The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving
FirmsConsulting.com & StrategyTraining.com
CEOs and business leaders, management consulting senior partners, ground-breaking professors, thought-provoking writers and journalists, record-setting athletes and coaches, and award-winning actors and celebrities discuss the key issues facing the business world and broader society.
Get free access to our newsletter, Monday Morning at 8 am, along with sample episodes from our training programs on www.strategytraining.com. Go to https://www.firmsconsulting.com/promo.
Get free access to our newsletter, Monday Morning at 8 am, along with sample episodes from our training programs on www.strategytraining.com. Go to https://www.firmsconsulting.com/promo.
Episodes
Mentioned books
May 13, 2026 • 52min
652: Can Democracy Survive Free Market Capitalism? (with Professor of Economics Emeritus at Stanford University, Mordecai Kurz)
Mordecai Kurz, Professor of Economics Emeritus at Stanford and author on technology, power, and inequality. He argues that unchecked free market capitalism concentrates economic and political power. The conversation covers AI’s role in replacing versus augmenting work, how patents and mergers entrench monopolies, and policy levers—taxes, patent reform, and regulation—to preserve democratic agency.
May 11, 2026 • 50min
651: Ford School of Public Policy Adjunct Attia Qureshi on the Hidden Psychology Behind Effective Negotiation
Attia Qureshi, adjunct and negotiation consultant and author of Never Settle, reframes negotiation as a core leadership skill. She explores why smart professionals stumble, the role of fear and preparation, using reciprocity to build trust, and practicing emotional resilience. Short, tactical ideas on prep sheets, low-stakes practice, and principled negotiation are highlighted.
May 6, 2026 • 51min
650: Climate Leader and Bestselling Author, Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson, on Closing the Climate Action Gap
Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson, climate leader and bestselling author known for Drawdown and All We Can Save, discusses leadership, systems design, and why progress on climate is uneven. She explores the clash between natural cycles and extractive economics. Conversations cover perception gaps that hinder action, the role of culture and values in execution, and practical, low-burden ways people can contribute.
10 snips
May 4, 2026 • 59min
649: P&G and Walmart: The Story Behind the Groundbreaking Relationship (Strategy Skills classics)
Tom Muccio, former P&G executive and author of Collaborative Disruption, led the P&G–Walmart partnership that scaled their business from $350M to $8B. He recounts creating mirror multifunctional teams, breaking corporate barriers, rigorous testing with shared success criteria, and cultural shifts that enabled trust, faster launches, and repeatable customer-supplier collaboration.
11 snips
Apr 29, 2026 • 56min
648: Rethinking Careers in a Nonlinear World with Venture Capitalist and Lecturer at Stanford University, Arun Gupta
Arun Gupta, CEO of the NobleReach Foundation, venture capitalist and Stanford lecturer, rethinks careers around purpose rather than titles. He argues meaning provides durable stability. He urges action to discover mission, describes nonlinear careers that braid learning, earning and contributing, and highlights the growing importance of AI fluency, judgment, relationships and multiple forms of capital.
20 snips
Apr 27, 2026 • 53min
647: Former Deloitte's Chief Learning Officer on Reevaluating Our Relationship with Change, Ashley Goodall (Strategy Skills classics)
Ashley Goodall, leadership expert and former HR executive at Deloitte and Cisco, challenges the idea that change equals improvement. He discusses why churn harms team cohesion and how stability, clear language, and focused fixes help people thrive. He also shares practical habits for planning and leading so teams can actually get better.
9 snips
Apr 22, 2026 • 51min
646: CEO of FCLT Global and Former Senior Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company on Turning Investor Dialogue into Strategy (Strategy Skills classics)
Sarah Keohane Williamson, CEO of FCLT Global and former McKinsey engagement manager, draws on finance and policy experience. She explains why investors are not a single audience. She describes mapping owner types, building an investor strategy like a customer strategy, and using a long-term roadmap to make big bets intelligible.
10 snips
Apr 20, 2026 • 51min
646: Former McKinsey Consultant Darryl Stickel on Building Trust With Consulting Clients (Strategy Skills classics)
Darryl Stickel, a former McKinsey consultant and Ph.D. expert on building trust, explains his Trust Unlimited blueprint. He describes ten levers leaders can use to close trust gaps. Short, practical segments cover uncertainty, vulnerability, benevolence, asking for help, and a script to start trust conversations.
Apr 15, 2026 • 1h 1min
645: Ex McKinsey expert on war games, John Horn. How to read your competitors (Strategy Skills classics)
John Horn, former McKinsey strategy expert and Olin Business School professor, reveals how to think like rivals. He explains war gaming, a four-step framework to predict competitor moves, and how to build cognitive empathy for realistic reactions. Practical tips cover quick war games, where to focus tracking time, and using profiles to anticipate partners and regulators.
15 snips
Apr 13, 2026 • 51min
644: How to Tap the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life, with Co-CEO of Transcend, Jeff Wetzler (Strategy Skills classics)
Jeff Wetzler, co-CEO of Transcend and former Chief Learning Officer at Teach For America, shares the Ask Approach™ to surface what others really think, know, and feel. He explains why people withhold truths, five practices to create curiosity and safety, how to get honest feedback from seniors and families, and ways to activate collective genius and use AI to deepen listening.
