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

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss one important thing every consulting case study must produce.   Subscribe to FIRMSconsulting's YouTube channel:  http://bit.ly/Firmsconsultingsubscribe   Here are some free gifts for you:   Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download:  www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning...

Quang Pham went from being a 10-year-old refugee airlifted out of Vietnam to becoming a Marine pilot, and the CEO of a NASDAQ-listed biotech company. In this conversation, he shares the exact lessons that guided each transition.   Key insight: On decision-making: "As a young officer, we were taught to make decisions… there's not enough time to consult with everybody. You gotta make a decision to k...

Rich Hagberg , often referred to as "Silicon Valley's CEO Whisperer, psychologist and co-author of Founders Keepers, has advised over 1,000 executives and founders. In this conversation, he outlines why most startup leaders fail, and what the data reveals about those who succeed. Some key insights include: "Founders, overwhelmingly, are visionary evangelists… but they're not particularly good at e...

Michael Chad Hoeppner, CEO of GK Training and adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, brings a deeply practical lens to one of the most undervalued professional skills: spoken communication. With roots in professional acting and over two decades coaching executives, Hoeppner challenges conventional wisdom, arguing that most communication advice is either vague ("slow down") or abstract ("ju...

James Kimmel, Jr., lawyer, Yale psychiatry lecturer, and author of The Science of Revenge , joins us in the Strategy Skills podcast to explore the neuroscience and behavioral dynamics of revenge. Drawing on law, psychiatry, and over two decades of research, Kimmel offers a sobering view: revenge is not a form of justice, it's a "pleasure-seeking behavior" that operates like an addiction, fueled by...

In this episode, I spoke with two highly respected global brand leaders, Katherine Melchior Ray and Nataly Kelly, whose experience spans executive roles at Nike, Louis Vuitton, HubSpot, Zappi, and more. Our discussion centered on their latest book, Brand Global, Adapt Local, but more broadly, we explored the evolving demands of building and sustaining global brands in a world defined by cultural c...

Leslie Grandy, a seasoned executive who has led global product teams at Apple, Amazon, Best Buy, and T-Mobile, shares a deeply practical perspective on how leaders can activate creativity across functions, not just in design or strategy. Drawing from her early years in the film industry and later executive roles in technology, Grandy explains how she developed three capabilities that proved critic...

In this wide-ranging and direct conversation, Bill George, former Medtronic CEO and Harvard Business School professor, offers a disciplined framework for leading in conditions of persistent volatility. Drawing from decades of leadership experience and research, George emphasizes that leadership today is no longer about managing processes, it is about confronting ambiguity, enabling experimentation...

Central banks in major economies have repeatedly misread inflation trends by relying on models that omit a fundamental economic lever: the money supply. In this episode, economist Steve Hanke offers a detailed critique of prevailing post-Keynesian frameworks and the policy missteps that have followed. Drawing on historical and current data, Hanke underscores the predictive power of the quantity th...

In this episode, finance professor and author, Alex Edmans, offers a rigorous examination of the narratives surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in corporate strategy. Drawing on his critique of widely cited studies, including those from McKinsey and BlackRock, Edmans illustrates how flawed data interpretations and confirmation bias contribute to the persistence of questionable claim...

In this episode, Tim Koller, co-author of Valuation and a leading authority on corporate finance, offers a substantive examination of capital allocation decisions under real-world constraints. The discussion moves beyond theory to explore how CEOs and CFOs should approach resource deployment in mature, capital-rich companies—where investment opportunities are limited not due to lack of ambition bu...

In a world that often rewards taking, James Turk believes the most powerful leaders are the ones who give clarity, opportunity, second chances, and their full attention.   In this episode, I speak with James Turk, who is an executive coach, CEO of The Turk Group, and author of The Giving Game , about what it truly means to become the kind of leader others want to follow.    We explore: Why most ne...

What if cultural relevance isn't just a marketing strategy but a business imperative?   In this episode, I speak with Hernan Tagliani, a multicultural marketing expert, award-winning strategist for Fortune 500 companies, and author of The Hispanic Market for Corporate America and Multicultural Mainstream, that explains how brands can drive lasting growth by truly understanding and serving Hispanic...

Your company's next breakthrough isn't about doing more, but doing less with purpose.   In this episode, I speak with Bill Canady, CEO of two major industrial companies (OTC Industrial Technologies and Arrowhead Engineered Products), a former U.S. Navy officer, and author of From Panic to Profit, about the operating system he's used to turn around billion-dollar businesses and lead through uncerta...

What if the key to innovation isn't a process, but a mindset that travels across boundaries, disciplines, and decades?   From international development to McKinsey to leading AI strategy at Microsoft, Dean Carignan has built his career at the intersection of systems, people, and impact. Now, as co-author of The Insider's Guide to Innovation at Microsoft, he's helping organizations rethink how real...

In this episode, Kris speaks with Matthew Dixon, founding partner of DCM Insights and bestselling author, about his latest research on business development in professional services. Drawing on a global study of 3,000 partners, Dixon outlines five distinct sales profiles and highlights the "Activator" as the only approach consistently linked to higher revenue performance. Key insights: - Traditiona...

In this episode, Kris speaks with Ken Rusk, nine-figure CEO and bestselling author of Blue Collar Cash, on building and scaling a successful business. Key insights: - True growth comes from empowering entrepreneurial employees and building autonomous teams aligned with the company's mission and motivated to perform. - Rusk's approach emphasizes the alignment of personal goals and corporate objecti...

What if the key to driving real innovation isn't genius, but orchestration? Innovation is often seen as the domain of visionaries or tech geniuses. But in this episode, JoAnn Garbin, former Director of Innovation at Microsoft Cloud and co-author of The Insider's Guide to Innovation at Microsoft , shows that true innovation is a craft: one grounded in discipline, collaboration, and conscious leader...

What if the leadership edge you're looking for doesn't come from working harder, but listening deeper?   We talk often about productivity, performance, and pushing through. But few conversations explore the quieter forces shaping our best decisions, like intuition.   In this episode, I speak with Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir, a director, writer, systems thinker, and an award-winning sustainability leade...

Dr. Tiffany Moon isn't just breaking stereotypes — she's rewriting the script.   In this episode, Dr. Tiffany Moon — board-certified anesthesiologist, founder of Aromasthesia, and former cast member of Bravo's Real Housewives — opens up about what it really takes to balance ambition, motherhood, entrepreneurship, and public scrutiny.   From immigrating to the U.S. at age 6 to graduating from colle...

What if the financial advice you trust is actually hurting your future? Mark Matson believes it is, and he has the data to prove it.   In this episode, I sit down with Mark Matson, founder of Matson Money and a pioneer in the evidence-based investing movement. With over $10 billion in assets under management, Mark has helped thousands of families and advisors break free from Wall Street myths, med...

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 547, an interview with Bernard Harris, an astronaut, physician, venture capitalist, philanthropist, and author of Embracing Infinite Possibilities: Letting Go of Fear to Find Your Highest Potential.   In this episode, Bernard Harris, the first African American astronaut to walk in space, shares his experiences and describes the thrill of launching into space as w...

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 546, an interview with the authors of Radical Listening: The Art of True Connection, Prof. Christian van Nieuwerburgh and Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener.   Most conversations barely scratch the surface, because true connection isn't just about hearing words, it's about listening with purpose and presence.   In this episode, Prof. Christian van Nieuwerburgh and Dr. Robe...

From CIA hacker to cybersecurity advisor to a U.S. President. Now trusted by Fortune 500 companies, international banks, and leaders like Bill Gates. (And he almost missed the CIA meeting... because it was raining.) "Something told me, it was a Thursday afternoon. ... and something told me, you have to go to the co-op office today. You have to go today. ... I believe there's this inner voice and ....

What can a $2B concert tour teach us about business strategy? Quite a lot. We often speak about innovation and reinvention in the corporate world. Yet, few embody it as consistently and successfully as the artist and strategist Taylor Swift. In this episode, I spoke with Kevin Evers, Senior Editor at Harvard Business Review and author of There's Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Sw...