601: Former CNN and NBC News Anchor Lynn Smith on Building Authentic Presence and Excellent Communication

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss one important thing you always need to present in all of your management consulting projects, a business case.   If you are not presenting a business case to a client, or a benefits case, I prefer the word benefits because it makes it clear you are looking for a benefit for a client, if you are not presenting a benefits case to a client you are making it very difficult for the client to make the decision to implement what you are saying in your recommendation as part of your management consulting project.   Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo   Subscribe to FIRMSconsulting's YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/Firmsconsultingsubscribe

12 Syys 202210min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 275, an episode with Cassie Holmes, a professor at UCLA's Anderson School of Management and an award-winning teacher and researcher of time and happiness. In society today, we generally equate productivity with the number of activities we do, regardless of the value it brings us and how it contributes to our well-being and happiness. We often feel "time-poor" for having too much to do and not having enough time to do it. As a result, we feel less happy and less fulfilled. On the contrary, people with too much free time feel unproductive and lack a sense of purpose. So how should we think about time and happiness? In this episode, Cassie discusses how we can recreate our approach to time and transform every moment into a happier hour. She shares how we can spend time optimally, create moments of gratitude and fulfillment, and live life with no regrets. Cassie earned her PhD at Stanford's Graduate School of Business and her BA at Columbia as a psychology major. Cassie's research has been widely published in lead academic journals and featured in such outlets as NPR, The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post. Happier Hour is her first book. Get Cassie's book here: Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most. Cassie Holmes Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

7 Syys 20221h 7min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 274, an episode with Bill George, former chairman and CEO of Medtronic and currently a professor at Harvard Business School. He has written two of the most enduring leadership classics of all time: Authentic Leadership and True North. Now, Bill has written a new book aimed at the next generation of leaders, the Emerging Leaders Edition of True North, coauthored with millennial entrepreneur Zach Clayton. Get Bill's new book here. This book is a clarion call to emerging leaders to step up to lead their organizations with their hearts, not just their heads, as authentic leaders who lead with purpose by inspiring and coaching their teammates. It heralds the end of the baby boomer era of Jack Welch, when too many leaders focused on maximizing shareholder value and taking shortcuts rather than building sustainable enterprises to serve all of their stakeholders. Our best hope for a better world is to empower the next generation of emerging leaders – not just those on top – to follow their True North to make this world better for everyone. The stories in this book, which came from 220 interviews with exceptional leaders, illustrate that most authentic leaders first discovered their True North through their life stories and crucibles, developed self-awareness, and then found their North Star – the purpose of their leadership. Wisdom learned from leaders like Satya Nadella, Mary Barra, Ken Frazier, Indra Nooyi, Ursula Burns, and Hubert Joly will guide emerging leaders at all levels in their development. Bill joined Medtronic in 1989 as president and chief operating officer, was chief executive officer from 1991-2001, and board chair from 1996-2002. He is currently a senior fellow at Harvard Business School, where he has taught leadership since 2004. He is the author of Discover Your True North and The Discover Your True North Field Book, Authentic Leadership, Seven Lessons for Leading in Crisis, Finding Your True North, and True North Groups. He has served on the boards of Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Novartis, Target, and Mayo Clinic. He received his BSIE with high honors from Georgia Tech, his MBA with high distinction from Harvard University, where he was a Baker Scholar, and honorary PhDs from Georgia Tech, Mayo Medical School, University of St. Thomas, Augsburg College, and Bryant University. True North: Leading Authentically in Today's Workplace, Emerging Leader Edition. Bill George & Zach Clayton. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

5 Syys 202257min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss consulting workshop best practices.   Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo   Subscribe to FIRMSconsulting's YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/Firmsconsultingsubscribe

31 Elo 20229min

How can you resign from your job with dignity, compassion, and grace, without burning any bridges with your employer? For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we share simple principles to help you leave your role in a way that leaves a positive impression on your superiors, colleagues, and organization. Do you have a story about resigning? Tell us more with a comment below. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

29 Elo 202218min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss the overall goal of every consulting interaction. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

24 Elo 20228min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss ten warning signs for a consulting workshop. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

22 Elo 202210min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 269, an episode with Gaurav Gupta, the Director at change management and strategy execution firm Kotter. Get Gaurav's book here: https://amzn.to/3ApxT5J The level of complexity and the pace at which things are changing in modern society requires leaders and organizations to be more reactive to change. Companies can no longer depend on a linear, methodical, deliberate approach to change. Instead, the key is to rely on a more agile, organic approach where employees are engaged and motivated to participate. As Gaurav mentioned in this episode, "The more organizations, individuals, teams, and leaders can start to frame change as an opportunity, the more people are going to run towards it because there are changes we embrace." In this episode, we discussed the level of change that organizations face today and how they can effectively manage, adapt, and embrace the shifts required in the business. We discussed the kind of leader who thrives in situations where the organization goes through a fast-paced change. Gaurav Gupta worked with clients in industries as diverse as food and beverage, oil and energy, healthcare, chemicals, and finance. Gaurav draws on his extensive global (having worked in over 10 countries) and diverse functional experience in collaborating with business leaders to develop and implement effective transformation efforts. Prior to joining Kotter, Gaurav led the operations for the European office of Stroud International, a management and operations consulting firm. Gaurav combines his passion for international development and education by serving as an executive board member for a non-profit, Medic to Medic, that sponsors medical students in Uganda and Malawi. Gaurav holds a Bachelor of Arts in Physics from Middlebury College and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University. Get Gaurav's book here: Change: How Organizations Achieve Hard-to-Imagine Results in Uncertain and Volatile Times. John P. Kotter, Vanessa Akhtar, Gaurav Gupta. https://amzn.to/3ApxT5J Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

17 Elo 202251min