Strategic Minds

Mental toughness isn’t something you’re born with, it’s a capacity you build. Rich Horwath sits down with Dr. Jim Loehr, widely regarded as the father of mental toughness, to explore what it truly takes to perform at your best under pressure. Drawing from decades of work with elite athletes, executives, military leaders, and physicians, Jim reframes performance as an energy challenge not a time pr...

Highly effective managers don’t rely on titles, tactics, or endless to-do lists. They lead with intention. Today, Rich Horwath is joined by Ashley Herd, former Chief People Officer, founder and author of The Manager Method, to unpack what truly drives managerial effectiveness in today’s complex workplace. Ashley introduces the idea of a “career quilt,” encouraging leaders to see diverse experience...

Train Your Brain to Play Offense Elite performance doesn’t come from motivation: it comes from training. Rich Horwath sits down with Dr. Jason Selk, one of the world’s leading performance coaches, to explore how mental toughness is built, practiced, and sustained under pressure. Drawing from Selk’s work with championship teams and senior executives, the conversation reframes performance as a disci...

As the year comes to a close, Rich Horwath reflects on lessons learned from working with dozens of organizations and thousands of leaders in 2025. He re-centers the true meaning of strategic: possessing insight that leads to advantage. Rich states that strategy begins with curiosity, an explorer’s mindset focused on learning, reflection, and deliberate choice. Rich walks listeners through a practi...

Nature has spent billions of years perfecting strategy, and those lessons can help leaders think more clearly about innovation. Rich Horwath sits down with Ines Garcia, author of Nature’s Blueprint for Business, in this episode of Strategic Minds Podcast to explore how ecosystem principles can strengthen the way organizations work and grow. She shows why leaders must stay attuned and responsive to...

In this episode of Strategic Minds Podcast, Rich sits down with Derin McMains to explore how elite athletes develop clarity, resilience, and composure—and how business leaders can do the same. Drawing from his career in professional baseball and mental performance coaching across major sports, Derin breaks down the “mental game”: the crucial seconds between moments where decisions are shaped. He s...

In this episode of Strategic Minds, host Rich Horwath speaks with legendary strategist and bestselling author Geoffrey A. Moore, whose landmark books - Crossing the Chasm, Zone to Win, and Dealing with Darwin - have transformed how leaders approach innovation, disruption, and go-to-market strategy. Moore shares how storytelling, pattern recognition, and intellectual curiosity shaped his unique app...

Neuroscientist and performance coach Dr. Mark Guadagnoli joins Rich Horwath to share how neuroscience and strategy intersect to elevate performance under pressure. Drawing from his groundbreaking Challenge Point Framework, Dr. Guadagnoli explains how practicing at your personal edge boosts learning speed, resilience, and confidence. From the operating room to the boardroom, he shows why the best l...

Discovering Insights at the Edges In this episode, Rich Horwath sits down with Dr. Rita McGrath, Columbia Business School professor and one of the world’s foremost experts on strategy and innovation. Known for her books including, Discovery-Driven Growth, The End of Competitive Advantage and Seeing Around Corners, Dr. McGrath reveals how leaders can identify the early signals of change and shape o...

The Octopus Approach to AI In this episode, Rich sits down with Stephen Wunker, innovation strategist, author, and Managing Director at New Markets Advisors. As the co-author of AI and the Octopus Organization, Steve brings decades of experience helping companies harness innovation to drive real strategic change. Together, Rich and Steve explore how artificial intelligence is transforming the way...

Strategy: The Art of Shaping the Future In this episode, Rich sits down with renowned strategist, psychologist, and innovation expert Dr. Max McKeown. As the author of The Strategy Book, SuperAdaptability, and several other bestsellers, Max brings a uniquely creative lens to the world of strategic thinking — blending research, live visual art, and a deep appreciation for paradox. Together, Rich an...

In this episode, Rich sits down with Mo Edjlali, mindfulness innovator, entrepreneur, and founder of Mindful Leader. With more than 25 years of cross-industry experience, Mo has helped shape how mindfulness is applied in the workplace. His book, Open MBSR, reimagines the future of mindfulness in organizational life. Together, Rich and Mo explore the intersections of mindfulness, leadership, and st...

How can leaders develop winning strategy by solving competition-based problems? In this episode, Rich sits down with Martin Reeves — chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, prolific business strategist, and co-author of books like The Imagination Machine, Your Strategy Needs a Strategy, and his recently published work, Like: The Button that Changed the World. Martin shares why great strategies of...

How can leaders develop strategies that adapt to uncertainty and avoid the pitfalls of overconfidence?   In this episode, Rich sits down with Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman — Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London and one of the world’s leading scholars on strategy, international relations, and military history. Knighted for his contributions and the official historian of the...

How can you apply the mental training techniques of world-class achievers to maximize your performance? In this episode, Rich sits down with Dr. Nate Zinsser — performance psychologist, long-time director of West Point’s Center for Enhanced Performance, and author of The Confident Mind. Dr. Zinsser shares practical tools for building unshakable confidence, how to mentally prepare for high-stakes m...

If plans don’t always pan out, how can we best prepare for the future? In this episode, Rich sits down with Dr. Frederik G. Pferdt who was Google’s first Chief Innovation Evangelist and is now a Stanford educator and an Executive-in-Residence and Visiting Fellow at NYU Stern. In this conversation, he shares insights into how to ritualize and embody cultural values, how to prepare for the future an...

How does a long-term entrepreneur identify a good idea, scale it, and stay committed to that vision over 30 years?  In this episode, Rich sits down with Angie Hicks, Co-founder and Chief Customer Officer at Angi, formerly Angie’s list. They discuss building a business from the ground up, leading employees and external partners, and maintaining enthusiasm for a long-term goal.  --------- Key Quotes...

What military strategies and tactics can business leaders leverage to position their companies for success?  In this episode, Rich sits down with four-star General Robert Brown, President and CEO of the Association of the United States Army. General Brown is an experienced commander who has led at every level, from platoon through Army Service Component Command, leading a group of over 100,000 sol...

What strategic thinking techniques can leaders apply from a world poker champion to better position themselves for success?  In this episode, Rich sits down with Darren Elias,  a four time World Poker Tour champion. Darren is ranked number one all time in victories, final tables and cashes on the World Poker Tour and has amassed over $12.5 million in live tournament poker winnings.   In this conve...

What are the business techniques leaders can learn from a Chess Master CEO and how should they be thinking about the future of AI?  In this episode, Rich sits down with Alan Trefler, a chess master and the Founder and CEO of Pegaystems, the Enterprise Transformation Company that helps organizations Build for Change® with enterprise AI decisioning and workflow automation. Alan has earned multiple p...

How can you use the principles of neurosurgery to maximize your leadership performance? In this episode, Rich sits down with Dr. Theodore Schwartz, a pioneering neurosurgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine, known for developing minimally invasive techniques for brain tumor and epilepsy surgery. Dr. Schwartz explores the mental and physical preparation required for surgery, navigating the challenge of ma...

What does it take to scale a business for sustained success? In this episode, Rich sits down with Joel Holland, CEO of Harvest Hosts, a unique membership program for RVers offering stays at over 5,000 locations. Joel shares his entrepreneurial journey founding and growing Storyblocks into a nine-figure business, culminating in a successful sale to a private equity firm. He dives into the real chal...

How can you guide the growth of your people into a competitive advantage?  In this episode, Rich sits down with Tami Wolownik, Head of People & Organization at Siemens Mobility, where she leads the HR function for 4,000 employees.  Tami discusses one of the biggest strategic resources for any company: talent. She shares practical advice on how to help people create a skills-based future, impro...

How can you drive disruptive innovation and gain competitive advantage in a highly-regulated industry?  In this episode, Rich sits down with Dennis Devine, President and CEO of Alliant Credit Union, one of the largest and fastest-growing credit unions in the United States. Dennis explores how to design differentiated strategies that disrupt industry norms, build a member-centric culture, leverage...

How do you navigate all of the challenges that come with running a business and transform them into actionable insights that drive continued success? In this episode, Rich sits down with Alex Atzberger, CEO at Optimizely, a digital experience platform that helps more than 10,000 businesses orchestrate their entire content lifecycle, monetize digital experiences and experiment across all customer t...