business strategy

Executive Leadership, Leadership, Strategic Thinking, Strategy

If You Hire Big Consulting to Design Your Strategy, You Might As Well Be Fired


For decades, the saying went: “No one ever got fired for hiring McKinsey or BCG.” These firms, and others like them, represented the gold standard for corporate strategy. But recently, a seismic shift is shaking this narrative. A top executive I know of was recently unceremoniously removed by their board—not for incompetence or malfeasance, but […]

If You Hire Big Consulting to Design Your Strategy, You Might As Well Be Fired
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Culture, Learning & Development, Strategy, Thought Leadership

Blaming Employees – The Corporate Gaslighting Epidemic

The blind pursuit of productivity has led to an epidemic of corporate gaslighting. At the heart of this lies a fundamental flaw: when leaders fail to define a clear business strategy they react to the negative consequences with a Pavlovian response: they prescribe training for employees. Conflicting Priorities and the Tyranny of the Urgent Most

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Culture, Leadership, Organizational Identity, Strategy

Dog Eat Dog and Tree Huggers: Why the Wrong Environments Can’t Create Good Strategy

The environment in which we design strategy matters more than leaders often realize. The leadership culture, and the wider business culture, dictate the nature of strategy, and its chances of success. In this article, I introduce you to the Culture Continuum, and I describe why good business strategy can only be cultivated in a people-centric

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Executive Leadership, Learning & Development, Strategy

Two Must-Have Resources To Design More Impactful Strategy

Two approaches have proven particularly effective to start aligning leadership teams at the beginning of a strategy and identity process: Combining a 360-degree feedback and a team assessment. These tools address individual leadership challenges and create transparency about a team’s level of functionality. Functional team consisting of conscious leaders will dare to create strategy beyond

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Board of Directors, Corporate Governance, Executive Leadership

The Fish Stinks from its Head: When Boards of Directors Cause More Harm Than Good

The fish stinks from its head. A sentence describing that issues in a business can usually be traced back to the executive table. And that’s what typically happens. We’re quick to blame executives for a lack of leadership, a lack of business strategy, a lack of setting the tone for the desired culture. The reality

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Culture, Executive Leadership, Leadership, Strategy

The Essence of Executive Leadership: Nailing Business Strategy and Culture

What’s the job of an executive leader? So many thoughts come to mind. But in a nutshell it comes down two two things: they’ve got to define the choices to win in a company’s chosen marketplace (that’s business strategy) and make sure everyone’s vibing on the same frequency (that’s company culture). Crafting a Business Strategy

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Leadership, Performance, Strategy

What Wayne Gretzky Teaches Executives About Strategy

Wayne Gretzky, often hailed as the greatest hockey player of all time, holds a legacy that transcends the rink. Beyond his exceptional skills on the ice, Gretzky’s mindset and approach to the game offer valuable insights that resonate far beyond the realm of sports. His strategies, adaptability, and leadership qualities can be applied to various

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Emotions, Leadership, Strategy

Overcoming Doubts: 7 Challenges Leaders Face with Business Strategy

Leadership demands not only vision but the confidence to act on that vision. Yet, many leaders find themselves wrestling with doubt, which can hinder their ability to make strategic decisions. Doubt is a natural part of leadership, and it’s how you manage and conquer it that defines your ability to steer your business toward a

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Customer Experience, Strategy

6 Essential Ingredients for Exceptional Customer Experiences

Exceptional customer experiences are the bedrock of small and big businesses looking to stand out in the market. These experiences transcend mere transactions and create lasting connections with customers. To understand what makes these experiences exceptional, I share six success factors using inspiring examples from real businesses. 1. Empathy and Understanding Zappos is renowned for

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Performance, Strategy, Vision

Designing a Business Strategy – Between Foresight and Signalling

A business strategy typically addresses a mid-term time horizon of three to five years. Businesses should also explore what lies before and beyond this timeframe. To complement their strategy (mid-term), organizations need foresight (long-term) and signalling (short-term). Signalling addresses the immediate future, and foresight explores what’s beyond the planning horizon of the current business strategy. Identifying

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Organizational Identity, Purpose, Strategy

Moving Beyond Purpose: Aligning Strategy and Impact for Meaningful Change

Purpose has become a popular buzzword in many organizations, with companies proudly proclaiming their commitment to noble causes. However, merely having a purpose is not enough to create real change. Purpose refers to an organization’s intent or reason for existing beyond profit. Impact is the effect an organization has on its stakeholders and the world.

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Leadership, Performance, Strategy

What So Many Get Wrong About Business Strategy – And How To Fix It

Business strategy is a widely misunderstood concept – which is terrifying given that it is also one of the most important aspects of any successful company. No wonder so many business large and small fail each year. As a decision-making framework, strategy clarifies the key priorities and sets a direction for the organization. Unfortunately, many

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Performance, Planning, Strategy

Boost Your Chances for Success: The Benefits of Establishing a Strategy and Enterprise PMO

A few reasons stand out when we analyze why organizations fail to design and implement business strategy, from unaligned leadership to management systems that don’t support change. There is one reason for success – or failure – that I have witnessed both as a strategy manager for a large business, and as a management consultant

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Leadership, Learning & Development, Strategy

5 Tips to Ensure Your Leadership Development Efforts Support Business Strategy

The amount of money businesses waste on poorly designed leadership development is staggering. Too often, it is only when business realize that there is no tangible impact from these training programs that they re-think their approaches. Let me share some advice based on over a decade of experience in designing strategically aligned leadership programs that

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Leadership, Planning, Strategy

Business Strategy vs. Strategic Planning: Why Confusing Them Can Lead to Disaster

Preparing a meal and then eating it are two different activities. Both are needed to avoid going hungry. If you prepare dinner and then don’t enjoy the meal, you’ll still be hungry. Likewise, you cannot have a nice meal without someone preparing it. When it comes to business strategy and strategic planning, we are essentially

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Emotions, Empowerment, Strategy

Emotions in Business: How to Turn Fear into Success with a Clear Strategy

Being responsible for a business can be a whirlwind of emotions, from the excitement of a new opportunity to the fear of not being able to generate enough revenue to sustain your business. It is important to learn how to manage these emotions effectively, rather than letting them control your actions and decisions. Having a

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Emotions, Leadership, Strategy

Strategize with Heart: The Role of Emotions in Designing Business Strategy

When it comes to business strategy, people tend to think of numbers, data, and logical decision-making. But what many don’t realize is that emotions play just as important a role in the success of a business as any spreadsheet or financial report. In fact, ignoring the emotional aspect of business strategy can be a costly

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