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

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic featuring an interview with the author of Inside the Competitor's Mindset, John Horn, where he shares proven techniques to help businesses think like the competition and understand why they act the way they do. Inside the Competitor's Mindset presents a systematic approach to competitive intelligence that starts with three frameworks to get inside the competitor's mindset, predict their reactions to your moves, and assess whether the competition is getting ready for a spontaneous move of their own. 
John Horn is a professor of practice in economics at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. He teaches MBA students microeconomics, macroeconomics, and global business.
John was a Senior Expert in the Strategy Practice of McKinsey & Company for 9 years, working with clients on competitive strategy, war gaming workshops, and corporate and business unit strategy across a variety of industries and geographies. He helped over 100 clients with war game workshops and developed a set of simulation exercises to help companies understand the challenges of reallocating resources. He continues to consult through his LLC: Gateway Competitive Insights.
John has published nine papers in the McKinsey Quarterly and three in the Harvard Business Review, mostly on the application of behavioral economics and competitive insight to business strategy. John has a PhD in economics from Harvard University, where he also received a Masters degree in economics.
Get John's book here: https://tinyurl.com/4dbv29ju
Inside the Competitor's Mindset: How to Predict Their Next Move and Position Yourself for Success
 
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For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic featuring an interview with a former Monitor Associate partner and Chief Learning Officer of Teach For America, co-CEO of Transcend, and the author of Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs In Leadership and Life, Jeff Wetzler. In this book, Jeff offers a hands-on, surprisingly effective way to find out what others really think, know, and feel. Jeff brings you a powerful method called The Ask Approach™, based on a simple premise that tapping into what other people truly think, know, and feel is a game-changing superpower. Ask leads to smarter decisions, more creative solutions, and deeper relationships. 
 
Jeff Wetzler is co-CEO of Transcend, a nationally recognized innovation organization, and an expert in learning and human potential. Wetzler combines unique leadership experiences spanning more than 25 years in business and education, as a management consultant to the world's top corporations, a learning facilitator for leaders around the world, and as Chief Learning Officer at Teach For America. Jeff earned a Doctorate in Adult Learning and Leadership from Columbia University and a bachelor's in psychology from Brown University. Based in New York, he is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and is an Edmund Hillary Fellow.
Get Jeff's new book here: https://rb.gy/6i05b7
Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs In Leadership and Life
 
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This discussion examines how senior leaders can navigate complexity, technology, and organizational change without losing clarity of purpose. Drawing on experience across global consumer brands, logistics, and technology, Louisa Loran outlines a practical approach to leadership that extends beyond execution into shaping direction.
Key insights from the conversation:
First, career progression at senior levels depends less on exceeding assigned tasks and more on articulating distinct value. Advancement requires a clear answer to a simple question: why should this individual be selected to shape the future of the business? Without that clarity, performance remains reactive and interchangeable.
Second, leadership in change environments requires understanding how people respond to disruption. Resistance is rarely personal. Effective leaders identify who is ready to move, who needs context, and who requires time, adjusting their approach accordingly rather than forcing alignment.
Third, many professionals remain overly focused on activity rather than contribution. Busyness often reflects adherence to process rather than progress toward outcomes. Leaders must continually reassess whether their efforts are advancing strategic objectives or simply maintaining momentum.
Fourth, the ability to think independently is becoming more important as technology advances. AI can accelerate research, synthesis, and articulation, but it does not replace judgment. Those who rely on it without strengthening their own reasoning risk becoming indistinguishable from the tools they use.
Fifth, organizations frequently approach AI adoption without sufficient clarity on their identity. Efficiency gains alone are insufficient. The critical question is what proprietary knowledge or capability should be developed and retained, and what can be commoditized through external tools.
Loran also introduces four reinforcing leadership behaviors: setting a sufficiently high ambition, expanding perspective through curiosity, making clear and timely decisions, and consistently embodying the direction being set. These are not episodic actions but daily practices that determine whether leaders shape change or respond to it.
Underlying the conversation is a consistent principle: leadership begins with self-awareness. Without a clear understanding of one's own strengths and perspective, it is difficult to remain open, to adapt, or to lead others through uncertainty.
Get Louisa's book, Leadership Anatomy in Motion, here: https://tinyurl.com/3a97vt5c
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Linda Hill, Professor at Harvard Business School, discussed how leadership must adapt to enable innovation in complex organizations. Drawing on research and fieldwork across companies such as Pixar and Pfizer, the conversation reframes leadership as the work of building environments where solutions are co-created rather than directed.
Several core ideas stand out:
Leadership for innovation begins with purpose, not vision. When outcomes are uncertain, the leader's role is to define the problem and create conditions for others to contribute to solving it.
Performance depends less on individual talent and more on how talent works together. Organizations that encourage debate, surface differences, and refine ideas through iteration are more likely to produce meaningful results.
Culture is the primary barrier to scaling innovation. Many organizations generate ideas but fail to implement them due to weak decision-making, reluctance to challenge assumptions, and difficulty stopping unproductive work.
Effective leaders operate beyond their own organizations. Progress increasingly requires building partnerships and aligning broader ecosystems to access capabilities and move at sufficient speed.
Discipline remains essential. Leaders must set clear priorities, evaluate work against real problems, and create the conditions for candid discussion, including ending initiatives that are not working.
The discussion also underscores that leadership is both practical and personal. In uncertain environments, how leaders manage themselves—how they communicate, invite input, and respond to pressure—directly shapes outcomes.
For senior professionals, the implication is clear: innovation is not constrained by ideas or technology alone, but by the quality of leadership applied to turning them into reality.
Get Linda's book, Genius at Scale, here: https://tinyurl.com/4np2yc9t
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In this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic interview with the author of Madison Avenue Makeover: The Transformation of Huge and the Redefinition of the Ad Agency Business, Michael Farmer. He also wrote the award-winning Madison Avenue Manslaughter, an inside view of fee-cutting clients, profit-hungry owners, and declining ad agencies (Third Edition, 2019).
In this episode, Michael speaks about the time he worked for McKinsey, Bain, and BCG, and the differences between the three consulting firms. He also shared his advice for those aspiring to build their consulting firm and discussed the technique that helped him write his first book, Madison Avenue Manslaughter. Finally, Michael shared his experience of helping in the Transformation of a Creative Ad Agency (Huge).
Michael Farmer is Chairman and CEO of Farmer & Company LLC, a strategy consulting firm for advertisers and agencies. He also serves as Professor of Branding and Integrated Communications at The City College of New York (CCNY). He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and was previously a Director of Bain & Company.
Connect with Michael here: https://www.farmerandco.com/
Get Michael's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Madison-Avenue-Makeover-transformation-redefinition/dp/1911687646
Madison Avenue Makeover: The Transformation of Huge and the Redefinition of the Ad Agency Business. Michael Farmer.
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