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

• 587: Globally Recognized Marketing Strategist on How to Build Brands That Dominate

  Laura Ries, globally recognized marketing strategist and author of The Strategic Enemy, outlines a category-first approach to brand building. As she explains, “while people talk in brands, they really think in categories. The category is king.” Her core message: focus, contrast, and clarity determine whether a brand leads or disappears.   The conversation emphasizes why narrowing focus creates strength, when to launch a new brand name rather than extend an old one, and how visible, repeatable signals, what Ries calls a “visual hammer”, turn a positioning into dominance. She draws on vivid examples: Kodak’s misstep in naming its first digital cameras, Toyota’s use of Lexus to enter the luxury market, Subaru’s turnaround through all-wheel-drive focus, and Target’s positioning as “cheap chic” against Walmart.   Strategic takeaways for leaders include: Define and own a category. “The power is in owning a singular idea, and the even more powerful thing is to dominate and own a category.” Choose a strategic enemy. As Ries argues, “the mind understands opposition faster than superiority.” Standing against something clarifies what you stand for. Use new names for new categories. Legacy names can trap perception in the old category. Deploy the visual hammer. A simple, memorable image or symbol cements positioning more powerfully than words alone. Keep the message simple and repeat it. Brands like BMW (“The Ultimate Driving Machine”) and Chick-fil-A (“Eat More Chicken”) succeeded through decades of repetition, not campaign churn. Invest in leadership visibility. Well-known figures, from Anna Wintour at Vogue to Elon Musk at Tesla, can embody and amplify brand positioning. Treat AI as a tool, not a substitute. Ries uses it for research synthesis but insists, “there’s a great human element that is still incredibly valuable.” For executives shaping brand portfolios or launching new products, this discussion offers a disciplined playbook: narrow the focus, name carefully, define the enemy, and repeat until the position is instinctive in customers’ minds.   📚 Get Laura’s book, The Strategic Enemy, here: https://shorturl.at/PUuwc   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

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• 586: Father of the Cable Modem Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard on Innovation and the Global Broadband Transformation

  Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard, founder of LANcity, author of The Accidental Network, and widely known as the “father of the cable modem”, shares the story of how broadband was built and the lessons it offers for today’s leaders navigating AI and emerging technologies.   Arriving in the U.S. with $750 in savings, Yassini-Fard envisioned carrying “voice, data and video… over one cable instead of two” at a time when few believed homes would ever need to be connected. Over nine years, with just 13 employees and seven consultants, he built a working product, proved its reliability, and persuaded the cable industry to adopt it. By 1996, his team had driven device costs from $8,000 down to under $300 and helped create DOCSIS, the global broadband standard, released royalty-free to speed adoption.   Reflecting on today’s tech landscape, he cautions: “It’s not just really money… you need more than that. It’s a proven prototype and a product that actually does the talking.” Valuations without execution, he warns, will accelerate failure.   Key lessons include: Prototype before scale: Capital is wasted without demonstrable performance in real environments. Treat infrastructure as strategy: Broadband enabled Silicon Valley, Netflix, telehealth, and remote work; leaders must model today’s energy, compute, and connectivity constraints when sizing AI opportunities. Open standards matter: Royalty-free interoperability can turn a niche idea into an industry platform. Execution trumps valuation: LANcity beat Motorola and Intel with disciplined engineering, resilient supply chains, and relentless customer trials. Anchor to customer economics: Early users became advocates because the modem delivered day-to-day value. Looking forward, Yassini-Fard stresses that AI and robotics will stall without addressing power and infrastructure: “For some of these AI companies to be successful, they need gigawatts of power… it takes 10 years to build a nuclear reactor that gives you one.” He highlights quantum computing and network management as the next frontiers, and calls for workforce retraining in mathematics, physics, and the skilled trades that sustain digital systems.   For executives evaluating platform bets or emerging technologies, this conversation offers a grounded blueprint: start with the prototype, model the infrastructure honestly, choose standards deliberately, and align capital with execution discipline.   📚 Get Rouzbeh’s book, The Accidental Network, here: https://shorturl.at/rUB1T   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   Get Exclusive Episode 1 Access of How to Build a Consulting Practice: www.firmsconsulting.com/build   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

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• 585: Former Goldman Sachs Executive, Erin Coupe, on Rituals for Success, Meditation, and Self-Leadership

  Former Goldman Sachs executive Erin Coupe shares how she transformed her life and career by replacing routines with rituals, practicing meditation, and stepping into self-leadership.   In this episode of the Strategy Skills Podcast, Kris Safarova and Erin dive deep into practical lessons for entrepreneurs, consultants, and online business owners who want more clarity, energy, and independence.   Based on her book, I Can Fit That In: How Rituals Transform Your Life, Erin explains how to: Build rituals that fuel focus, creativity, and business growth. Use meditation to calm your mind and access deeper ideas. Lead yourself first — so you can lead teams, clients, and businesses better. Align achievement with values to avoid burnout and emptiness. See AI not just as a tool for efficiency, but as a partner in self-discovery.   This conversation is perfect for online business owners, consultants, authors, and executives building a life and career on their own terms.   Learn more about Erin here: https://www.erincoupe.com/ 📚 Get Erin’s book, I Can Fit That In, here: https://www.erincoupe.com/i-can-fit-that-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

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• 584: ESSEC Business School Professor on How Geopolitics Shapes Corporate Strategy

  Srividya Jandhyala, professor of management at ESSEC Business School and author of The Great Disruption, offers a clear framework for how geopolitics is reshaping corporate strategy. Her central thesis is direct: “The fundamental idea, ‘Where are you from?’—the nationality of the company—is the defining feature of the type of reactions you face from all stakeholders, not just governments, but also customers, suppliers, and clients”.   She explains why geopolitics now sits inside business decisions rather than adjacent to them. Corporate choices create externalities that trigger responses from states and nonmarket actors. For example, decisions around semiconductors illustrate how commercial moves collide with concerns about national security and dependence in key markets. The implication is that access, permissions, and standards increasingly compete with price and product as decisive variables.   Jandhyala distills four structural foundations every multinational should monitor: Market access — Where tariffs, export controls, or rivalries may close doors. Level playing field — Corporate nationality can tilt advantage or disadvantage against competitors. Investment security — Whether assets, workforce, and property rights will be safe and returns can be repatriated. Institutional alignment — The “USB vs. power plug” analogy: some systems work seamlessly, while others clash. Geopolitics is increasingly a contest of standards   Practical Takeaways Build a repeatable discipline. Go beyond headline news by scanning developments, personalizing them to the firm’s footprint, planning responses, and pivoting as conditions change. Map exposure by corporate nationality. Quantify where origin shapes market permissions, customer sentiment, or partner constraints. Treat corporate diplomacy as a core capability. Relationship-building with governments and stakeholders now consumes significant CEO time, creating both opportunities and trade-offs. For CEOs: View geopolitical flux as a field for advantage, not just risk. “Be imaginative about how you can exploit your corporate nationality, your position in the value chain, and your global market presence.” For middle managers: Expect new roles and metrics; government engagement, redundancy planning, and cross-functional information brokering are becoming central. Use the right cognitive frame. Executives must decide explicitly whether and where geopolitics deserves share of mind, recognizing that equally astute observers may reach different conclusions. Jandhyala’s counsel is rigorous but pragmatic: geopolitics is now part of the operating environment. Companies that treat it as noise will miss risks and opportunities. Those that build structural awareness and corporate diplomacy into strategy will be better positioned to compete when “permissions, politics, and standards” define the terms of play.   📚 Get Srividya’s book, The Great Disruption, here: https://shorturl.at/SWrdT   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

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• 583: The Four Pillars of Elite Teams (with Colin M. Fisher)

  In this rigorous and insight-rich episode, Dr. Colin Fisher, author of The Collective Edge, deconstructs high-performing teams using decades of organizational research and field-tested frameworks. If you lead, manage, or influence teams, the insights here can recalibrate how you build and guide collaboration.   We explore four foundational elements (Composition, Goals, Tasks, and Norms) and dismantle prevalent myths that often derail even experienced leaders.   Key insights include: Composition: A team’s effectiveness begins with clarity. In a landmark study, only 7% of top management teams agreed on how many people were actually on their team. “We can’t compose the team thoughtfully unless we agree on who’s in the team in the first place.” The ideal team size? 4.5 people. Why? It balances task performance and member satisfaction, minimizing coordination cost while maximizing cohesion. Goals: Most teams fall apart not because of conflict, but because “members don’t share the same understanding of what the group’s goals are.” Dr. Fisher emphasizes that goals must be clear, challenging, and consequential, repeated often, and refined constantly. Tasks: Don’t assign group work to solo tasks. Effective team tasks must require interdependence and diverse expertise. Leaders must provide “clear goals but autonomy over process.” Micromanagement erodes both accountability and innovation. Norms: Often invisible yet decisive. Norms around psychological safety and information sharing distinguish resilient teams from dysfunctional ones. Without them, even the most capable groups collapse under miscommunication or fear of speaking up.   Dr. Fisher’s core thesis is deceptively simple: The secret sauce is sustained attention to the basics. His research confirms that elite leaders are not mystical intuitives but methodical questioners and attentive listeners.   If you care about sustainable performance and intelligent team design, this conversation delivers a precise blueprint.   📚 Get Colin’s book, The Collective Edge, here: https://shorturl.at/91Khp   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

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