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

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 283, an episode with an expert on organizational paradoxes, Wendy Smith. Get Wendy’s Book here: https://amzn.to/3fF1b8C   When faced with a tough decision-making situation, it is common for us to assess and select what we believe is the best deal and then move on. We tend to assume that we need to pick one option and eliminate the other. But what if we could actually succeed in pursuing both options?    In this episode with Wendy Smith, we discuss how leaders and individuals can effectively respond to contradictory yet interdependent demands and have the mindset shift needed to successfully navigate a paradox.   Wendy Smith is the Dana J. Johnson Professor of Management and faculty director of the Women’s Leadership Initiative at the Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware. She earned her PhD in organizational behavior at Harvard Business School, where she began her intensive research on strategic paradoxes—how leaders and senior teams effectively respond to contradictory yet interdependent demands.    Working with executives and scholars globally, she received the Web of Science Highly Cited Research Award (2019, 2020, and 2021) for being among the 1 percent most-cited researchers in her field and received the Decade Award (2021) from the Academy of Management Review for the most cited paper in the past 10 years. Her work has been published in such journals as Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Harvard Business Review, Organization Science, and Management Science.    She has taught at the University of Delaware, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania–Wharton while helping senior leaders and middle managers all over the world address issues of interpersonal dynamics, team performance, organizational change, and innovation.   Wendy lives in Philadelphia with her husband, three children, and the family dog.   Get Wendy’s book here: Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems. Wendy Smith, Marianne Lewis, Amy C. Edmondson. https://amzn.to/3fF1b8C   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

5 Loka 202255min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 282, an episode with a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Sean McLain. Get Sean’s book here.   This episode with Sean McLain revolves around the story of Carlos Ghosn, one of the world’s most feared and admired business executives who had remarkable success, yet faced a catastrophic fall. He was accused of financial misconduct and arrested for a bevy of alleged crimes—all of which he vehemently denied.   Sean is a reporter for The Wall Street Journal based in Los Angeles, covering EV startups like Rivian, Lucid, and Japanese and Korean automakers.   Since 2016, Sean McLain has overseen The Wall Street Journal's coverage of the largest automakers in Japan, including Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, and received the Malcolm Forbes Award by the Overseas Press Club of America for his coverage of the former Nissan and Renault executive's arrest and detention.   Sean graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, and lives in Tokyo.   Get Sean’s book here: Boundless: The Rise, Fall, and Escape of Carlos Ghosn. Nick Kostov and Sean McLain   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

3 Loka 20221h 1min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 281, an interview with a leadership coaching legend, David Noble.   Most leaders experience a lack of motivation to continue the things they once had a passion for. So, how do you rekindle the fire of motivation when it starts to die? The key is to know your “why” and assess if your reason is strong enough to continue the journey.   In this episode, David shares the role he plays in reframing things and bringing the best out of leaders, executives, and CEOs. David shares a powerful new framework called MOVE that characterizes great and extraordinary leaders. Most of us dislike having only one strategy to win. In David's framework, he discusses the four simple yet powerful options that will take you to the same goal: lean in, lean back, lean with, and don’t lean.   David Noble has more than twenty years of global experience advising CEOs, their teams, and major investors on leadership and strategy, and an additional fifteen years as a top executive. He was named by Thinkers50 as one of the world's top coaches. Noble has served as a senior adviser to Egon Zehnder and Oliver Wyman.   Get David's book here: Real-Time Leadership: Find Your Winning Moves When the Stakes Are High. David Noble and Carol Kauffman.    Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

28 Syys 202249min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 280, an episode with a renowned digital entrepreneur and founder of ENTRE institute, Jeff Lerner. Get Jeff's book here.   In this episode, Jeff discussed how he was able to build a multi-million dollar company from scratch and the key elements behind his success.   At the age of 18, Jeff started his first business after dropping out of high school and becoming a musician. After the first one failed, Jeff continued starting more businesses and failed at them too. Despite years of trying and numerous unsuccessful businesses, one of which had left him $500,000 in dept, he chose to keep going and eventually built multiple successful businesses.   Instead of retiring early, Jeff chose to spend his time inspiring and helping others build their businesses. After becoming an authority in startups, he established ENTRE institute, an online education company dedicated to helping entrepreneurs how they could start their own businesses. To date, ENTRE Institute has taught over 150,000 across the world.   Get Jeff's book here: Unlock Your Potential: The Ultimate Guide for Creating Your Dream Life in the Modern World   Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episode here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

26 Syys 20221h 11min

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 279, an episode with a practicing emergency physician at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Richard Winters. Get Dr. Richard’s book here.   As a physician, Dr. Richard shares how he managed, adapted, and remained calm during times of covid. He discussed some of the best practices that can be adapted from the medical field into the space of business. We speak about leadership, administration, and leveraging your expertise to be effective in your career.    In this episode, we also discussed one of the traps that most leaders face today where they strive to become successful in their career, and groom and develop new leaders while taking into account the fear of being replaced.    As director of Leadership Development for the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Dr. Winters facilitates retreats and delivers programs that train leaders at healthcare organizations worldwide.   Dr. Winters graduated from the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in 1994. He is board certified and residency trained in Emergency Medicine from the University of California, San Francisco at Fresno. He graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas Executive and Professional Coaching Program and is a professional certified coach through the International Coaching Federation. He completed a Healthcare Management Executive MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago.   Prior to his work at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Winters served as managing partner of a democratic physician group, chair of emergency medicine, president of an 800-physician medical staff, and CEO/founder of a managed care startup.   He lives in Rochester, Minnesota with his family.   Get Dr. Richard’s book here: You're the Leader. Now What? : Leadership Lessons from Mayo Clinic. Dr. Richard Winters   Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episode here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

21 Syys 202251min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss what a strategy workshop will not give you at the end.   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

19 Syys 20228min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss one important thing every consulting case study must produce.   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

14 Syys 20228min

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