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February 04

Reimagine Your Career, Before It’s Too Late

What if your goal is completely wrong?

If you achieved your goal tomorrow, would your life be significantly better? Or just… slightly more tolerable?

Most people don’t have a career strategy. They have a survival plan. They work hard because that’s what they were taught. But have they ever stopped to ask if the end result is actually worth it?

You’ve done everything right. The best schools. The right job. The long hours. The sacrifices.

And yet, here you are. Wondering if this is it.

Most people don’t realize they’re on a treadmill until it’s too late. They spend their best years chasing a goal that was never truly theirs, following a path that guarantees struggle, stress, and, at best, a life that feels… just okay.

But what if your goal, the thing you’ve built your entire career around, is almost certainly wrong?

[The Stakes]

Look around.

Brilliant, hardworking executives are stuck in careers they don’t love, trapped by the weight of expectations, financial burdens, and obligations they never fully questioned. They work for money because they have to, not because they want to.

They’re deep into a strategy they never designed, chasing a version of success that, in the end, costs them everything: time, freedom, and fulfillment.

"Obligations may be the highest interest rate you will ever pay in your life."

We don’t talk enough about the cost of success. Not just financial, but emotional. The sacrifices you make in high school, university, and early career are not just your sacrifices. Your family, your time, your freedom, they all get entangled in a system that demands everything from you.

And for what?

A job that pays well but feels like a life sentence?

And here’s the worst part: they followed all the “right” advice.

They took the same steps as everyone else. Worked harder than most. And still, something feels off.

[Why It’s So Hard]

The system is designed to keep you moving forward without ever asking:

Is this the right path, or just the common one?

Am I optimizing for success or for struggle?

Is this even the right definition of winning?

"Everyone is following the same critical path, but it leads to the same struggles."

Executives and high achievers take pride in outworking everyone else, but what if effort alone isn't the answer? If you're following a broken model, working harder won’t fix it. You need to rethink the game itself.

Most people never ask these questions until they’ve already locked themselves into a career they no longer enjoy, tied themselves to financial obligations they can’t escape, and built a life they now have to sustain, whether they want to or not.

But there is another way.

[The Solution Exists]

"I re-engineered one step in the process, and it changed everything."

Most people assume their choices are limited, but what if one decision could change the entire trajectory of your career? What if you re-engineered a single step in your path? The difference between stress and freedom could be just one move away.

In our brand-new 1-Year Leadership Training program available to Insiders and Legacy members, we break down how high-achievers unknowingly trap themselves, and more importantly, how to rewrite the rules.

We’re not talking about motivational fluff. No vague “find your purpose”.

This is about strategy. A different way of thinking. A re-engineered path that changes everything.

For the first time, we’re opening up this program to our Insider and Legacy members, and if you’re serious about rethinking your trajectory, you need to be a part of this program from the start.

"The right goal is often the wrong goal if you don’t know how to achieve it differently."

Most professionals don’t lack ambition. They lack the right strategy. The reason most executives feel stuck isn’t because they aren’t trying hard enough. It’s because they’ve never seen an alternative approach that actually works. This program changes that.

But be warned: this may challenge some critical things you believe about success. 

Join us.

Enroll Now and Access the Program (select Insider or Legacy)

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If you're an Insider or Legacy member, this program is now available in your account on StrategyTraining.com.

Not a member yet? Enroll here:
www.strategytraining.com (scroll to membership options).

We care about your success and are here to support you. Feel free to reach out with questions at
team@firmsconsulting.com.

Thank you for being part of the StrategyTraining community.

Access the First 2 Episodes of The Annual (Insider & Legacy Members)

February 02

Ten Lessons from Creative Destruction

Hope your weekend is going well. Many of you know that I also run StrategyTraining.com, which, to my knowledge, the largest and most powerful strategy, problem-solving, critical thinking, case interviews, consulting practice building, and leadership video training platform worldwide. I work with very talented colleagues, and one of my colleagues was also impacted by fire and shared what he learned from the experience. I will include the letter he sent to the Strategy Insights community below so you can also benefit from these lessons. Below is an email he sent.

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The California wildfires were a traumatic and shocking event. Though they tried, the media could never quite capture living through it. Many events stand out, but three will forever be etched in my memory. 

First, a neighbor stayed overnight and recorded the unfolding events over the first 24 hours. From the first reports of the brushfire to the now raging fire slowly coming over the hills, the embers flying at 100 mph, burning palm trees, and the eerie calm the next morning. Yet, it was not a true calm. In slow motion, he captures early morning footage of him tracking a fire burning closer and closer to his house, as he frantically runs around looking for the firemen. He wanted to clean out his neighbor's brush to prevent the fire from jumping from house to house. He seemed to succeed...until his house started to smoke and burn down in front of him. The look on his face cannot be described. I know every family in every home he shot; their kids, wives, and pets.

Second, my landscaper captured footage of those fleeing the fire as it engulfed cars, palm trees along the road, and a huge fireball jumping over a sports car with its top down. Then he zooms onto a mother I know getting out of her car and dragging her four-year-old child who is crying, screaming, and barefoot in one hand while pulling the leashed dog with her other hand.

Third, less than forty-eight hours after the fires, I found a way to drive back to my home. I was one of the first people to go back to that neighborhood. It was smoky and quiet. It looked like the war zones you see on CNN. That is when people still watched CNN. Homes were still burning when I returned. A few people were walking around. It exactly, and I mean perfectly resembled a Hollywood dystopian post-apocalyptic movie. 

From a young age, I knew that bad things happen, there will be little to no support, it's life and you need to advance. When I was in high school and most children were preparing for their exams, I co-led the student efforts of a social movement to topple a dictatorship. I spent little time in class and most of my time managing civil disobedience campaigns. Having spent most of my school years reading Time Magazine and The Economist, to me, fighting for what was right was normal. Not a single member of my family, community, etc supported me. They felt that fighting to gain equal rights was dangerous. If we failed, we would lose the very few rights we had. 

I was in Thailand after the devastating tsunami. I focused on helping people I knew move forward and find opportunities to grow and advance their economy. I saw the opportunity from the devastation. Though it's for another post, I once drove from the southern devastation to the north near the border with Laos to secure the rights for a group of bulls to serve as collateral to pay for a new home in the south.

I was in Chile during the devastating 2010 earthquake. I helped the guests in my hotel coordinate their evacuation and was one of the last people to leave the hotel. My harrowing trip over the Andes from Chile to Argentina is for a different post. Between being detained at the Chilean-Argentinian border for not willing to pay a bribe and the horror of traveling in a packed bus on unpaved mountain roads with no lights and 1,000-meter drops, it was not for the faint of heart. I did it and I was back to work within 24 hours.

In my first attempted carjacking, I returned to work the same day despite being held at gunpoint. I was back in my office and working within two hours. I have many stories like this. I was also, what it felt like, the lone foreigner in the middle of one of the deadliest riots in Asia. Everyone had evacuated and I was in the middle of the street with the rival factions advancing towards me on either side. 

I have been very fortunate to have grown up in a world where I simultaneously had very little support and faced trying circumstances from a young age. I am thankful for that. I am grateful to the many people who
did not help me, did not support me, and did not reach out to me. I am not being facetious. Without them, I would not be equipped to deal with things like this. I would not be the person I am today. That's the first lesson. A tough life is a privilege if you give it the meaning of it having prepared you to lead in all circumstances.

The
second lesson is to avoid excessive planning. I discuss this in detail during our new Insider program, "The Annual". You can plan as much as you want. Yet, I can assure you that society, your family (especially your inlaws), and Mother Nature throw you curve balls. You have to be like Neo in The Matrix to bend around them, but, and this is the key part, study each curveball and pick out the one that can be reinvented to be a great opportunity for you. I also discuss this in "The Annual". For example, when I was preparing for university, my family did not support me, and refused to pay for me, and I did not want an academic scholarship since those scholarships never covered all costs. That became one of the best things that ever happened to me. That curve ball, which I selected from all the curve balls flying around me, led to me reinventing my life.

The
third lesson is counterintuitive. When friends were in tears and breaking down during the fires, all I could do was look at them and admire that they were so fortunate in life that they could break down. It truly is a great privilege to be in so much pain that you cannot even work. They could take a posture of being vulnerable and letting down their defenses. They knew they had people in their lives who would step in to protect them and their families when their defenses were down. They are Simba's of the world, from The Lion King. Simba was willing to take risks and go on adventures because Mufasa loved him so much that Simba knew he was protected. When Simba was hiding from Wildebeests, he knew Mufasa would come for him. He did not know how, but he was raised with this belief. In life, there are the protected and the protectors. The protected have the unique gift of having the opportunity to grieve, heal, and rebuild on their terms because they have a protector. For the protectors, we must be the cavalry for whom we are waiting. Reinforcements are not coming. 

Who stands by you? That is the fourth lesson. Life is easy when it is easy. Life is nice when it is nice. I watch many reality shows and in the few dating shows I watch, contestants almost always want someone educated, well-off, good-looking, adventurous, generous, funny, etc. Anyone can buy you nice gifts, be happy, be nice, and be a fun person when life is nice. Yet, life is never nice all of the time, let alone most of the time. The most important thing in life is to be present. Be there. Be there all the time. You don't have to be the best father. You need to be in your child's life and be a father. The people who stand by you are serious. They help you by being there. They have committed and are committing each day they stand by you. That is a daily renewal of vows, for couples, versus a once-off staged renewal of vows on the beach.

I was surprised about the deductible discussions by my neighbors. That is the
fifth lesson. Essentially it went like this. "I was shocked to learn my insurer would only forward me any money after I had incurred $500,000 of damages. That is my deductible and is it fair?" This was common. If you dig in closer you realize in most, though not all cases, the husband was managing the finances. During the fire, the husband focused on work to generate income and handed the insurance claims process to their unprepared wives. This is unfair and is a bad strategy. The best person to handle a critical issue should manage it, albeit by pulling in help from the family as needed. Managing the claims for multi-million dollar homes is not a small issue. For critical life-changing tasks, the best person must lead and it should be the person who has always been managing the task.

During crises, we often adopt a survival mindset and hope and pray for something good to happen. We take something or anything versus what we paid for. We often are the victims of bad actors, or good actors who take advantage of the situation to become a bad actor. This is the
sixth lesson. Most of us have the primary aim of surviving a crisis. We think it is better to get 60% of a contract we signed, versus nothing. We become defensive and fight off scams. I follow a strategy of deterrence. This is different. When bad things happen I quickly and calmly signal to those involved that there will be significant immediate reactionary consequences in trying to take advantage of us, my family, my team, and my colleagues. I calmly spell out the consequences in clear terms and explain the first steps I will take. Being in the middle of a crisis is bad enough. Dealing with opportunistic and strategic scam artists is overwhelming. See them off before they begin.

I have a friend who has a home in the hurricane capital of the world. He complains about the need to evacuate at least two times a year due to hurricanes. It's hard to sympathize with someone who knowingly and willingly built a home in the hurricane capital of the world and is sad that Mother Nature does not support his retirement plans. Mother Nature can be a caregiver but she can also be a hell-raiser. She can be a force of creative destruction. She breaks things to make it better. This is the
seventh lesson. If you live in a place with a history of snow storms, expect to wear Canada Goose. If you choose to live in a place with a history of hurricanes, do not be surprised by them. If your spouse was unfaithful to all their previous partners, well...

Don't follow the wisdom of the crowds.
This is lesson eight. Crowds are not wise. They may agree. They may agree vigorously. They may be large and loud. Yet, they are not wise. Doing what the majority is doing often will not lead to the best outcome. Every single great investor was a contrarian. Business strategy is about being a contrarian. Corporate strategy is about being a contrarian. It's about pursuing a contrarian idea that is true OVER time. The nasty bit is sticking to your contrarian plan over what may be a long time. The money you invest in your 401(k) and Roth IRA is an investment. So is the money you invest in yourself, your family, and your home. When you follow the crowd in a crisis you will get the returns of the crowd, which are often losses. As humans, we want, in a crisis, to do anything to show we are doing something and we want comfort in what we do. And we gain comfort from following a crowd, even if the crowd is uninformed and wasting their money. I have never done what the crowd did. It usually works out far better than I expected.

Lesson nine is that people gamble. And they do it in astonishing ways. Not willing to fully insure your home for its full value is a remarkable gamble. So many people did this. That is bold confidence, recklessness, or uninformed optimism. Are they not all the same thing? Mother Nature is not going to give you any special treatment. She is a great mother who treats all her children with the same level of destruction. If you read about most great business successes, and if you look into it carefully, there is a gamble that someone took. We then laud these people and try to replicate their strategy. How do I replicate a gamble? By its mere definition, it means I am doing something where I could lose everything. In life, you should be trying to reduce the number of gambles you take, unless you have such a high-risk tolerance that sleeping on a friend's couch and eating ramen noodles for years looks mighty appealing.

In military strategy, we want to see our opponents fight someone a few times
before they fight us. We often secretly lead them into a conflict against someone else. We do this because we want to see how they fight others, how they could fight us, their relative strengths, and their relative weaknesses. And if we are lucky, their armies are destroyed before they fight us. This is the tenth lesson. Watch what happens in a crisis. Any crisis. It is a rare and important opporunity. Study everything. It provides a blueprint for what you can expect/do later in your life. If not a single friend/colleague/family helped, then you know what to expect/do in the next crisis. How did the emergency services respond? How long did it take you to run out of cash? Who helped you and who helped you first? Who made your life harder? What opportunities exist for you to advance? If you are not advancing, you are retreating.

This is the United States of America. Like the Mandalorians, we are a creed. A belief system. I chose that picture above because when America burns, our belief system stands through it all as our shining beacon. You cannot destroy a belief system.

The British burned Washington in 1814. We stormed back to become a superpower in a few decades.

The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor hoping to send us a decisive message to stay out of the way. Being the poor listeners that we are, we stormed back to lead the Allied victory in WWII.

San Francisco was hit with a dual earthquake and fire in 1906. It gave birth to Silicon Valley.

LA was hit by one of the worst firestorms ever. It gave birth to... 

Creative destruction may be unpleasant. Yet, it happens.

Live long and prosper,

Michael


P.S. 2025 is shaping up to be a game-changing year. We’re rolling out a wave of new programs and resources across SCRA, Insider, Legacy, Coaching, AI, and more. If there’s something you’d love to see us cover or release, or Michael & Kris to cover in their weekly emails, let us know at team@firmsconsulting.com. We told you that big things are coming, and this is just the beginning.

January 29

Corporate Strategy for Asset/Wealth Management (Executive Update 2, Part 1 & 2)

We have just released Part 1 & 2 of Executive Update 2 of the Corporate Strategy for Asset/Wealth Management Study in the Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level.

***

Every so often, we release a study that is so powerful, so fundamental, that if you take the time to read it multiple times and really understand what it was teaching and how it was teaching it, it will teach you a primary/core skill that will change your ability to operate as a seasoned professional with a deeply analytical mind.

This is one of those studies.

The study focuses on asset management within financial services, an area that is becoming increasingly important worldwide as income levels rise. In this study, we are going to analyze an asset manager that is growing at a slower rate than competitors in one of the most dynamic markets in the world. And because it is growing at a slower rate, it's ultimately losing market share.

In this study, we will present a way to analyze the distribution of a financial services product, which, with a few tweaks and changes, could be applied to the distribution of any financial services product, even though our primary focus here is on investment products for wealth management.

This is a study that we encourage everyone to read. Take the time to work through it. Think about how you could apply this thinking to your own sector, which may not be in financial services. It teaches a fundamental skill: how to analyze a market across all key elements, all the way from asset management to distribution and administration. Whether or not you are in financial services or asset management, you are in an industry that produces something that you distribute.

The study is particularly interesting because it takes a very complicated subject and analyzes it in a sophisticated yet simple way to draw out very important analyses. It uses highly sophisticated frameworks developed for the client, and it pulls it apart in a way we have not yet applied in other studies.

This is one of those anchor studies like our study on Competition, the LAB Study, the Power Sector study, and the Tech M&A study. These are anchor studies because they teach foundational skills that we want our clients to master.

In this study, we tackle something incredibly sophisticated in an area where many people tend to be a little bit afraid. While most people are afraid of math and finance, when you analyze finances within the financial services sector, people tend to get even more intimidated. However, this is a topic that has become more important globally as the middle class has risen in most countries and the number of millionaires has increased.

So, this is a foundational study that we will be referring to for years to come. It teaches something so fundamental that every member should work through it. It teaches a skill of how to analyze a complex sector in a way that is easy to follow, even if you do not have a background in the sector.


Corporate Strategy for Asset/Wealth Management consists of 3 executive updates. 

HOW TO FIND THE CORPORATE STRATEGY FOR ASSET/WEALTH MANAGEMENT:

1. Log in to The Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level, membership area.
2. See the "FULL ENGAGEMENTS" dropdown. 
3. Select "Corporate Strategy for Asset/Wealth Management."
4. The Corporate Strategy for Asset/Wealth Management consists of 197 slides for Executive Update 1 and 107 slides for Executive Update 2.

If you are The Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level, member, here is the direct link to these particular update.

If you joined an Advanced Level of the Strategy Control Room today, you would find the most powerful strategy, problem-solving, consulting, and results-oriented leadership reading library in the world. The resources include:

  • Michael's explanation slides for selected programs on StrategyTraining.com

  • 12 full engagements

  • Change Management Influence & Persuasion Center of Excellence 

  • Detailed Business Case Methodology Center of Excellence 

  • Encyclopedia of Strategy Analyses Center of Excellence 

  • Corporate Training Center of Excellence

  • One-Week Immersion: Consulting Onboarding / Consulting Mastery Center of Excellence

  • 31 proposals

  • Flipcharts

  • Layout guides

  • 17 strategy and problem-solving books which we do not make available anywhere else

  • 2 brand new strategy and problem-solving books just released and not available anywhere else

  • 11 book drafts never before available and not available anywhere else

  • Case interview materials for Felix, Rafik, Samantha, and Sanjeev, case interview exhibits, case interview solutions

  • The evolution of corporate strategy

  • The business case toolkit

  • Implementation and operation toolkit

  • Corporate strategy toolkit

  • Strategy maps

  • And more 

Enroll as a Strategy Control Room Advanced (SCRA) Member

January 13

More of What Doesn’t Make You Happy ... 
Will Not Make You Happy

We just released five episodes of a new Insider program (18-part program)...

Workbook: This program also comes with a downloadable workbook. You will see it as a downloadable document on the program page, the way you can access workbooks for Innovators vs. Summarizers, Overcome the Fear of Failure, and Non-Traditional Way to Build a Media Asset. The team is finalizing the workbook now and will be posting it next week. I highly recommend you download and print the workbook and use it as you work through the program. You will get even more value out of the program this way. Our workbooks also go deeper into certain areas covered in the program, so you can do deeper work if you go through an accompanying workbook.

Now let me share more details about the program.

Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine the spotlight is on you.

Finally.

The promotion you’ve worked years for, the recognition you’ve long craved, is within reach. Your peers envy you. Your family beams with pride.

And yet, something feels off.

This isn’t what you thought it would feel like.

Something you can’t quite name is biting at the edges of your mind.

A whisper, almost imperceptible, asking:

Is this what I really want?

You’re not alone.

Behind the polished veneers of corporate leaders, behind the titles, the applause, and the corner offices, is a different story. It’s a story of battles fought in silence, of sacrifices no one sees, and of choices that seemed obvious, until they weren’t.

I’ve seen it happen many times: leaders who climbed many rungs of the ladder only to discover it was leaning against the wrong wall. Careers that looked flawless from the outside but were unraveling on the inside.

What’s at stake?

It’s your time.
It’s your freedom.
It’s your happiness.
It's the amount of wealth you will create.
It's the legacy you can leave.

Sometimes, what looks like a golden opportunity is a trap in disguise. And sometimes, the thing everyone tells you to chase is exactly what will hold you back, not only personally but also professionally.

I’ve worked with leaders who faced difficult choices. People who seemed to have it all figured out, only to hit a moment of reckoning at the time they thought they would feel at the top of the world.

In this program we share some case studies. 

One is the story of a client who is a partner in private equity who built a billion-dollar portfolio but refused every management role he was offered. Why? The reason might shock you.

We also share another case study of a broker who outsold everyone in his region and his uncommon path to the top. 

These stories are mirrors. Each one reflects the kind of decision that many leaders, many ambitious professionals, will eventually face.

Here’s the question:

When that moment comes for you, will you be ready?

It does not start with getting answers. It starts with asking the questions that matter. Questions that, if you don’t confront them now, could derail your career.

- What if the promotion isn’t the prize you think it is?
- What if the path you’re on isn’t leading where you hope?
- And what if the answer you need isn’t the one you’ve been chasing?

In this program we will guide you on how to think about these questions so you can answer them in a thoughtful and informed way.

The answers aren’t obvious. That’s why we created this program to help leaders like you step back, take a hard look at their careers and ambitions, and uncover what most people miss until it’s too late.

But I’ll warn you, as with all
StrategyTraining.com programs, this program isn’t for everyone.

It’s for those ready to ask the hard questions. To confront the unspoken truths about career, success, and what it really means to create wealth, generate value and leave a legacy.

Here are some time stamps as you work through the program to help you not miss important points: 

  • Only when you answer this question will you know if pursuing a promotion makes sense for you (00:40, Ep 1)

  • Setting up his firm's very first set of investments in a particular asset class (02:20, Ep 1)

  • Analyzing 2-5 million deals to understand the economics, the mechanics, and how value is created (03:00, Ep 1)

  • No management responsibilities at the private equity firm, by choice (08:00, Ep 1)

  • What it looks like to have deep technical mastery of the field (10:30, Ep 1)

  • 6 reasons this client is burnishing his legacy, credentials and recognition while having a balanced life with his spouse and children (10:00, Ep 1)

  • Questions you need to ask yourself when it comes to promotions (13:30, Ep 1) 

  • Getting what matters to you (15:30, Ep 1)

  • Putting yourself into a place where you can create the most value for your organization (16:40, Ep 1)

  • Why you want a promotion and when promotion leads to 9 elements you want to maximize for (18:00, Ep 1)

  • How you determine if you want to be in management (00:50, Ep 2)

  • An unusual way to become a top person in your field (03:00, Ep 2)

  • Structuring a business in a way where you create the most value with the least amount of set-up costs (04:30, Ep 2)

  • How this #1 performing person in his field structures his days and manages his business (05:40, Ep 2)

  • When going to the levels of greater control within your organization does not make sense (08:00, Ep 2)

  • When clients pursue promotions for the wrong reasons (10:55, Ep 2)

  • Michael getting promoted to Partner in his 20s (00:45, Ep 3)

  • Getting moved to management positions quickly (00:55, Ep 3)

  • 3 reasons Michael was given management roles (01:30, Ep 3)

  • What must be proved before you are given a management role (02:14, Ep 3)

  • Growing a book of business (02:30, Ep 3)

  • Tasks pulling away from clients and building a book of business (03:06, Ep 3)

  • The highest-paid partner at the firm (03:50, Ep 3)

  • What led to Michael's growth in compensation (04:15. Ep 3)

  • Steps required to get yourself on the map within a major organization (06:30, Ep 3)

  • You cannot lead without this (08:15, Ep 3)

  • Two part action step number 1 (00:50, Ep 4)

  • Seven rough things people are pursuing (03:40, Ep 4)

  • Critical questions to ask (04:20, Ep 4)

  • A common story we see with clients (06:50, Ep 4)

  • H1B visa challenges (08:20, Ep 4)

  • What often happens when clients gets a green card (08:50, Ep 4)

  • What people often maximize for (10:50, Ep 4)

  • What immigrant clients often do that really hurts them (12:30, Ep 4)

  • Ask yourself this critical question (14:51, Ep 4)

  • 7 things (18:00, Ep 4)

  • When promotions lead to success and highest compensation (00:20, Ep 5)

  • If you can get this, you may not need a promotion (01:00, Ep 5)

  • Section 47 (03:34, Ep 5)

  • Control of the entire process breakdown example (04:04, Ep 5)

  • Coordinating and synchronizing across the entire company versus the management consulting practice setup (08:19, Ep 5)

  • Contrasting types of businesses and what is required to create the most value (12:00, Ep 5)

  • When being promoted results in you creating less wealth (15:20, Ep 5)

  • Proving you can create value (16:40, Ep 5)

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Enrollment is now open for new Insider and Legacy members. Don’t let another transformative program pass you by. The insights we share are unique, powerful, timely, and battle-tested. As one of the long-term Insiders said in a recent conversation with me:

"The content is getting better every time... The thing with all the content here is that we kind of have to go through them. When you are put into that situation, you kind of like, okay, I picked up this concept from here. I review it because each person's situation is different. But I know where to find them, and I always get results when I apply what I’ve learned."

If you're an Insider or Legacy member,
this program is now available in your account on StrategyTraining.com.

Not a member yet? Enroll here:
www.strategytraining.com (scroll to membership options and select Insider or Legacy level to immediately access this program).

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out at
team@firmsconsulting.com.

Thank you for being a part of the
StrategyTraining.com community.

Access New Insider Program

December 12, 2024

Developing a Financial Services Strategy Proposal

We have just released Developing a Financial Services Strategy Proposal (109 SLIDES). It is accessible within the Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level.
 

***

This winning proposal template/example is unique. The goal was to impress the private equity firm which had purchased the retailer, and serve as their advisor rather than working for the retailer, which was planning an expansion into financial services. The proposal, which is detailed and research-intensive, was meant to help the PE executives who sat on the retailer's board understand that what they were proposing could be repeated across the continent. 

While our primary focus is on retail banking integration, the frameworks and methodologies presented here can be adapted to analyze any retail-based service integration strategy. We will outline how to grow financial services to 50% of revenue across a consumer base of the client.

The objective is to grow the business while increasing returns and managing risk sustainably and present it in a structured, approachable manner that any business leader can understand and apply.

This will serve as an anchor study alongside other transformational business cases within our knowledge management system, which, based on a lot of requests, was made accessible to our clients via the Strategy Control Room Advanced.

The study shows how to analyze market opportunities, manage risks, and scale operations while maintaining sustainable growth, which is fundamental to any major business transformation.

This proposal breaks down the process into manageable, actionable steps. It's designed to be valuable not just for those in financial services but for anyone interested in understanding how to successfully integrate new service lines into existing business models.

HOW TO FIND DEVELOPING A FINANCIAL SERVICES STRATEGY PROPOSAL:

1. Log in to The Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level, membership area.
2. See the "PROPOSALS" dropdown. 
3. Select "Developing a Financial Services Strategy Proposal."
4. The Developing a Financial Services Strategy Proposal consists of 109 slides.

If you are The Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level, member, here is the direct link to this particular update.

If you joined an Advanced Level of the Strategy Control Room today, you would find the most powerful strategy, problem-solving, consulting, and results-oriented leadership reading library in the world. The resources include:

  • Michael's explanation slides for selected programs on StrategyTraining.com

  • 12 full engagements

  • Change Management Influence & Persuasion Center of Excellence 

  • Detailed Business Case Methodology Center of Excellence 

  • Encyclopedia of Strategy Analyses Center of Excellence 

  • Corporate Training Center of Excellence

  • One-Week Immersion: Consulting Onboarding / Consulting Mastery Center of Excellence

  • 32 proposals

  • Flipcharts

  • Layout guides

  • 17 strategy and problem-solving books which we do not make available anywhere else

  • 2 brand new strategy and problem-solving books just released and not available anywhere else

  • 11 book drafts never before available and not available anywhere else

  • Case interview materials for Felix, Rafik, Samantha, and Sanjeev, case interview exhibits, case interview solutions

  • The evolution of corporate strategy

  • The business case toolkit

  • Implementation and operation toolkit

  • Corporate strategy toolkit

  • Strategy maps

  • And more 

Enroll as a Strategy Control Room Advanced Member

And if you are not yet an Insider or Legacy member and want to gain access to video and audio advanced programs on StrategyTraining.com we invite you to explore membership options (scroll down). We recommend to start with Insider or Legacy membership as a base membership and add the Strategy Control Room (Advanced Level) as an add-on when the time is right for you.

Take this opportunity to invest in yourself and your future. StrategyTraining.com resources can be transformative for your career, but it's up to you to make time to study the resources and focus on quick integration. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at team@firmsconsulting.com.

January 02

The One Thing That Will Change Your Life Completely

As someone who immigrated 3 times in my life, I am part of a group that I call professional immigrants. Meaning, I am really good at navigating the steps needed to pick up my life and move to another country where I don't know anyone, and build a professional career and life there.

I can also call myself a professional immigrant because I am considered to be highly skilled and highly educated. I worked at top consulting companies in the world, where I received accelerated promotions. I was a corporate finance director at a top-3 Canadian bank where I managed a portfolio of over 1 billion dollars and received an accelerated promotion and an award. Myself, Michael, and our incredible team run a very influential business that moves forward strategy thinking and management consulting profession around the world. Very few people can say that when they speak to competitors, they can see their books on the competitor's bookshelf and where a competitor is telling you how much your books or book helped them in their business. This happened to me multiple times.

What makes professional immigrants exceptional leaders

We are often highly trained and highly motivated, and highly educated professionals who leave behind everything, to take huge risks to have a better life, bigger opportunities, and earn more for ourselves and our families. We make the journey alone. We are not kids following our parents who protect us. We have no protection. We were not born in the countries we end up calling our homes. We often are from poorer countries. We leave behind our families, often not seeing them for a decade or more. At the time of writing, I have seen my parents and brothers only twice in over 20 years and my sister 3 times in over 20 years.

We leave our friends. We leave all the comforts of home: our language, our reputations, our friends, sometimes our credentials, our food, our culture, and our safety net. We have dependents, our extended families, before we have children. Some of us decide not to have children or have only one while we would love to have more, because the level of responsibility we already have for our extended family makes it very hard for us to add another dependent.

We are often the most hardworking members of our family. Millions of us are stuck in limbo around immigration rules.

My immigration journey

I moved for a better life four times. I first moved to Moscow, which is hard to do without the right residency permit even though I am Russian. That was not a successful trip at all but I kept at it. In fact, it was harder than any of my 3 moves to another country. I then moved to Africa and then to North America. And within North America from Canada to the USA. And I also moved between cities within some of those countries. For example, in the US I lived in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

I had no relatives in any of those countries, no mentorship or guidance and no support. I had no friends to meet me at the airport and no community on which to rely. When I first immigrated, my pianist diploma was not even recognized and could not even be found in the educational certification database. It was as if I did not have any education, and I had to start from scratch.

Even the paid legal help was often a nightmare, which ended up costing me time and money to fix. Yet, I had to do it because I had to take care of several family members. When I started my journey, there were times when I did not eat lunch to save money and wore older clothing with holes, including shoes. I still remember the burgundy shoes I had in Africa with holes in the sole. No one could see the holes, but I could feel them.

H1B / green card

Quitting is often not any easier. Moving back to our home countries is often a difficult option. Many immigrants study in the West, like me, and often take on expensive student loans. They need to stay and work in the West to pay down these student loans since their employment prospects in their home countries do not pay enough.

In the US, the H1B visa is a lottery. It's a competitive process where most will not get a visa. Those who do get it often need to stay with their employer. Their employer may or may not file a green card application. The green card approval may take up to twenty years. I read that 200,000 Indians will die of natural causes before their green cards are approved.

Think about that. 200,000 talented and generous professionals who are very hardworking and making tremendous sacrifices to care for their immediate and extended family will not live their full lives.

Many cannot buy homes for fear of having a firesale so that they can leave the country within the time limit, should they lose their jobs, to avoid being banned. For this reason, I rented for a long time. By renting and not buying, we give up the primary method to build wealth: equity growth in a home. We have to build wealth with the best option often out of our reach for a very long time. Children may age out of the process. Spouses often cannot work. It's tragic that most H1B holders who lose their jobs did not do so due to poor performance. Technology companies, for example, simply changed their strategies and decided to cut costs in the face of rising interest rates.

Recruitment for professional immigrants

In Canada, I was told I needed professional Canadian work experience to break into professional ranks. Yet, very few wanted to give applicants this experience. I had to get an MBA from a top school, with distinction on the deans’ list, to break into the top bank, and then a major consulting firm. In two separate countries, I had to study again just to break into the professional ranks.

Most professional immigrants cannot afford to study again or have their previous degrees and credentials accredited. As I mentioned earlier, at one point an accreditation body could not find my Russian school in their database. I gave up that process and studied again. I know taxi drivers who were doctors, lawyers, and architects in their home countries who cannot afford the re-certification process. They drive a car to care for their spouse and children, and families in their home countries.

Credit scores are not transferable between countries. Not even between Canada and the US. Even Canadian checks are often not cashable in the USA. I found that out the hard way. Buying a car and home is difficult, especially if you do not know when you will be asked to leave. Travel is very hard. There is always the lingering fear that some administrative error will lock you out or the laws may change while you are traveling. Some professional immigrants, like those on the H1B, are stuck to one employer and often for the same role. They cannot try new things nor can they accept promotions to better, but different, roles. The mind frays when it is not challenged. Often, in our peak years, most immigrants are stuck in the same careers.

A mountain of paperwork

We become knowledge management experts as we have to keep a mountain of paperwork and original documents to support our movement. Our entire lives are archived and indexed in color-coded folders. We keep meticulous notes on all our travels. We keep all passports and even hundreds of pages of utility bills to prove we were where we said we were.

In just about every professional immigrant’s home there is a cupboard filled with legal documentation. This is often more valuable than their retirement accounts. It’s hard to open and keep retirement accounts knowing you could be forced to leave at any time, often selling at the wrong time. Planning is hard. It is based on the renewal of documents and visas.

Supporting extended family

It is not uncommon for children of immigrants to never meet their grandparents in person. I have seen my nephew only once in my life.

Most Western countries have rules, benefits, and perks that are not designed for cultures with extended families. I have seen many colleagues with kids allowed to leave early, while those without kids have to carry the weight. Yet, I also have many dependents, even if I do not have kids. Even bonuses and retrenchments take into consideration if employees have a partner and children. It almost never takes into consideration if you support numerous family members in your home country. Payments into your 401K are tax-deferred or tax-free for a Roth IRA account. Yet, the money I send home monthly often has the highest fees, going up to 30% in some cases. A professional immigrant’s definition of a family is usually much larger than the Western definition.

Anxiety & sacrifices

Lack of certainty causes anxiety. Knowing we have so little control over our ability to care for ourselves and our families has negative health effects. Fear of losing our jobs and having to leave forces us to not rock the boat at work. I would come to work early and leave very late to constantly prove my worth. I would have done it anyway, but the pressure of being an immigrant creates this constant sense of instability in your life. Professional immigrants often see their talented spouses staying at home and missing their peak earnings years. Simple things like getting and keeping a driver's license are difficult.

There is little financial freedom.
There is little future stability.
There is little flexibility.

The professional immigrant experience is a special experience. It is painful, and sometimes tragic, and it's often our families who gain the most from our efforts. We sacrifice parts of ourselves to give them something better. We rent, so our parents can buy a house. We delay children, so our nieces and nephews can afford the experiences we want for our children. I do not think many people in the West can understand this. We are expected to fight so hard on so many tiring fronts.

Taking care of so many people is hard and expensive. In both banking and consulting, I would have had to have been a senior person at the top end of the pay scale to care for my family. And it would have taken years to achieve with little guarantee of it happening. Did I really want to work so hard for so many years hoping to make enough to support my family? And that is not even having a good life. It would have meant working flat out just to stay afloat and maybe get a Sunday off. 

Another path to green card

If you want to explore following an alternative, faster path to green card and would like our support to significantly increase your chances to qualify for EB1A or a similar green card, you can either:

1) Join as a Legacy or Insider member and immediately start working through USA Immigration/Citizenship Best Practices From Our Most Successful Clients program. We recommend not delaying this, given the changes in immigration laws across the world. Start implementing what you learn right away while waiting for the upcoming EB1A Insider program to come out. The insights can also be applied when applying for a similar visa in other countries.

2) If you don't want to be alone while doing the monumental mental work required to figure out a path to meet eligibility requirements, plus navigate all the obstacles along the way, you can apply to work directly with us as part of a 1-year program. In this executive coaching program, we figure out the critical path with you and work together to guide you through the critical path. In other words, we select the criteria we should work on meeting, design a critical path for you to become eligible, and then guide you as you progress through the critical path. 

If you know anything about working with Michael and me, you will know that we often find solutions/ways for you to move forward that you haven't thought about that can give you a real edge in life. Email team@firmsconsulting.com with additional details about your situation and your resume (in any format currently available) to start your application.

Please note that the objective of this executive coaching program is not to explain your achievements or merely compile documents. This is what lawyers do. If we work together, our role would be to help you create and achieve those things that would meet the conditions for the green card. Please note that we are not immigration lawyers and clients must use common sense and consult legal counsel when making decisions.

Learn more about the upcoming Insider program and executive coaching program here (please kindly note that due to some bug on the site that we just noticed and are working on fixing, the page takes longer to load): EB-1A Green Card – An Alien of Extraordinary Ability program.

P.S. Access Insider or Legacy membership materials (our in-depth video/audio training library) on StrategyTraining.com (scroll down to membership options).

P.S.S. Would you like reading materials, too? Access the Strategy Control Room Advanced.

January 01

Set a Bold Goal and Join Us...

For a Transformative Year

Happy New Year!

This year, we will do something
different for Insiders and Legacy members. Yes, we are going to be releasing powerful programs for both Insider and Legacy levels. Major updates and exciting changes are coming to both and we will share more soon. We also will be releasing very powerful materials as part of the Strategy Control Room Advanced. In addition, we will also be doing something completely new for Insiders and Legacy members: a big one-year program together called "The Annual."

The program is designed to help you achieve a goal you set at the beginning of the program. It's the one goal that can lead to a significant -
trajectory-altering - improvement in your life/career.

This will be a new format for an Insider program, which we will figure out together as the program progresses. The current plan is for the program to have key modules to be completed as you progress toward the goal you set for the year, support resources, and LIVE calls where you can submit your written questions, all designed to help you:


Build your dreams with people you trust.


The current plan is that at the end of each important module, we will get together on a LIVE call where you can submit your written questions related to the module or the step on the critical path as you pursue your goal. 

The world is changing rapidly, and we have to either change with it or get left behind. We do not want any of our Insiders, Legacy members, or clients to be left behind.

For a long time, we were about building the skill set that only a consulting partner from a major firm would have. Now, it is time to transcend to the next level. Skills development will remain important, and we will continue teaching our clients and members key skills, but we will go beyond that. We will focus on building your dream.

That dream could be:

- being the best advisor for your clients you can be
- going on your own and building your own business
- progressing to executive ranks within your organization
- becoming a respected expert in your field
- or just being a happy father/mother, husband/wife, son/daughter, employee, and friend, staying relevant and effective in a fast-changing world

What is happening with technology and AI development is both scary and exciting. Many people will be left behind if they don't adapt to the new reality. We are not going back to business as usual.

We are here to support you through this transition: helping you adapt to this new world so that you remain relevant, and helping you have a systematic and effective way of pursuing your goals, regardless of changes in technology. We will help you set a bold goal and work with you as you build your dream.

For the last set of our Results Clinics in 2025, one of our amazing executive coaching clients asked if his wife could fully enroll in the program as well. While we are basically full for all current executive coaching groups, as we keep each group very small so we can work in depth with each client on every call, we found space for our client’s wife, who is increadible, by the way. These kinds of emails particularly touch my heart because they show that what we do is highly relevant and valuable. This is a level of trust that is extremely rare in work relationships. Only when you trust someone at an incredibly high level would you bring your significant other into the executive coaching program you are a part of.

StrategyTraining.com and FIRMSconsulting.com were always about being a place where people can transform the trajectory of their lives, regardless of where they are in their careers. If someone finds us at the beginning of their career, when they cannot even afford our monthly Premium membership (which is only $167 and gives access to very powerful programs, with Insider access unlocked when 7th consecutive month begins), they can use all the free resources we have out there to get to the point where they can afford a monthly Premium membership or even immediate access to Insider through annual membership, and our other products and services.

Once someone becomes a Premium member, they will have access to tremendous resources that, if diligently applied, can allow them to increase their compensation far above the level of affording to upgrade to Legacy at which point they can start getting a tailored reply from us to their question on a regular basis. And that upgrade can then provide support, insights, and navigation to help get to a place where members can easily afford to work with us personally as part of our executive coaching programs.

At every level and every step of someone’s career or life, we are a place where members and clients can build their dreams with people they trust. This is what 2025 will be about.

If you want to be a part of this, if you want to have a trusted advisor, make 2025 a year where you stay relevant, transcend to the next level, and remain in a position to continue being relevant as the world changes at an unprecedented rate.

If you are ready to build your dream, make sure you access Insider or Legacy now so you don't miss the goal-setting part of the program and so you can be with us from the beginning of
The Annual 2025 program.

If you also want to work with us personally, seats are limited. We have now basically run out of seats for our current executive coaching groups, but we are open to adding one or two more small groups for 2025, if there is a good fit for both sides. To inquire and apply, email
team@firmsconsulting.com.

I’m looking forward to 2025 and what we will do together, what we can achieve together. I hope you will use these first few days of 2025 to get a little rest, take a break, and reset so we can hit the ground running with
The Annual together.

Happy holidays and the warmest wishes to you and your family.

Enroll in Insider or Legacy membership at
StrategyTraining.com so you don’t miss the beginning of The Annual.

Access Insider

(Enroll as an Insider or Legacy member after scrolling down to membership options).

Access Insider (Enroll for Insider or Legacy)

2
December 22, 2024

It’s Not About What You Think Your Expertise Is....

It’s About Where Others See You Bring Value

We just released a full new Insider program (a 3-part program)...

Workbook: This program also comes with a downloadable workbook. You will see it as a downloadable document on the program page, the way you can access workbooks for Innovators vs. Summarizers, Overcome the Fear of Failure, and Non-Traditional Way to Build a Media Asset. The team is finalizing the workbook now and will be posting it next week. I highly recommend you download and print the workbook and use it as you work through the program. You will get even more value out of the program this way. Our workbooks also go deeper into certain areas covered in the program, so you can do deeper work if you go through an accompanying workbook.

Now let me share more details about this new 3-part Insider program (the full program was just released for Insiders):

What if you could build a book of business in record time, even if you had no prior relationships? That’s the focus of our latest program.

Let me take you inside a real challenge faced by one of our exceptional Legacy members and long-term clients. Let's call him Mark. Mark had identified a groundbreaking opportunity: a way AI could unlock massive value in private equity. But here’s the reality he faced:

No active relationships: Mark's connections in private equity were 15 years old and dormant.

High risk of idea appropriation: How do you share an insight without giving away the keys to the kingdom?

Proving relevance: Could Mark demonstrate his indispensable value to the execution?

Sound familiar? Whether you’re a seasoned professional or starting fresh in a high-stakes industry, you’ve likely faced similar questions. How do you break through when the odds seem stacked against you? How do you establish yourself as indispensable in a world where people are becoming more and more easily replaceable?

That’s where this program comes in.

We designed it specifically to help leaders like you navigate these challenges.

And emerge stronger, sharper, and positioned for success.

This program, like all our programs, is not about generic advice or recycled ideas. It’s about the battle-tested approach that works, tools that deliver results, and strategies proven by executives who’ve been where you are now.

What You Can Expect to Learn:

- How to turn dormant relationships into powerful business allies.
- The secrets to framing your value so decision-makers can’t say no.
- The tactics to protect your insights while still gaining traction.
- The way you can build a book of business fast and get meetings with C-suite executives even if you have no pre-existing relationships in the industry.

What if you could not only re-establish credibility but position yourself as the authority that top firms seek out? In a case study from Michael's career, you’ll explore a powerful approach to unlock access to C-suite executives with whom you have no prior relationships. This was done in a way that didn't just get Michael elected to become a partner very early in his career but also built the careers of many people within Michael's team and established a very profitable new consulting practice.

This program will take you step-by-step through how to do the same. But here’s the truth:

You will only get results if you listen with a focus on "How do I apply this as soon as possible?"

You need:

Impatience with actions, patience with results.

You won’t just be handed the answers. As with all our programs, you’ll be guided to discover your path and craft your approach. But you need to apply what you will learn to your life and your career to see how powerful this approach is.

Why This Program Matters to You Now:

Opportunities don’t wait. The space you are in is probably highly competitive and it is difficult to get traction. Without a sharp strategy and the right tools, even the best ideas can fail to take off or get appropriated by people who can implement them without you.

But...

With the right approach, you can compete and, possibly, dominate.

This program is for leaders ready to:

- Build a book of business faster than they thought possible.
- Turn insights into tangible value without losing control of their ideas.
- Position themselves as indispensable in the eyes of stakeholders.

We mapped out the path to success for you.

You bring the ambition, and we’ll provide the roadmap.

Here are some time stamps as you work through the program to help you not miss important points:

  • How we use our AI system to provide input in decision-making (00:30, Ep 1)

  • Dissecting the question (01:30, Ep 1)

  • What you should keep in mind when presenting your credentials (04:00, Ep 1)

  • Questions to ask when you are evaluating your insight/business idea (04:50, Ep 1)

  • Getting clear on where the problem lies (06:00, Ep 1)

  • You can't make a decision before you clarify this (09:00, Ep 1)

  • How branding yourself works (12:00, Ep 1)

  • The biggest mistake people make when selecting a role model (15:50, Ep 1)

  • The way PE works (0:30, Ep 2)

  • A big shift in PE (02:00, Ep 2)

  • The kind of executives PE firms bring in (03:40, Ep 2)

  • What will determine if the PE executive wants to include you after you share the idea (05:30, Ep 2)

  • Battle-tested model to reach executives in power, even without pre-existing relationships (07:00, Ep 2)

  • Dealing with a lack of distribution points for your ideas (14:40, Ep 2)

  • Iconic Black Stone story told behind closed doors and a key lesson for you (02:00, Ep 3)

  • Crucial criteria when selecting a business partner (09:40, Ep 3)

---

Enrollment is now open for new Insider and Legacy members. Don’t let another program pass you by. The insights we share are unique, powerful, timely, and battle-tested. As one of the long-term Insiders said in a recent conversation with me:

"The content is getting better every time... The thing with all the content here is that we kind of have to go through them. When you are put into that situation, you kind of like, okay, I picked up this concept from here. I review it because each person's situation is different. But I know where to find them, and I always get results when I apply what I’ve learned."

If you're an Insider or Legacy member, this program is now available in your account on StrategyTraining.com.

Not a member yet? Enroll here: www.strategytraining.com (scroll to membership options and select Insider or Legacy level to immediately access this program).

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out at team@firmsconsulting.com.

December 15, 2024

In a Saturated Market, a Single Compelling Graphic Can...

Be Worth a Thousand Meandering Words.

When it comes to consulting proposals, true mastery lies not merely in pristine logic but in how one’s vision leaps from the page. Even if you aren’t a member of the Strategy Control Room Advanced (SCRA), our internal massive reading library, or Insider or Legacy member with access to our extensive proprietary video and audio training library we spent over 15 years putting together, you can benefit from the insights we’ve applied in putting together sale-worthy consulting proposals.

So, bend an ear, sharpen a quill, and consider these 13 tips on writing sale-worthy consulting proposals to outshine your competition:

1. Focus on the Client's Needs:

Understand the audience for your consulting proposal. Their biggest aches, aspirations, and constraints. While it's important to showcase your consulting firm's capabilities, demonstrate a deep understanding of potential client's business context, and tailor your content to meet their specific needs and expectations. Meeting in person, if possible, can provide deeper insights into potential clients' requirements and help you craft a more targeted proposal. It can enable you to tailor a proposal that resonates with their deepest priorities (which are often biased for each particular senior person on the client's side).

2. Quality Over Quantity:

High proposal volume often leads to lower quality. Endless pages of boilerplate banality are what you often see with consulting proposals that go nowhere. Instead of churning out numerous proposals, focus on creating fewer, well-thought-out proposals. This approach prevents a cut-and-paste mentality and ensures each proposal is designed with care and precision.

3. Involve the Right People:

Avoid having dedicated proposal teams that are disconnected from the operational realities of a project. Instead, rotate team members from ongoing similar studies to work on proposals. When contributors bring firsthand operational insight to the table, the resulting promises become grounded, authentic, and credible. Such frontline wisdom lends a sharper edge, ensuring your proposal stands out from competitors.

4. Differentiate Your Consulting Proposal:

Don’t settle for stale, industry-standard claims. Have a clear point of differentiation and drive it hard. Your consulting proposal should stand out by highlighting unique insights, methodologies, or capabilities that your firm offers. Write in a way so that any discerning reader thinks: This team sees the world differently.

5. Use Proposals as Strategic Tools:

A consulting proposal should serve as more than just a document to win business. It should be a strategic tool that positions your consulting firm as a thought leader and a trusted advisor. Aim for your proposal to become a reference document within the client organization, sparking discussions and guiding decision-making. Render it so robust, so insightful, that it evolves into a treasured reference within the client’s corridors.

6. Elegant Simplicity Amid Complexity: 

Simplicity is the hallmark of refined thinking. Communicate complex ideas in a straightforward manner. Avoid jargon and ensure that the proposal is easy to read and understand. Use clear, concise language to convey your message effectively. Make complexity approachable. Translate complexity into clean lines of reasoning, and sculpt your narrative so a layperson (or a rushed executive) still catches every crucial point.

7. Back-Up Promises with Resources:

Every promise requires a solid underpinning. Ensure that any resources or capabilities promised in the proposal are backed up by actual resources within your firm. Any hinted resource, promised capability, or vaunted tool must have substance behind it. Back your claims with evidence: internal experts ready to mobilize or proprietary analytics proven to deliver. Tangible proof, be it seasoned experts, validated analytics, or prior successes, builds credibility and trust with the client.

8. Clarity of Purpose from the Outset:

Start with a clear, concise statement of the problem and the value your solution provides: Here is the crux of the challenge, and here is the value we pledge to bring. Let no reader wade through a swamp of confusion before grasping the essence of what you are proposing.

9. The “Wow” Factor on Every Page of Your Consulting Proposal: 

As Kevin P. Coyne, former McKinsey worldwide co-head of strategy practice, shared in our in-depth programs likeHow to Solve Big ProblemsandHow to Become a McKinsey Partner (on StrategyTraining.com), you want to ensure there is at least one "WoW" moment for a client on every page or every slide of your proposal. It can be presented in written format or verbally, but it has to be there.  A striking insight, a novel metric, a new angle, something that compels a double-take and plants a seed of excitement.

10. A Story That Flows Like a River:

Structure your consulting proposal as a narrative unfolding in logical segments. From context-setting background to crystal-clear objectives, from approach to timelines and outcomes, each segment should follow naturally, ensuring your reader never loses the thread. Make it easy for potential clients to follow along.

11. Visual Engagement:

Words can only carry so much weight before the eyes need a break. Deploy clean visuals, concise slides, and crisp charts to help potential clients quickly grasp complex concepts and data. In a saturated market, a single compelling graphic can be worth a thousand meandering words. One of the huge benefits of using theSCRAis you have access to full studies, proposals, and centers of excellence to find compelling graphics to showcase an insight that can make you stand out.

12. Proof of Value. Not Platitudes:

Support your recommendations with evidence (market research, case studies, pilot results). Case studies whisper of past victories. Market research offers rich context. Pilot results bestow tangible credibility. Quantify potential returns where possible. The more solid your proof, the firmer your foundation in the client’s mind.

13. Promise a Tomorrow Worth Pursuing:

Present a forward-thinking view. Extend your vision beyond current pain points. Show how your consulting proposal anticipates shifting markets, guiding the client toward sustainable, long-term success. Inspire them not only to solve today’s problems but proactively prepare to handle tomorrow's problems and seize tomorrow’s opportunities.

By incorporating these insights, you can design consulting proposals that are not only compelling and persuasive but also strategically aligned with the client's needs and your firm's objectives. These principles are emphasized in Firmsconsulting's and StrategyTraining.com resources, such as our books (SCRA) and training programs, which aim to equip consultants and leaders with the skills needed to excel in consulting proposal writing and client attraction and retention.

Even if you never "step inside" the Strategy Control Room (Advanced) library, these principles and insights can refine how you approach writing proposals for internal initiatives or client-facing projects. By balancing strategic vision with practical steps, you can inspire confidence among stakeholders and ensure your efforts are grounded in measurable outcomes.

Speaking of consulting proposals, we have just released our new proposal, “Project to Better Serve Customers (Pilot, 28 Slides),” now available in the Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level. This document details a forward-looking approach designed to address Company 1’s core business challenges, including declining market share, stagnant revenue growth, and underperforming profit margins.

What’s Inside the New Proposal:

The project unfolds in two key phases to ensure a methodical, results-driven approach:

  • Phase 1: High-Level Design & Business Case – Establish a strategic foundation, clarify objectives, and validate the potential ROI.

  • Phase 2: Detailed Design & Implementation – Translate strategy into action, refine organizational structures, and set up processes that improve customer satisfaction and retention.

Core Objectives:

  • Deep Market Insight: Gain a more nuanced understanding of evolving market dynamics to inform better decision-making.

  • Enhanced Customer Segmentation: Develop precise customer segments, ensuring targeted solutions and messaging.

  • Dedicated Customer Service Center: Create a centralized hub focused on delivering exceptional, value-added support and building long-term customer relationships.

We invite you to explore this proposal and other proposals within the SCRA and apply these lessons to your own work. 

HOW TO FIND "PROJECT TO BETTER SERVE CUTOMERS. PILOT" PROPOSAL:

1. Log in to The
Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level, membership area.
2. See the "PROPOSALS" dropdown. 
3. Select "33 Project to Better Serve Customers. Pilot (28 SLIDES)."

4. The "Project to Better Serve Customers. Pilot" consists of 28 slides for the three documents.

If you are The Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level, member, here is the direct link to this particular update.

If you joined an Advanced Level of the Strategy Control Room today, you would find the most powerful strategy, problem-solving, consulting, and results-oriented leadership reading library in the world. The resources include:

  • Michael's explanation slides for selected programs on StrategyTraining.com

  • 12 full engagements

  • Change Management Influence & Persuasion Center of Excellence 

  • Detailed Business Case Methodology Center of Excellence 

  • Encyclopedia of Strategy Analyses Center of Excellence 

  • Corporate Training Center of Excellence

  • One-Week Immersion: Consulting Onboarding / Consulting Mastery Center of Excellence

  • 33 proposals

  • Flipcharts

  • Layout guides

  • 17 strategy and problem-solving books which we do not make available anywhere else

  • 2 brand new strategy and problem-solving books just released and not available anywhere else

  • 11 book drafts never before available and not available anywhere else

  • Case interview materials for Felix, Rafik, Samantha, and Sanjeev, case interview exhibits, case interview solutions

  • The evolution of corporate strategy

  • The business case toolkit

  • Implementation and operation toolkit

  • Corporate strategy toolkit

  • Strategy maps

  • And more 

Enroll as a Strategy Control Room Advanced Member

And if you are not yet an Insider or Legacy member and want to gain access to video and audio advanced programs on StrategyTraining.com we invite you to explore membership options (scroll down). We recommend to start with Insider or Legacy membership as a base membership and add the Strategy Control Room (Advanced Level) as an add-on when the time is right for you.

Take this opportunity to invest in yourself and your future. StrategyTraining.com resources can be transformative for your career, but it's up to you to make time to study the resources and focus on quick integration. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at team@firmsconsulting.com.

December 15, 2024

The Family Didn’t Trust Each Other, Let Alone the Buyer.

Every Move Felt Like Navigating a Minefield.

Building an electric car start-up: 9 new episodes

Building an electric car start-up is not for the faint of heart. Picture standing at the edge of an industry known for brutal competition, staggering costs, and relentless innovation. Then imagine stepping into it, not as a seasoned automaker but as an outsider. No connections. No experiences. No decades of industry knowledge.

This is exactly where Richard, a former MBB consultant and StrategyTraining.com Case Coaching Alum, found himself. And he came to us to see if we would join forces with him in pursuing this goal.

We did. And we’ve captured every single step of this audacious journey for you.

Nine new episodes (within Part 3) of the 
Building an Electric Car Start-Up program were just released. The stakes are high; the challenges are insurmountable for most. To move this venture forward, an uncommon level of problem-solving and business strategy thinking is required.

The Stakes:

Electric vehicles may very well represent the future of transportation, but they also embody some of the toughest questions in business:

  • How do you build a brand from scratch in a field dominated by giants like Tesla?

  • Can you align groundbreaking technology with mass-market appeal?

  • What’s the path from an idea to a product that not only works in the short term but works in a sustainable way?

For Richard and us, co-building this business together, these are not abstract questions. They are existential ones.

The Challenges:

At every step, the obstacles are monumental. But in this particular part of the program, we will zoom in on roadblocks we had to deal with when we got to a point where we already raised 20 million dollars, decided to acquire an auto manufacturer, found a suitable acquisition target, and commenced negotiations. The key challenges we faced at this step of the journey included:

  1. A Fragmented Family Business:
    The acquisition process began with the intent to secure a struggling, family-run automotive company, a business mired in disputes, poor record-keeping, and mismanagement. Every family member wanted a piece of the pie, and some actively sabotaged operations to get their way. Suppliers were alienated. Production lines stalled. Relationships fractured.

  2. Negotiating with Ghosts:
    Stakeholders emerged from every corner: stepchildren, estranged cousins, even family members the owner hadn’t spoken to in years. Each one with demands, grudges, and strategies to tilt the deal in their favor.

  3. When Dysfunction Meets Logistics:
    Procurement staff retaliated by halting essential orders. Suppliers, burned by the chaos, reallocated their production capacity to competitors. For a business that focused on creating customized high-end cars, a single missed shipment meant months, or even years, of setbacks.

  4. Auditors That Miss the Mark:
    Adding insult to injury, the audit process was a disaster. Despite working with a reputable firm, the auditors team missed critical gaps in financial records and commingling of assets. A lack of basic checks plagued the due diligence. It felt like navigating a ship with no map, no compass, and holes in the hull.

Were we able to persevere?

Become the smartest and most influential person in the room with the StrategyTraining app. In today’s fiercely competitive world, you either grow or risk irrelevance. Designed for busy business professionals, our app and website delivers thousands of transformational episodes from ex-McKinsey, BCG, and banking leaders, with new training added weekly. Our programs are known for delivering uncommon and battle-tested insights and approaches. But we take it a step further. We teach you how you can develop such insights and approaches yourself, given your unique situation. Whether you’re commuting, traveling, between meetings or working out, turn your downtime into valuable self-investment with meaningful ROI. Stay ahead by learning the skills few in the world possess. The StrategyTraining app can help you stand out, stay relevant, and become indispensable. Enroll as an Insider and download the app today.

Why This Matters:

Most of us won’t launch an electric car company, but we all face challenges that test our resolve, ingenuity, and endurance. This program is not really about the auto industry. It’s about creative problem-solving, leadership, and strategy distilled from the frontlines of one of the most complex start-up journeys you could imagine.

Through these nine new episodes, you’ll gain:

  • An unfiltered look at decision-making under pressure.

  • A stronger ability to think like a strategy partner, no matter your field.

  • Lessons that go beyond theory to show you the reality of implementation.

What’s at Stake for You?

Here’s the truth: watching this program can change how you see business. And it can change how you think about business.

Do you have the mental discipline to navigate uncertain waters? To see opportunity where others see only problems? To not give up where most people would. 

This is an invitation to challenge yourself.

Let’s face it: success isn’t handed to you and me. If it was, everyone would be successful.

It’s built one decision at a time. For example, a decision to invest in building the type of rare skills we teach on
StrategyTraining.com.

Giving timestamps for 9 episodes will make this email way too long. So here are timestamps just for the last episode released so far (episode 25) to give you a taste of what is in store for you:

- Leveraging relationships with the owner (Episode 25, 0:40)
- Challenging family dynamics (Episode 25, 02:00)
- Classic torturous issue family businesses face (Episode 25, 04:30)
- Creating a family committee (Episode 25, 06:20)
- M&A discussions led to production problems (Episode 25, 06:56)
- The scabbles didn't end there (Episode 25, 07:49)
- How the family tried to sabotage the deal (Episode 25, 08:50)
- What sabotage of the deal efforts by the family members allowed us to do (Episode 25, 10:05)
- Family members taking steps to destroy the business (Episode 25, 11:00)
- Unique situation where shareholders have operating roles as well (Episode 25, 11:30)
- Dealing with accounting issues and liabilities (Episode 25, 13:00)
- Poor performance of the audit team (Episode 25, 14:30)

Get Started

If you are a member, access the new 9 episodes here or click the button below.

Building an Electric Car Start-Up (Insiders & Legacy Members)

Want Personalized Help?

In addition to the powerful programs, there is also executive coaching program for more senior clients within our community, where you can work personally with Michael and me as you are pursuing your goal. This allows you to receive our mentorship and coaching as you develop your critical path and execute along the critical path. 

I often hear from members of the FC community that they did not apply for executive coaching with us because they are not as successful as some of our clients. I personally encourage you to apply. If you know my story and if you know us, it will not be a surprise to you that what we are looking for when selecting clients is not your level of success but the kind of person you are and what your intentions are as it relates to using the power and influence once you get it.

If you take a look at our 1-year long executive coaching program, where we work very closely with each client (1:1 in very small groups) as we progress from week to week towards particular goals, every client within a 1-year program is a prior coaching client. And some of those clients started with us while at university and we had the honor of being their guide throughout their entire career journey. Email
team@firmsconsulting.com to apply.

And to access our online video and audio training programs enroll below (scroll down to membership options and select Insider or Legacy).

www.strategytraining.com

As the year draws to a close, it’s the perfect time to pause and reflect on your progress. Are you where you envisioned yourself? If not, it may be time to recalibrate for the year ahead. Persisting with the same strategies while expecting different outcomes rarely leads to meaningful change.

At
StrategyTraining.com, we provide comprehensive training and expert guidance to accelerate your personal and professional growth, helping you realize your potential far beyond what can be achieved without our help.

- Our Strategy Control Room (Advanced) resources with premium books, studies, proposals and centers of excellence (our giant reading library) is a powerful reference and reading library.
- Our expansive library of video and audio training focuses on teaching you in-depth the kind of skills very few people in the world have.
- Our Strategy & Consulting AI system is trained on proprietary data and gives you quick outputs to speed up your decision-making and work.
- Our executive coaching program for selected clients is an opportunity to work closely with Michael and me as you are working towards your goal.

All these products and programs work together to equip you with the resources and support to design a transformative and cohesive plan for your career and life, and execute it effectively.

Our structured approach enhances your decision-making, uncovers and amplifies your unique strengths, helps you build a unique set of skills that almost no one has, and delivers the clarity needed to identify opportunities and tackle challenges with confidence. These resources are a blueprint for achieving outcomes that would be difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish without working with us.

The upcoming year holds tremendous potential, but realizing that potential requires deliberate action and expert guidance. Our products and programs are designed to guide your transformation, but the first step starts with you.

Take this opportunity to invest in your future. If you have questions or need assistance, we’re here to help. Reach out anytime at
team@firmsconsulting.com. Let’s make the year ahead your most impactful yet.