Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 503, where we are doing round 2 with John Rossman. John was an early Amazon executive and senior innovation advisor at T-Mobile & the Gates Foundation. He is the co-author of Big Bet Leadership and a keynote speaker and advisor. In this episode, John Rossman discusses the insights from his recent book, Big Bet Leadership, on how companies can manage major strategic initiatives ("big bets") that involve significant risks. He explains why organizations need t...
Nov 25, 2024•36 min
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 502, an interview with Ed Fidoe, the founder and CEO of the London Interdisciplinary School (LIS), the first institution in decades to be granted degree-awarding powers from inception in the UK and offers an innovative, interdisciplinary curriculum focused on tackling complex global issues such as inequality, sustainability, ethics, and AI. In this episode, Ed shares his journey from child actor to McKinsey consultant to educational innovator. Throughout the co...
Nov 20, 2024•56 min
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 501, an interview with the innovative CEO of Motiv, David G. Ewing where we speak about entrepreneurial resilience and customer experience innovation. In this episode, David shares his journey from early struggles during the 2000 tech recession to building a successful Oracle partnership that transformed his business. He candidly discusses overcoming self-doubt through meditation and mindfulness, while offering practical insights on testing business concepts an...
Nov 18, 2024•54 min
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 500, an interview with an entrepreneur and global thought leader in high-performing teams and Chairman of Ferrazzi Greenlight and its Research Institute, Keith Ferrazzi. In this episode, Keith takes us through his inspiring journey from a challenging childhood in a poor immigrant family to becoming a global leader in relationship-building and team performance. Keith introduces us to the concept of teamship, a profound shift from today’s hierarchical model to sh...
Nov 13, 2024•41 min
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 499, an interview with the author of Strategy and Leadership as Service, Sara Daw. Her new book provides businesses with access to the complete range of functional, emotional, and collective intelligence at the C-suite level by moving their positions from the “pay-roll” to an “access-role.” In this episode, Sara discussed strategies for advancing a career to the C-suite, including joining the right organization with clear career paths and development opportunit...
Nov 11, 2024•45 min
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 498, an interview with the coauthor of Triple Fit Strategy: How to Build Lasting Customer Relationships and Boost Growth, Christoph Senn. In this episode, Christoph introduces us to the concept of the "Triple Fit Strategy," a groundbreaking approach to strategy and sales with the power to transform businesses. It replaces the traditional single product-market fit with a three-fold alignment: planning, execution, and resource fit. Christoph Senn is an adjunct pr...
Nov 06, 2024•51 min
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 497, an interview with the author of 12 Questions for Love: A Guide to Intimate Conversations and Deeper Relationships , Topaz Adizes. Topaz After a decade of exploring human connections through 1,200+ conversations in his Emmy Award-winning experience design studio, Topaz Adizes founder of The Skin Deep, popular on TikTok (1.2M) and Youtube (905k), is bringing his knowledge of the power of questions to the workplace. In this episode, Topaz shares his filmmakin...
Nov 04, 2024•49 min
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 496, an interview with the author of Hospital, Heal Thyself, Mark Taylor. In this episode, we explore the challenges and potential solutions in the healthcare industry, focusing on Dr. Litvak’s methods. The discussion highlights the inefficiencies in hospital operations, such as overcrowding and unnecessary expenditures, and the reluctance of hospital CEOs and surgeons to adopt more efficient practices. Dr. Litvak's methods, which involve optimizing surgical sc...
Oct 30, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 495, an interview with healthcare visionary, Eugene Litvak. In this episode, Eugene discussed the challenges in global hospital management, highlighting overcrowded emergency departments, nursing shortages, rising healthcare costs, and mismanaged surgery schedules leading to delays and increased mortality. Eugene discussed ways to improve the current healthcare system to save millions of dollars for each hospital while improving patient satisfaction and outcome...
Oct 28, 2024•50 min
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 494, an interview with the author of Mindshift: Transform Leadership, Drive Innovation, and Reshape the Future , Brian Solis. In this episode, Brian discusses the concept of 'Mindshift'—moving beyond industrial-era, business-as-usual mindsets to become a visionary for a future that has yet to emerge. He also explores the importance of a beginner's mind, emphasizing the need for curiosity and awareness in leadership, which opens the door to new possibilities and...
Oct 23, 2024•51 min
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 493, an interview with the coauthor of the book Personalized: Customer Strategy in the Age of AI , Mark Abraham. In this episode, we explore the rise of personalization through digital tools and AI, and how companies and organizations are leveraging it to build connections and engage with their customers. We discuss companies that excel in this area, such as Starbucks with its personalization engine, and Spotify with its tailored music recommendations. Personal...
Oct 21, 2024•58 min
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 s...
Oct 16, 2024•46 min
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 he...
Oct 14, 2024•56 min
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...
Oct 09, 2024•49 min
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 ...
Oct 07, 2024•57 min
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 ...
Oct 02, 2024•46 min
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? I...
Sep 30, 2024•26 min
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 explai...
Sep 25, 2024•17 min
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 bu...
Sep 23, 2024•58 min
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 vid...
Sep 18, 2024•21 min
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/Ov...
Sep 16, 2024•19 min
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 p...
Sep 11, 2024•40 min
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-...
Sep 09, 2024•52 min
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 pr...
Sep 04, 2024•9 min
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 infu...
Sep 02, 2024•53 min
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. ...
Aug 28, 2024•43 min
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 (Obstac...
Aug 26, 2024•53 min
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 w...
Aug 21, 2024•15 min
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 f...
Aug 19, 2024•55 min
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...
Aug 14, 2024•13 min
