarship has been published in the most prestigious academic journals in her field and featured in prominent media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 489, featuring an interview with Mitch Warner, a bestselling author and Arbinger managing partner.    In this episode, we dive deep into the critical topic of self-deception and its profound impact on leadership and personal effectiveness. Mitch shares powerful insights on how self-deception can undermine our relationships and professional success, often without us even realizing it. He explains the concept of self-betrayal and how it leads to a distorted view of ourselves and others, creating unnecessary conflicts and reducing our influence as leaders. Mitch shares a valuable advice on how to rebuild trust in relationships damaged by self-deception and how to not let it happen again.   Mitch is the co-author of Arbinger’s latest bestseller, The Outward Mindset. He writes frequently on the practical effects of mindset at the individual and organizational levels as well as the role of leadership in transforming organizational culture and results. He is an expert on mindset an

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 488, featuring an interview with a seasoned business strategist and operator respected for his pivotal role in Amazon’s early days, John Rossman. In John’s book, Think Like Amazon, he provides 50 ½ answers drawn from his experience as an Amazon executive―and shows today’s business leaders how to think like Amazon, strategize like Bezos, and beat the competition like nobody’s business.   John Rossman is an author, executive advisor and keynote speaker on digital transformation, leadership, and business reinvention. With a career spanning consulting roles at renowned brands like Novartis, Gates Foundation, Microsoft, Walmart, and T-Mobile, he brings extensive expertise in solving complex business challenges and driving customer-centric solutions. As an early Amazon executive, Rossman played a pivotal role in launching the Amazon Marketplace in 2002, shaping its transformative impact.   Rossman is the author of four influential books on leadership and business innovation, inclu

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic from a 10 episode program to help our clients and customers measurably, radically transform their careers through The Author Program.   How would your career, reputation, and earnings change as a published author?   Imagine your client interactions when potential and current clients saw your thinking in a published book before they met you? Imagine the time you would save not having to explain your ideas and the value you could add to them? Imagine the fee premium you could earn? Imagine avoiding awkward meetings trying to establish your credibility? Imagine how many potential clients would find you and reach out to you?   Learn more and see the application guidelines: https://www.firmsconsulting.com/experts-published-author-program/   Apply: email team@firmsconsulting.com   Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning resume

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic from week 4 of the Corporate Strategy & Transformation study.   Promoting women into leadership roles is a hot topic and, sadly, a debate. Why is it a debate? What are the elements that require further analysis? To paraphrase Marvin Bower, one does not ask a client if a woman should take over the relationship, one simply tells a client a woman is taking over. It is not the client’s job to decide what is right.   In this podcast, we explain why we have more female than male partners at FC and how we constantly develop them to serve in more and more senior roles.   Click here to see the full study and here to see the merger study and market entry study.   Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episod

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 485, featuring an interview with Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff, HBS professors and the hosts of 'Think Big, Buy Small' podcast.    In this episode, we discuss current market trends related to entrepreneurship through acquisition. We also touch on the demographic trend of baby boomers retiring and needing to sell their businesses, and its impact on buying and selling businesses. Most importantly, Richard and Royce share their advice on how to find the right business to buy, the key considerations and how to evaluate businesses, common buyer errors, and the challenges of buying from baby boomers.   Think Big, Buy Small is a new podcast from Harvard Business School that explores this innovative approach to entrepreneurship: acquisition entrepreneurship. The show is an extension of their courses on small firms, including “Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition,” which has been taken by thousands of MBA students, and their highly-regarded book, HBR Guide to Buying a Small Busine

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss how your cost of capital changes as you take on more debt and how this change is different between organizations. It's a crucial concept for this utility. We explain how the cost of capital change usually takes place and then we review the drivers at play that are different for this power utility vs. an average company.   Click here to see the full study and here to see the merger study and market entry study.   Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube: When too much debt is a good thing   Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we use economics to explain what is the role of government, when governments should intervene, how they should intervene, and when they should hand over certain activities to the private sector. If you want to further your understanding of strategy at the highest possible level you should listen to this.   Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 482, an interview with the author of Beyond the Hammer: A Fresh Approach to Leadership, Culture, and Building High Performance Teams, Brian Gottlieb. In his book, Brian shares his straightforward business ideology of having a clear strategy, inspiring teams, providing best-in-class training, using metrics for empowerment, and executing with consistency. Beyond the Hammer provides five foundational pillars of leadership and an actionable path to weaving these pillars into any business, giving leaders and managers the power to build teams that perform at a high level, consistently.   Brian Gottlieb is an inspirational business leader who founded a home services business in 2009 on a plastic folding table with $3,000. Twelve years later when he sold the family of businesses he created, they had diversified products, expanded across multiple states, grown to 600 employees, and neared $1 billion in lifetime sales. INC 5000 recognized the organization as one of the fastest-growing

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 481, an interview with the author of Lead Bigger: The Transformative Power of Inclusion, Anne Chow. In her book, Anne shows us how we can all learn to leverage inclusion far beyond DEI to elevate our work, workforce, and workplace. Lead Bigger offers a no-nonsense approach to leading outside of traditional parameters that challenges us all to “lead bigger” by seeking a broader impact, embracing the whole of your team beyond the workplace, and engaging in self-reflection.   As the former CEO of AT&T Business, Anne Chow was the first woman and first woman of color to hold the position of CEO at AT&T in 2019, overseeing more than 35,000 employees who collectively served 3 million business customers worldwide during her time there. She is currently the Lead Director on the board of Franklin Covey, serves on the board of 3M and CSX, and teaches at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. You can listen to Anne on Harvard Business Review’s Race at Work, WFAA

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic from the Corporate Strategy & Transformation study.   In this podcast, we look at the problem of superficial financial analysis. One way to save the client money, before they run out of cash in about 16 months, is to stop all investments which lose money. This, however, is a terrible idea that will cause enormous damage to the client’s core business, consumers, and the economy. We discuss how we handle this recommendation and what we proposed in the study to fix the problem.   Click here to see the full study and here to see the merger study and market entry study.   Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 479, an interview with Marshall Goldsmith, a world-renowned executive coach and leadership thinker.   In this episode, Marshall offers invaluable advice for aspiring leaders and coaches, emphasizing the importance of maintaining an adult-to-adult relationship in coaching scenarios. His focus on measurable results has made him a trusted advisor to some of the world's top CEOs and leaders. He also gave us a glimpse of marshallgoldsmith.ai, an Al Avatar that is infused with Marshall’s knowledge, experience, nuances and voice to answer management-related questions leaders have.   Whether you're a seasoned executive or an aspiring leader, this episode offers practical wisdom and inspiration from one of the best in the business world.   Dr. Marshall Goldsmith is the only two time Thinkers50 #1 leadership thinker in the world. He has been recognized as the #1 executive coach in the world for over a decade. He is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of books that have sold over

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 478, an interview with Ben Orlin, a math teacher turned full-time writer who's on a mission to make mathematics engaging and accessible to all and the author of the book Math for English Majors: A Human Take on the Universal Language.   In this episode, Ben offers insights into his teaching and writing journey, the challenges in teaching math, the unexpected success of his first book "Math with Bad Drawings," and how he balances teaching with his writing career. He also touches on the broader implications of mathematical thinking in various fields, from business to everyday life.   Whether you're a math enthusiast, an educator, or someone who's always found math intimidating, this conversation will give you a fresh perspective on the beauty and relevance of mathematics in our world.   Ben Orlin is a math teacher who can't draw. His book Math with Bad Drawings (2018) has sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide, and has since been followed by Change is the Only Constant (2019)

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 477, an interview with Hollywood insiders and the authors of Briefly Speaking, Deborah Shames and David Booth.   In this episode, we discuss effective communication and presentation strategies for individuals and business professionals. With their extensive experience coaching executives, celebrities, and leaders, Deborah and David share invaluable insights about different topics including the power of storytelling in business communication using the OSB (Obstacle-Solution-Benefit) template, practical tips for leaders to command attention in meetings and presentations, how to showcase your unique attributes and differentiators, how to present yourself authentically, and how you can engage audiences through visual language, novelty, and genuine enthusiasm.   This episode offers actionable advice to help you connect with audiences, win pitches, and advance your career through more impactful speaking and presenting.   Deborah and David are co-founders of Eloqui, a business comm

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we address how to answer difficult questions raised by the client during an executive workshop or another type of client's executive group meeting.   We start with discussing the right mindset any consultant requires to be able to effectively handle difficult questions from a client. We thereafter review the particular steps in addressing a client's difficult questions raised during a workshop or a presentation. Lastly, we dive into which skills are required to be able to handle difficult questions, especially the kind of questions for which you don't have an immediate answer.   Click here to see the full study and here to see the merger study and market entry study.   Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanc

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 475, an interview with Dr. Sam Adeyemi (Ah Day yeh me), a global speaker, strategic leadership expert, minister, and author who has influenced millions of people on success and leadership through radio, television, conferences, and information products for more than 25 years.    Atlanta-based Dr. Sam Adeyemi leads leaders. He shifts mindsets to help leaders see possibilities and become those possibilities. More than 3 million CEOs and high performing individuals follow Dr. Sam on top social media sites. He holds a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Virginia's Regent University, and is author of the book "Dear Leader: Your Flagship Guide to Successful Leadership." He and his wife, Nike (say Nee keh) have three children and founded Daystar Christian Centre in Lagos, Nigeria. More than 45,000 alumni have graduated from Dr. Sam's leadership school.    As a global conference speaker, Sam has addressed audiences in the United States, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, South Afri

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss how accurate our financial model for the market entry strategy study is.   Watch the video version here: How accurate was our financial model for the market entry strategy study?   Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Welcome to Strategy Skills, episode 473—an interview with Deborah Ancona, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management.   In this episode, we explore "family ghosts," a rarely discussed topic that significantly impacts professional growth, behavior, and attitudes toward work. We discuss how to achieve your greatest potential as a leader by recognizing your own "family ghosts" and determining which ones to embrace or leave behind.   Deborah Ancona is a distinguished Professor of Management and Founder of the MIT Leadership Center. Deborah specializes in studying, teaching, and consulting in the areas of individual leadership, team effectiveness, and organizational transformation. Her new work centers on how Family Ghosts end up in the Executive Suite.   Deborah is also the coauthor of X-Teams: How to Build Teams That Lead, Innovate, and Succeed, a classic book on teams and collaboration. This work demonstrates how an externally focused team model is key to driving innov