The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

In this episode, Jim Murphy, New York Times bestselling author, shares how leaders can build resilience, reframe fear, and operate at their highest level under pressure. His approach blends performance psychology, neuroscience, and spiritual discipline. 1. Identity Beyond Roles Murphy emphasizes the risk of anchoring identity in professional roles or achievements: "When I lost baseball due to inju...

This week's podcast features Jenna Tiffany , London School of Economics lecturer, sharing actionable insights on why most marketing misses the mark and what real value looks like in an AI-driven business environment.   Key discussion points include: The real reason marketing sometimes fails to deliver measurable value, and why strategy must be linked to clear organizational objectives. How AI is d...

MichaelAaron Flicker, founder and CEO of Xenopsi Ventures and coauthor of Hacking the Human Mind, explains how applied behavioral science transforms insight into repeatable commercial advantage across brands, products, and customer experiences. Drawing from his experience building multiple Inc. 5000–recognized companies, Flicker illustrates how understanding "the unconscious biases that drive our...

Mita Mallick , Wall Street Journal–bestselling author and workplace strategist, examines how everyday managerial choices determine whether organizations are resilient, humane, and productive. Drawing on her leadership roles in marketing and human resources, as well as her lived experience as a woman of color in corporate America, she reframes common leadership breakdowns as design failures that ca...

Sarah Keohane Williamson , CEO of FCLT Global and coauthor of The CEO's Guide to the Investment Galaxy, offers a disciplined primer for executives operating at the intersection of corporate strategy and capital markets. Drawing from her background in investment banking, government, consulting, and asset management, she explains why "investors are not a single audience," how their incentives shape...

James D. White, former CEO of Jamba Juice, current board chair, and coauthor of Culture Design, shares how culture becomes a management discipline rather than a slogan. Drawing on his eight-year turnaround of Jamba, service on more than 15 boards, and leadership toolkit, he explains how listening, rituals, and disciplined systems embed values into sustained performance.   Key takeaways: Start with...

Laura Ries , globally recognized marketing strategist and author of The Strategic Enemy , outlines a category-first approach to brand building. As she explains, "while people talk in brands, they really think in categories. The category is king." Her core message: focus, contrast, and clarity determine whether a brand leads or disappears.   The conversation emphasizes why narrowing focus creates s...

Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard , founder of LANcity, author of The Accidental Network, and widely known as the "father of the cable modem", shares the story of how broadband was built and the lessons it offers for today's leaders navigating AI and emerging technologies.   Arriving in the U.S. with $750 in savings, Yassini-Fard envisioned carrying "voice, data and video… over one cable instead of two" at a t...

Former Goldman Sachs executive Erin Coupe shares how she transformed her life and career by replacing routines with rituals, practicing meditation, and stepping into self-leadership.   In this episode of the Strategy Skills Podcast, Kris Safarova and Erin dive deep into practical lessons for entrepreneurs, consultants, and online business owners who want more clarity, energy, and independence.   B...

Srividya Jandhyala , professor of management at ESSEC Business School and author of The Great Disruption, offers a clear framework for how geopolitics is reshaping corporate strategy. Her central thesis is direct: "The fundamental idea, 'Where are you from?'—the nationality of the company—is the defining feature of the type of reactions you face from all stakeholders, not just governments, but als...

In this rigorous and insight-rich episode, Dr. Colin Fisher, author of The Collective Edge, deconstructs high-performing teams using decades of organizational research and field-tested frameworks. If you lead, manage, or influence teams, the insights here can recalibrate how you build and guide collaboration.   We explore four foundational elements (Composition, Goals, Tasks, and Norms) and disman...

Venkat Atluri, McKinsey senior partner and coauthor of The Ecosystem Economy: How to Lead in the New Age of Sectors Without Borders, explains how value creation is shifting from stand-alone enterprises to coordinated networks of collaborators. Drawing on two decades advising leaders in technology, media, and telecom, he outlines what makes ecosystem businesses distinct from traditional conglomerat...

Marcy Syms, former CEO of Syms Corporation and president of the Sy Syms Foundation, reflects on leadership, governance, and the responsibilities of stewarding a family-founded, publicly traded business. Her perspective blends the operational discipline of retail with long-term thinking shaped by philanthropy and board service.   Syms underscores that organizational resilience rests on clear govern...

Why do even the most successful executives and management consultants secretly struggle with the belief that they're not good enough?   In this conversation with Josh Davis, PhD (psychology & neuroscience, Columbia University, NLP trainer) and Greg Prosmushkin (trial lawyer turned entrepreneur), we unpack: Why top leaders and consultants battle with imposter syndrome How invisible mental models sh...

Brad Englert, former Accenture partner, IT strategist, CIO, and author, shares how building genuine relationships has been the cornerstone of his career success. From his early days in technology consulting to leading large-scale initiatives, Brad reveals the mindset and habits that helped him grow, earn trust, and thrive in a competitive corporate environment.   In this episode, we discuss why re...

Robert E. Siegel, Stanford Graduate School of Business professor, venture capitalist, and former executive, shares the leadership lessons he learned working with Intel's legendary CEO, Andy Grove, and other amazing leaders, and how to thrive in today's era of conflicting pressures.   In this in-depth conversation, we explore the concept of the systems leader, someone who can innovate while deliver...

L. David Marquet, former nuclear submarine commander and author of Leadership Is Language , shares a precise, operational approach to leadership, one that replaces command-and-control with a language designed for clarity, ownership, and adaptability. Drawing on his experience turning the USS Santa Fe from one of the worst-performing submarines in the fleet to one of the best, David shows how seemi...

Sarah Elk, Senior Partner at Bain & Company and global leader of its operating model work, brings a clear, pragmatic lens to why so many large-scale change efforts fail to stick. Drawing on decades of advising multinational organizations, she diagnoses the structural and behavioral traps that cause transformations to stall, and shares the disciplines that make change durable.   Elk emphasizes that...

John Horn, professor of economics at Washington University's Olin Business School and former McKinsey strategist, shares a disciplined framework for understanding competitive behavior by applying game theory and structured simulations. In this episode, he explains how companies can elevate competitor analysis from basic intelligence gathering to actionable strategic insight.   Horn begins by debun...

For this episode, let's revisit one of Strategy Skills classics, where we interviewed Kate Smaje, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company and Global Leader of McKinsey Digital.   In this episode, Kate offers a clear-eyed and disciplined perspective on what it takes for organizations to succeed in digital transformation. Drawing from deep client work across industries, she outlines a practical, result...

For this episode, let's revisit one of Strategy Skills classics, where we discuss when a consultant must dissent and how it should be done.   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 ac...

Rachelle Robinett, founder of Pharmakon Supernatural and educator in holistic health, offers a clear, science-aware framework for supporting energy, focus, and stress regulation, without defaulting to pharmaceuticals or overstimulation. In this episode, she explores how plant-based medicine, nutrition, and daily practices can be woven into practical, long-term routines that support resilience and...

Vanessa Druskat, organizational psychologist and professor at the University of New Hampshire, discusses team emotional intelligence (EI) as a predictor of sustained performance. Building on her foundational work with Daniel Goleman, Druskat focuses not on individual EQ, but on the group-level norms and practices that distinguish effective teams, particularly in complex, high-stakes environments....

Margaret Moore, faculty member at Harvard Medical School and former biotech CEO, brings decades of experience at the intersection of science, strategy, and human development to this conversation. In this episode, she unpacks The Science of Leadership, the forthcoming book she co-authored after reviewing hundreds of meta-analyses and large-scale studies, ultimately synthesizing leadership science i...

In this conversation with Bree Groff , author of "Today Was Fun" and who has advised executives at Microsoft, Google, Target, and Hilton through periods of organizational change, shares specific observations about leadership blind spots in large corporations and offers practical frameworks for creating workplace cultures that drive both performance and employee satisfaction.   Key Insights: The Pr...