606: CEO Readiness: How Boards Decide Who Gets the Top Job

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 539, an interview with the author of From Panic to Profit: Uncover Value, Boost Revenue, and Grow Your Business with the 80/20 Principle, Bill Canady. In this episode, Bill shares insights from his military background and how it shaped his leadership approach. Bill explains his Profitable Growth Operating System (PG OS) framework, including the five key components that drive business success. He also offers practical advice on pricing strategy, the need for a focused team, and the importance of data-driven decision-making. Bill also shared insights on balancing personal and professional life and the critical role of mentorship in leadership success. Bill Canady is the CEO of both OTC Industrial Technologies and Arrowhead Engineered Products (AEP). With over 30 years of experience, he specializes in driving organizational growth, cutting costs, and boosting profitability. At OTC, he led a 43% increase in revenue and an 80% rise in earnings, with annual sales now exceeding $1 billion. At AEP, he oversees more than 3,600 employees and $1.5 billion in sales. A U.S. Navy veteran, Bill holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BS in Business Administration from Elmhurst University. His Profitable Growth Operating System (PGOS) has helped countless organizations overcome challenges and seize new growth opportunities. Get Bill's book here: https://rb.gy/f8pkbf From Panic to Profit: Uncover Value, Boost Revenue, and Grow Your Business with the 80/20 Principle 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 access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

2 Huhti 52min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 538, an interview with the coauthor of Leading for Wellness: How to Create a Team Culture Where Everyone Thrives, Patricia Grabarek. In this episode, Patricia talks about why workplace wellness matters and why it's important to have a holistic approach that includes physical, mental, and emotional health. She explains the gap in research on leadership practices that help create a healthy work environment and how leaders can balance getting results with supporting their employees. Patricia shares simple ways to make wellness a priority, like setting aside time for self-care and building a supportive team culture. She also talks about the challenges of bringing wellness initiatives into remote and hybrid work settings. Patricia Grabarek is a co-founder of Workr Beeing and an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist with a passion and expertise in workplace wellness, workplace culture, employee engagement, and leadership development. Patricia has spent her career as a practitioner, mostly working in consulting but, recently taking on more internal roles, leading people analytics and talent vitality teams. Throughout her career, Patricia has worked with over sixty different client organizations from various industries, implementing solutions to improve wellness, diversity, retention, performance, and engagement within their organizations. In addition, she taught organizational psychology in the Masters of Applied Psychology Program at the University of Southern California. Patricia was featured on Culture Amp's list of Top 25 Emerging Culture Creators for 2024 and has been featured in media outlets, including The L.A. Times, CBS News, and CBC Radio. Patricia received her PhD and MS in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University and her BA in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Get Patricia's book here: https://workrbeeing.com/book/ Leading for Wellness: How to Create a Team Culture Where Everyone Thrives 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 access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

1 Huhti 48min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 537, an interview with the author of Wild Courage: Go After What You Want and Get It, Jenny Wood. In this episode, Jenny discusses her career journey and the key skills that helped her rise from an entry-level role to an executive over 18 years. She also discusses overcoming imposter syndrome, being strategic with time, and saying no to non-promotable work. Jenny shares the importance of obsessing over key projects, leading with enthusiasm, and breaking unwritten rules to stand out. Her book, Wild Courage, outlines nine traits for success, including being weird, shameless, and reckless. Today's guest is Jenny Wood. In her 18 years at Google, she grew from entry-level to executive, and she most recently led a large operations team that helped drive billions of dollars of revenue per year. Jenny's writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur, Inc. She is a licensed private pilot, a daily hiker, an improv student, a tap dancer, and a zucchini bread connoisseur. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her two young children and her husband, Jon. Get Jenny's book here: https://rb.gy/6sj1rj Wild Courage: Go After What You Want and Get It 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 access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

26 Maalis 50min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 536, an interview with the coauthor of Conflict Resilience: Negotiating Disagreement Without Giving Up or Giving In, Joel Salinas, MD. In this episode, Joel Salinas talks about conflict resilience and how our brain reacts to disagreements. He explains how loneliness affects health, how conflicts activate pain-related brain areas, and shares techniques to manage stress. Joel also discusses brain plasticity, how age affects conflict resolution, and the power of focusing on positive outcomes to break negative thought patterns. Joel Salinas, MD is a behavioral neurologist and clinician scientist at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, founder and Chief Medical Officer at Isaac Health, and former Harvard Medical School faculty. He is the author of Mirror Touch: A Memoir of Synesthesia and the Secret Life of the Brain. Get Joel's book here: https://rb.gy/d1tqrx Conflict Resilience: Negotiating Disagreement Without Giving Up or Giving In 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 access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

24 Maalis 28min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 535, an interview with the author of Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life, William Green. In this episode, William Green talks about his journey from Oxford to becoming a renowned journalist. He shares stories of his unconventional career path, including impulsive moves to New York and Hong Kong, financial struggles, and being laid off during the financial crisis. William discusses how he learned to handle failure with grace and experienced a spiritual awakening at 40 that changed his outlook. He offers practical advice for writers and thinkers on focusing on quality over quantity and finding work that aligns with their unique talents and personality. William Green has written for many publications in the US and Europe, including Time, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, The New Yorker, The Spectator, and The Economist. He edited the Asian edition of Time while living in Hong Kong, then moved to London to edit the European, Middle Eastern, and African editions of Time. Born and raised in London, William studied English literature at Oxford University and received a master's degree in journalism at Columbia University. He lives in New York with his wife and their two children. Get William's book here: https://rb.gy/v1a282 Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life 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 access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

19 Maalis 1h 5min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 534, an interview with the author of The Science of Personal Power: How to Build Confidence, Create Success, and Obtain Freedom, Chris Lipp. Powerful people operate with a fundamentally different mindset. While others seek approval and dodge accountability, influential individuals take ownership and remain anchored to their goals and values. In this episode, Chris Lipp discusses the importance of personal power and the characteristics that differentiate powerful people from those who are not. He shares the habits and practices that help individuals attain and maintain power. Chris also provides strategies for regaining power in high-stress situations and emphasizes the significance of personal accountability and effective communication in both professional and personal contexts. Chris Lipp is a social psychologist and author of The Science of Personal Power. He currently teaches at Tulane's Freeman School of Business. Get Chris' book here: https://rb.gy/90n2z0 The Science of Personal Power: How to Build Confidence, Create Success, and Obtain Freedom 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 access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

17 Maalis 50min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 533, an interview with the author of Cultivating Audacity: Dismantle Doubt and Let Yourself Win, Anne Marie Anderson. In this episode, Anne Marie Anderson shared her journey from being rejected by ESPN at 21 to working there for 35 years and becoming one of the most experienced female play-by-play announcers in the country. She discussed the importance of audacity, combining confidence with bold risks, and learning from rejection. In Cultivating Audacity, Anne Marie shares the system she developed to find the courage to confront hesitation and break down barriers that stood between her and the life she wanted. Anne Marie Anderson is a 3x Emmy Award winning broadcaster, keynote speaker and author of Cultivating Audacity. Get Anne's book here: https://rb.gy/yl2f8q Cultivating Audacity: Dismantle Doubt and Let Yourself Win 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 access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

12 Maalis 49min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 532, an interview with the author of Big Goals: The Science of Setting Them, Achieving Them, and Creating Your Best Life, Caroline Adams Miller. In this episode, Caroline takes us through her journey of overcoming personal challenges to becoming an expert in positive psychology and goal setting. She breaks down why setting clear, challenging goals is so important and explains the difference between learning goals (developing new skills) and performance goals (improving existing ones). Caroline also talks about the role of accountability, having the right kind of support, and how self-belief and hope can make a big difference in our life. Caroline also discusses the unique challenges women face when setting goals and how feedback from role models and strong relationships can help us stay on track and succeed. For over three decades, Caroline Adams Miller has been a pioneer with her groundbreaking work in the areas of the science of goal setting, grit, happiness, and success. She is recognized as one of the world's leading positive psychology experts on this research and how it can be applied to one's life and work for maximum transformation. She is the author of nine books, including My Name is Caroline, Getting Grit, Positively Caroline and Creating Your Best Life, which the "father of Positive Psychology," Dr. Martin Seligman, lauded in Flourish as "adding a major missing piece" to the world of goal setting. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University and attained one of the first 32 degrees in the world in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Get Caroline's book here: https://rb.gy/x9iwik Big Goals: The Science of Setting Them, Achieving Them, and Creating Your Best Life 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 access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

10 Maalis 49min