June 23 - June 29 releases on StrategyTraining.com
This week’s update includes one of the most substantial releases we’ve made to date: a complete 249-slide sales force strategy study, alongside advanced new episodes on consulting growth, leadership, and long-term career design.
Each release is a structured system, built for immediate application and long-term impact.
Here’s what’s now available for members on StrategyTraining.com:
For Strategy Control Room Advanced Members
Another major update: a new comprehensive 249-slide study was released this week.
Sales Force Effectiveness Study for an Industrial Concern - A major review of sales force strategy. 249 SLIDES.
We conducted a Sales Force Effectiveness (SFE) performance gap analysis across eight business units. This comprehensive engagement includes diagnostic tools, benefit case modeling, and practical action plans tailored to each BU. You’ll see detailed insights into competency gaps, pricing challenges, sales process inefficiencies, and a roadmap to unlock up to 21% CAGR. Full data, recommendations, and strategic transformation frameworks included.
For Insider Members
These new training episodes were released.
(NEW) Building a Consulting Practice. Level II – Episode 5 of TBD
Building a Consulting Practice (Level 2) picks up where Building a Consulting Practice (Level 1) left off. While Level 1 lays the foundational principles of setting up or rebuilding a consulting business, whether as an independent firm or as a practice within a major consulting firm, Level 2 takes you into the advanced art of turning routine client work into an engine for long-term growth.
Michael opens the door to rarely discussed skills: how to reframe client conversations away from low-value, transactional tasks and into high-impact, strategic engagements. How to uncover hidden opportunities even when no obvious “problem” exists, and how to position yourself as a trusted partner invited into the most critical issues, not as a vendor chasing projects.
Through the lens of a real-world operations strategy study, you will see how an unglamorous project became the seedbed for a completely new consulting practice. You’ll learn how to apply sharp strategic thinking in operational contexts, how to triangulate discussions toward your strengths, and how to scale a practice that thrives beyond any single engagement.
Level 1 teaches you the business of consulting. Level 2 shows you how to expand that business into a powerhouse. Together, in addition to a few other programs on StrategyTraining.com, such as Partnership. Memoir, Rebuilding a Consulting Practice, How to Build an Innovation Division, these programs provide a roadmap for consultants at every stage who are ready to master not just delivery, but sustainable, long-term growth.
Episode title: Third take on the issue
The MasterPlan Advanced – Episode 32 of TBD
The MasterPlan Advanced builds on the most transformative career strategy work we’ve done to date. Based on Michael’s and Kris’s personal experiences and decades of coaching senior executives, it covers how to move from well-off to wealthy, across career, relationships, investing, health, and more. This is the next step for members who are working toward building a richer, more fulfilling life, not only a career that looks successful to people around.
Episode title: Lack of self-esteem will materially hurt you, and those around you
Lessons from Kris – Episode 1 of TBD
This is the first episode in a new series for Insider members. Each lesson presents a focused perspective on a topic that has proven critical in advising senior clients and building Firmsconsulting.com, StrategyTraining.com, and our other businesses. In this episode, we examine how the use of numbers influences how your work is perceived, how clients respond, and how clearly value is communicated. The lesson is applicable across industries and business models.
Episode title: 8 ways to leverage the power of numbers
For Legacy Members
In addition to all Insider episodes, Legacy members receive these exclusive episodes:
Why You're Unlikely to Get the Sponsor You Really Need - Episode 3 of 4
It is important to find the right sponsor, but what if the real power lies in becoming someone worth sponsoring? This program shows you why the path to sponsorship begins not with who you know, but with how visibly you create value.
Episode title: How sponsorship works
(New) Segmenting Your Customers - Episode 1 of 5
What happens when the way you earn a living slowly pulls you away from who you really are? This program unpacks how inauthenticity creeps in, why it leads to burnout, and what it takes to rebuild both your brand and your sense of self.
Episode title: What inauthenticity does to you
(New) What Most Product Managers Get Wrong - Episode 1 of 3
Most product teams obsess over detailed plans and coordination, but miss the one question that matters most. This program shows why a specific action needs to come before everything else.
Episode title: What most product managers get wrong
Insiders can move to Legacy anytime and back to Insider without losing Insider status. Email us at team@firmsconsulting.com so we can manually restore your Insider status.
Ask Us a Question — Get Tailored Feedback
Legacy members are invited to submit one personal or professional question twice per month. We’ll respond with a custom answer recorded by a partner.
Deadlines: Submit by the 15th and 30th of each month
Format: One paragraph emailed to
team@firmsconsulting.com
Include: Context and details so we can provide tailored guidance for your unique situation
Subject line: Legacy Question
Strategy Skills Podcast (top 5-10 for careers in many countries)
We’ve just released two new episodes, now available at no cost on iTunes, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms.
Listen in and stay sharp.
Steve Jobs' Former Colleague on How to Achieve Creative Velocity in the Age of Gen AI - with Leslie Grandy
Leslie Grandy, a seasoned executive who has led global product teams at Apple, Amazon, Best Buy, and T-Mobile, shares a deeply practical perspective on how leaders can activate creativity across functions, not just in design or strategy.
Drawing from her early years in the film industry and later executive roles in technology, Grandy explains how she developed three capabilities that proved critical in high-performance product environments:
“You’ve got to grind it out… and you have to have that intrinsic motivation to continue, even when it looks like failure is obvious.”
“You have to be resilient and flexible… because you have so many people depending on the outcome.”
“If I haven’t seen the problem before, it doesn’t seem daunting to me… It seems fun.”
These capabilities (grit, adaptability, and creative problem solving) formed the foundation of her success in ambiguous, fast-moving, and high-stakes environments.
Grandy also speaks directly to what supports and undermines creative velocity inside organizations. She notes that the most adaptive cultures don’t reserve creativity for a few select teams:
“They expect every role is going to show up with that same creative intention… that the status quo doesn’t seep into the lower ranks.”
But she also warns:
“Status quo as a cultural norm is dangerous.”
“Consensus-driven thinking is equally problematic for creative velocity.”
Her insights on Steve Jobs provide a rare look inside Apple’s leadership culture. When asked about her interview with him, she explains:
“Your interview will be five minutes or it’ll be 60 minutes. It’s up to Steve.”
“I didn’t come in there acting like I was an equal… I just came in there with a confidence that I could answer whatever he asked.”
When her team added preset engraving suggestions to iPods to help customers complete purchases, Jobs reacted immediately:
“He saw it, and within a day, it was pulled down.”
“He had such a finite view of his brand… there were no blurry edges around the brand.”
Grandy’s new book, Creative Velocity, argues that creativity is not a fixed trait, but a capability that can be developed with intention.
She addresses how leaders should approach generative AI, not just as an efficiency tool, but as a creative partner:
“What’s really transformative… is doing the exact opposite of prompt engineering.”
“It’s not about speed to answer. It’s about using that time to evolve a thought into different tributaries of thought.”
This episode raises a critical question for senior leaders:
“Are you designing your organization to perform or to invent?”
Listen to the episode here (you can also watch or read the transcript).
Brand Global, Adapt Local: Executive Lessons from Nike, Louis Vuitton, and HubSpot – with Katherine Melchior Ray and Nataly Kelly
In this episode, I spoke with two highly respected global brand leaders, Katherine Melchior Ray and Nataly Kelly, whose experience spans executive roles at Nike, Louis Vuitton, HubSpot, Zappi, and more.
Our discussion centered on their latest book, Brand Global, Adapt Local, but more broadly, we explored the evolving demands of building and sustaining global brands in a world defined by cultural complexity, rapid technological change, and shifting consumer expectations.
A few themes stood out:
1. Consistency is not enough.
Nataly Kelly shared:
“I used to believe that branding required absolute consistency and very little flexibility. But when I began to work in global marketing, I realized that there is adaptability that’s required to really succeed.”
Successful global brands, in her view, hold tightly to a clear core while flexibly adapting how they show up across markets.
2. Cultural blind spots have real consequences.
Katherine Melchior Ray reflected on an early leadership experience at Nike:
“The common refrain was, for women’s shoes… ‘shrink it and pink it.’”
She underscored the importance of cultural sensitivity, noting:
“Listen with your eyes. Because in many cultures, people communicate with nonverbal forms of communication.”
3. Strategy and judgment cannot be delegated to machines.
As the use of AI accelerates, Nataly cautioned:
“You can’t outsource your strategy… Judgment and strategy are the two things that I think humans will start to realize [must stay human].”
4. Trust is built over time, not through messaging alone.
Katherine observed:
“At the end of the day, a brand is all about a promise. People support brands that they trust.”
5. Human connection remains central.
As Katherine succinctly put it:
“The more we rely on technology, the more we must double down on our humanity.”
If you're involved in shaping brand strategy, whether globally or locally, this discussion offers valuable perspective.
Listen to the episode here (you can also watch or read the transcript).
Additionally, here are the recent releases on FIRMSconsulting / StrategyTraining.com / Kris Safarova YouTube Channels:
IT Strategy vs. Corporate Strategy: Microsoft - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
How to Build Consulting Storyboards in 3 Weeks (This is How McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte Do It) - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
How to Feel Comfortable on Camera - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
Management Consulting Storyboard | Storyboarding used by McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, PwC et al. - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
McKinsey’s Rise to Prominence Under Marvin Bower - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
The Systems Behind Sustained High Performance with ADHD - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
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