May 26–June 1, 2025 releases on StrategyTraining.com

There is a simple principle that often separates those who make steady progress in their career from those who stall.

They are impatient with their actions but patient with their results.

It is easy to do the opposite. To want the promotion, to want to sell a new project, but to hesitate or postpone the small, consistent steps that make those outcomes possible.

The members in this community who advance the most are not necessarily working longer hours or chasing every opportunity. They set time aside, even in the margins of their day, to work through the StrategyTraining.com materials and Strategy Control Room Advanced resources. They deliberately consider how to apply what they are learning so that by Monday morning at 8 a.m., they are ready to move with focus, new insights, and a new perspective.

They understand that outcomes take time, but that time is well used only if actions continue steadily.

This week, we have prepared new resources to help you take thoughtful steps forward.

There are three membership levels you should pay attention to. They are as follows:

Our reading library:

Strategy Control Room Advanced (SCRA) members gain access to our internal knowledge management system (our read-only library), including studies, proposals, Centers of Excellence, advanced books not available anywhere else, flip charts, slides from some of the video programs, notes from The Consulting Offer, and more.

Our video/audio training library:

Insider membership is designed for long-term clients who want to deliver meaningful impact while accelerating their careers.

Legacy members are mostly long-term Insiders who receive everything in Insider, plus access to additional advanced programs and personalized guidance opportunities.

As you probably know, we add additional training and resources weekly. New training episodes and resources are now live and available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, and ROKU.

Here is what is new this week:

For Strategy Control Room Advanced Members

You’ll receive this exclusive update:

Sunday
New IT, Digital, AI, and Cloud Center-of-Excellence – Update 8 (133 SLIDES) of TBD

For Insider Members

These new training episodes are being released this week.

Friday
(NEW) Building a Consulting Practice. Level II – Episode 2 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: Part 2: Know the, usually, boring context

Saturday
Why Am I Not Happy? How Can I Be Happy? – Episode 8 of 14
Practical insights to help you recognize the patterns that are draining your energy and how to stop them.
Episode title: Part 8: The pursuit of happiness

Sunday
The Real Reason You Are Not Being Promoted – Episode 12 of 18
This 18-part Insider program challenges the conventional wisdom of career growth, helping ambitious professionals rethink promotions, leadership roles, and long-term wealth creation.
Episode title: Action next step #8

For Legacy Members

In addition to all Insider episodes, Legacy members receive these exclusive episodes:

Friday
(New) Communicating Details - Episode 2 of 5
In every organization, there comes a moment when doing exactly what was agreed leads to frustration, disappointment or even blame. This program, Communicating Details, unpacks one of the most common but costly management traps: when plans are executed as approved, but shifting realities demand a different response.

Through the real-world case of one of our executive coaching clients, Michael explores why excessive upfront detail and rigid adherence to plans can backfire, even when managers explicitly sign off. You’ll learn the critical difference between following a plan and managing evolving priorities, why both employees and leaders share responsibility for context shifts, and how to apply a flexible problem-solving model that protects outcomes while maintaining trust.

This program equips consultants, managers, and senior leaders with the mindset and tools to navigate complex stakeholder dynamics, where communication, adaptability, and strategic judgment matter far more than simply “doing what was agreed.”
Episode title: Why you become detail-oriented

Saturday
I Don't Know If This Is What I Want to Do - Episode 5 of 7
Many clients are not certain that the work they are currently doing, or the industry they are currently in, is in fact the space where they want to continue building their career. If this is your situation, what is the way to decide a way forward?
Episode title: How are you evolving?

Sunday
(New) Taking On New Clients - Episode 1 of 2
What do you do when new clients are reaching out, but your capacity is already maxed out? In this program, Michael lays out a practical framework for managing growth, client demand, and team development, so you’re ready when success shows up early.
Episode title: Capacity constrained to take on new work

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

We also released these free resources:

Strategy Skills Podcast (top 5-10 for careers in many countries)

Monday
Microsoft’s Dean Carignan on Using AI to Boost Joy, Focus, and Productivity at Work - with Dean Carignan

This week on the Strategy Skills podcast, I spoke with Dean Carignan, a senior leader at Microsoft with over two decades of experience across AI, Xbox, research, and product innovation.

He discussed how AI is reshaping work today, not just by providing answers, but by acting as an agent to handle routine tasks, freeing people to focus on higher-value activities. Dean emphasized that leaders who experiment with AI agents (beyond simple chatbot use) will gain a meaningful edge.

Two areas where AI’s global impact may be most profound over the next 3 - 5 years:
1 - Bringing critical services (like healthcare support) to under-resourced areas through mobile and voice AI.
2 - Accelerating scientific discovery by reading thousands of papers, proposing experiments, and automating lab work.

AI will take away the drudgery of many jobs and enable people to focus on the aspects of the work that excite them.

Listen to the episode here (you can also watch or read the transcript).

Wednesday
How a Billion-Dollar CEO Thinks and Leads – with Bill Canady

I welcomed back Bill Canady, CEO of OTC Industrial Technologies and Arrowhead Engineered Products, overseeing $2.5 billion in annual sales and 3,600+ employees.

Bill shared a practical approach to driving profitable growth, centered on focusing resources where they matter most. He described how applying 80/20 analysis revealed that just 200 customers accounted for over 90% of OTC’s revenue, and that focusing on expanding value with existing top customers outperformed efforts to chase entirely new markets.

He also emphasized the disciplined use of AI tools: not just automating tasks, but using them to surface patterns and insights in large datasets. As Bill put it, “A robot can do the basic math, but it can’t give you the insights.”

His new book, From Panic to Profit, lays out the profitable growth operating system (PGOS) built on five pillars: segmentation, strategy, deals (M&A), talent, and disciplined execution. Bill stressed the importance of leadership focus: “So many of us try to be fair all the time. We think we should be fair to everyone. We think we should treat all opportunities the same. We try to say yes to everything. But you know, that’s not leadership, that is the absence of leadership. And when you peanut-butter everything, on the best cases, you get mediocrity. When you actually start focusing, you can change the world.”

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.

Ready to begin?