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

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

Written by: FirmsConsulting.com & StrategyTraining.com
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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.© COPYRIGHT 2010 - 2019 THE STRATEGY MEDIA GROUP LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Careers Economics Management Management & Leadership Personal Success
Episodes
  • 646: Former McKinsey Consultant Darryl Stickel on Building Trust With Consulting Clients (Strategy Skills classics)
    Apr 20 2026

    Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 361, an interview with the author of Building Trust: Exceptional Leadership in an Uncertain World, Darryl Stickel. In his book, Darryl outlines his groundbreaking Trust Unlimited blueprint for building trust. Stickel moves away from the traditional approach of influencing people's willingness to trust—the con artist's tactic—to employing one or more of ten levers, which leaders can "pull" to close the gap between how much they are trusted and how much they should be. This approach also makes them more trustable and increases trust where it is deficient.

    Darryl Stickel is one of the world's leading experts on trust with over twenty years of experience. His Ph.D. ¨Building Trust in Hostile Environments¨ from Duke University established him as a global leader for governments, businesses and NGOs on practical approaches to building trust.

    Darryl has worked for Mckinsey & Company in their Toronto office, as well as advised the Canadian Military on trust building in Afghanistan. He has served as faculty for the Luxembourg School of Business and the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California and recently completed his book Building Trust: Exceptional Leadership in an Uncertain World.

    His contribution to the field of trust has been recognized by his nomination to the Top Thought Leaders on Trust by Trust Across America; Trust Around the World.

    Get Darryl's book here: https://rb.gy/3boas

    Building Trust: Exceptional Leadership in an Uncertain World, Darryl Stickel

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    51 mins
  • 645: Ex McKinsey expert on war games, John Horn. How to read your competitors (Strategy Skills classics)
    Apr 15 2026

    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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    McKinsey & BCG winning resume
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    Five Reasons Why People Ignore Somebody
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    Free gift #4
    Access episode 1 from Build a Consulting Firm, Level 1
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    Free gift #5
    The Overall Approach used in well-managed strategy studies
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    Get a copy of Nine Leaders in Action, a book we co-authored with some of our clients:
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • 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)
    Apr 13 2026

    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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    51 mins
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