The Strategy and Leadership Podcast with Anthony C. Taylor

The global ocean economy is doubling in size to three trillion US dollars. Canada, a country with the longest coastline in the world and the fourth largest ocean territory, sits at roughly fifty billion. Kendra MacDonald calls that gap the opportunity of a generation, and she left one of the largest professional services firms on the planet to go after it. In this episode of the SME Strategy and L...

Note: This episode contains some strong language. When a recruiter called George Barrios about a CFO job, George was treasurer of The New York Times Company. His verbatim reaction when he heard the company was WWE: "are you fucking kidding me?" He took the role anyway. Twelve years later, the stock had gone from $15 to $100, and he had helped engineer the largest acquisition in sports entertainmen...

Three computers, no fridge, and 15 employees. That was Nuheat when John Rose walked in. Sixteen years later it was the North American leader in its industry, and John says culture is the reason why. In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with John Rose, former President and CEO of Nuheat Industries, advisor, investor, and board director, about what 16 year...

What does it actually take to lead when the stakes are life and death, and what happens when those same pressures show up in a boardroom? According to Jenn Donahue, the answer starts not with strategy or skill, but with the voices inside your own head. In this episode, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Jenn Donahue, PhD, PE, retired U.S. Navy captain, international keynote speaker, business coach, and...

What happens when you build a global brand, sell it for $200 million, and realize it's not what you want? According to Mark Rampolla, the real lesson isn't about the exit or buyback. It's about understanding that growth isn't something you do. It's something you become. In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Mark Rampolla, founder and CEO of ZICO Co...

What separates teams that chase perfection from those that settle for good enough? According to Jason Richardson, it comes down to three things: the culture you build from the roots up, the trust you earn before you need it, and the ownership every leader takes for the environment their team lives in. In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Jason Richa...

What separates the leaders who scale from the ones who stall? According to Jim Remley, it comes down to three things: the expectations you set, the people you develop, and the financial discipline you build before you need it. In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Jim Remley, founder of the largest independent real estate brokerage in Oregon and na...

What if the secret to building a company that lasts over a century isn't disruption, technology, or even capital — but the discipline to put relationships before transactions, every single time? In this episode, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Jonathan Iger, CEO and President of Sage, a 102-year-old commercial real estate company that has outlasted every recession, market shift, and industry disrupt...

Most executives will tell you they understand their business. Ask them to walk you through their financial statements, and the room goes quiet. In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Tim Vipond, Co-Founder and CEO of Corporate Finance Institute (CFI), about why financial acumen is a non-negotiable leadership skill and why the rise of AI is making it...

66% of tech projects never launch. 70% of the ones that do fail to deliver what leadership expected. The problem isn't the technology — it's the C-suite. 3x Inc 5000 founder Dustin Domerese joins Anthony C. Taylor to unpack why mid-market tech rollouts keep failing and what CEOs of $30M–$300M companies need to do differently. In this conversation: - Why your frontline workers aren't th...

What if the biggest mistake leadership teams are making with AI isn’t about the technology at all? In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Anthony Taylor speaks with Jeroen De Flander, international expert in AI Strategy and Strategy Execution, keynote speaker, and co-founder of The Performance Factory. Jeroen has worked with more than 500 companies worldwide and has spent decade...

What happens when success itself starts pulling your company away from its mission? In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Anthony Taylor speaks with Eric Ries, entrepreneur and author of Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad… and How Great Companies Stay Great . Eric is best known for The Lean Startup , a book that reshaped how modern companies are built. In this conversatio...

Why Your Leadership Team Isn’t Aligned on What Actually Drives Value with Lee Benson What happens when a leadership team can’t agree on what actually drives value? In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Anthony Taylor speaks with Lee Benson, a multi-exit CEO who has built and sold companies ranging from seven to nine figures and developed a practical methodology for aligning tea...

The Creator Economy Is Just Getting Started with Greg Selkoe of XSET What happens when culture, gaming, media, and entrepreneurship converge? In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast , Anthony Taylor speaks with Greg Selkoe, a serial entrepreneur who has spent his career building culture-driven companies at the intersection of media, commerce, and community. Greg is the Co-Founder...

Many organizations focus heavily on strategy, but the real differentiator inside high-performing organizations is culture. While strategy sets direction, culture determines whether teams can collaborate, innovate, and execute consistently over time. In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, host Anthony C. Taylor sits down with Chris Deaver, culture architect, leadership coach, and c...

Applying AI Responsibly Without Overengineering or Chasing Hype with Daniel Hindi, CEO of NOEM.ai Many organizations are rushing to adopt artificial intelligence, but leaders often struggle with where to start and how to apply it responsibly. While AI promises efficiency and automation, the real challenge is using it strategically without overengineering systems, chasing hype, or creating unnecess...

Most leaders believe success comes from better tools, better strategies, or better tactics. But under real pressure, those things rarely determine the outcome. What actually matters is the operator behind them—and whether they can stay focused, disciplined, and effective when conditions aren’t ideal. In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, host Anthony Taylor sits down with Simon J...

For many entrepreneurs, growth means hiring more people, increasing revenue, and expanding into new markets. But what if there were another path to scaling—one that uses capital markets, partnerships, and strategic acquisitions to grow faster and more efficiently? In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, host Anthony Taylor sits down with Callum Laing, partner at Unity Group, invest...

In business, leaders make decisions every day under uncertainty. But what if the biggest risk isn’t the one you see — it’s the one you misunderstand? In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, host Anthony Taylor sits down with Dr. Michael Orkin, Professor Emeritus of Statistics and author of The Story of Chance: Beyond the Margin of Error, to explore how probability, randomness, and...

In many organizations, engagement is treated as a morale metric or a human resources initiative. But what if engagement isn’t a byproduct of strategy — what if it is the strategy? In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, host Anthony Taylor sits down with Christine Miller, former CEO of Melinta Therapeutics and seasoned Life Sciences executive, to explore how disciplined strategic p...

In a business world driven by growth targets, dashboards, and scale, leaders are often told that expansion is the ultimate measure of success. But what if the real challenge isn’t scaling bigger, it’s protecting what matters? In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, host Anthony Taylor sits down with Richard Mah, former Global Head of Digital Marketing at ASICS and now steward of No...

Why good decisions often fail after they’re made — and how leaders can align intuition, planning, and execution so choices actually turn into results. Even strong strategies can fall apart if organizations aren’t designed to execute them. Decisions that look right on paper often fail downstream, not because they were wrong, but because the systems, structures, and judgment required to carry them t...

In a time defined by rapid technological change, economic uncertainty, and shifting assumptions about work, innovation alone is no longer enough. Leaders are being challenged to rethink not just what they build, but how and why they build it. In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, host Anthony Taylor sits down with JoAnn Garbin, former Microsoft innovation leader and founder of Re...

As organizations grow, management quality often becomes the biggest constraint on performance. Yet most managers are promoted without training, leaving them to navigate people leadership through trial and error. In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, host Anthony Taylor speaks with Ashley Herd , former McKinsey HR leader, LinkedIn Learning instructor, and founder of Manager Method...

In mature industries, innovation is often misunderstood as novelty, experimentation, or disruption for its own sake. But for organizations facing margin pressure, increased competition, and slowing growth, innovation is not a buzzword. It is a mechanism for strategic renewal. In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, host Anthony Taylor speaks with Bruce Vojak , Managing Director of...