June 16 - June 22 releases on StrategyTraining.com
Your financial outcomes are shaped by an internal system you didn’t design, but continue to follow.
Long before you earned a cent, that system was already in place.
Installed by well-meaning voices (parents, teachers, other adults) who left behind phrases like:
“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”
"What am I made out of money?"
"Who cares what you want?"
“You have to work hard to make money.”
“We can’t afford that.”
“Money is the root of all evil.”
“Rich people are selfish/arrogant/lucky.”
“Save every penny.”
“Be realistic.”
Your impressionable mind quickly internalized those beliefs. You don't even think about them. They are just running in your mind in the background, like an operating system of a computer.
Your operating system for making decisions about money, work, and worth was designed by people who probably don't have the results you want for your life.
And that system still runs to this day, determining what feels possible, how much you earn, the goals you set, and whether you're seen as someone to follow.
This week’s new releases, as all our programs, are designed not just to teach, but to help you rebuild your internal architecture for making high-stakes decisions and setting goals.
To replace old programming that, while got you this far, will not get you where you want to go.
Because the most important system in your business or career is cognitive.
Here’s what was released for StrategyTraining.com members:
For Strategy Control Room Advanced Members
Another major update, a new proposal was released.
Pandemic Forecasting & Quantification Proposal - A major proposal on pandemic forecasting. 43 SLIDES.
This new proposal outlines a comprehensive methodology to forecast and quantify pandemics. Using a mix of probability modeling, scenario planning, and response tracking, we built a system that predicts pandemic trajectories and helps governments and businesses plan responses across sectors. See the full model, risk frameworks, and quantification logic in action.
For Insider Members
These new training episodes were released.
The Real Reason You Are Not Being Promoted – Episode 15 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: Sometimes the world is unfair
The MasterPlan Advanced – Episode 31 of TBD
The MasterPlan Advanced builds on the most transformative career strategy work we’ve done to date. Based on Michael’s and Kris’s personal experiences and decades of coaching senior executives, it covers how to move from well-off to wealthy, across career, relationships, investing, health, and more. This is the next step for members who are working toward building a richer, more fulfilling life, not only a career that looks successful to people around.
Episode title: Perils of family business acquisitions
Why Am I Not Happy? How Can I Be Happy? – Episode 11 of 14
Practical insights to help you recognize the patterns that are draining your energy and how to stop them.
Episode title: Do you understand the gamble you are taking
For Legacy Members
In addition to all Insider episodes, Legacy members receive these exclusive episodes:
Communicating Details - Episode 5 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: The email sent folder test
(New) Why You're Unlikely to Get the Sponsor You Really Need - Episode 2 of 4
It is important to find the right sponsor, but what if the real power lies in becoming someone worth sponsoring? This program shows you why the path to sponsorship begins not with who you know, but with how visibly you create value.
Episode title: Sponsors do not improve your performance
(New) Identity Determines Your Wealth - Episode 1 of 1
Your income isn’t only limited by your skills but also, in large part, by the identity you’ve chosen. This program reveals how the roles we adopt silently cap our wealth, and what it really takes to break out of your orbit financially.
Episode title: Identity determines your wealth
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.comInclude: Context and details so we can provide tailored guidance for your unique situation
Subject line: Legacy Question
Strategy Skills Podcast (top 5-10 for careers in many countries)
We just released 2 podcasts hosted by Michael.
Johns Hopkins University's Steve Hanke, on Rewriting the Rules of Our Financial System - with Steve Hanke
In this episode, economist and professor Steve Hanke presents a provocative critique of modern central banking. He argues that institutions like the Federal Reserve have repeatedly misread inflation by ignoring a foundational concept: the money supply. Drawing on historical data and current trends, Hanke explains why the quantity theory of money, a model with centuries of predictive power, is notably absent from mainstream macroeconomic models, leading to flawed policy responses.
“They don’t think there’s much of a relationship between changes in the money supply and changes in economic activity and inflation, which is just utter rubbish.”
Hanke disputes the common view that inflation stems from temporary external disruptions like supply chain shocks or geopolitical events. Instead, he argues it is a monetary phenomenon, typically driven by decisions made one to two years prior.
“There’s never been a significant inflation... that hasn’t been preceded by a significant increase in the money supply.”
He discusses the consequences of both overexpansion and contraction of money supply, contrasting U.S. policy missteps with China’s current deflationary pressures resulting from an overly restrained growth in money supply.
“In China, [money supply] is only growing at about 7% per year... Bingo, magic, they have no inflation. They have deflation.”
The conversation also explores the overlooked role of commercial banks, which create the majority of money in circulation. Following the 2008 financial crisis, regulations such as Dodd-Frank and Basel III significantly constrained these institutions, reducing their ability to support economic growth.
“Most of the stock of broad money held by the non-bank public is actually produced by commercial banks, not the central banks.”
Hanke calls for restoring commercial banks to the center of the financial system and reintroducing money supply metrics into central bank models.
5 key insights from the episode:
1) Inflation results from shifts in the money supply, not from isolated shocks, which only affect relative prices.
“Inflation is always caused by changes in the money supply.”
“Oil prices, supply chains, wars, those are ad hoc explanations to get the monkey off their back.”
2) Most central banks use models that exclude money entirely, leading to flawed forecasts and reactive policymaking.
“For the last 30 years... the macroeconomic models don’t include an aggregate measure for money. It’s absurd.”
3) U.S. monetary growth is currently below the level required to sustain stable prices, increasing the risk of recession, not inflation.
“The money supply is growing at 4.1%, that’s well below the 6% we need. That’s why inflation keeps coming down.”
4) Policy uncertainty, what Hanke terms “regime uncertainty,” undermines business investment, drawing a historical parallel to the New Deal era.
“Investment stopped during the New Deal. It just stopped, and that dragged the Depression out longer than it needed to be.”
“Right now, we have regime uncertainty again. Businesses are waiting to see what the rules will be.”
5) About 80% of broad money is created by commercial banks, yet they’ve been sidelined by overregulation.
“Since the great financial crisis... [commercial banks] have been squeezed out of the game.”
Taken together, Hanke’s analysis urges a return to first principles: placing money supply at the center of macroeconomic policy and recognizing the systemic role of commercial banks.
“We need to get the quantity theory of money back in the picture, and get commercial banks back in the game.”
For business leaders and policymakers, this discussion offers a sharp and timely reevaluation of what truly drives inflation and economic cycles, and what needs to change.
Listen to the episode here (you can also watch or read the transcript).
Harvard’s Bill George on Leading Authentically in Today's Workplace – with Bill George
In this wide-ranging and direct conversation, Bill George, former Medtronic CEO and Harvard Business School professor, offers a disciplined framework for leading in conditions of persistent volatility. Drawing from decades of leadership experience and research, George emphasizes that leadership today is no longer about managing processes.
He argues that future-ready leaders must confront ambiguity, enable experimentation, and sustain purpose across shifting conditions. Five themes stand out:
1. Opportunity Must Be Created, Not Awaited
George urges emerging leaders to act before they are promoted.
“Raise your hand. Say, I can do it. Don’t ask for the promotion. Look where you can do right in the role you’re in right now.”
“They’re not asking, ‘Oh, I need more money. I need a promotion, a bigger title.’ No, they say, ‘Hey, give me the opportunity.’”
He challenges senior leaders to stop suppressing emerging talent:
“I’m urging the baby boomers… step aside and open the doors for these fantastic new leaders… Organizations really need their energy, their enthusiasm, their ideas.”
2. Innovation Begins at the Front Lines
George reflects on his early days at Medtronic and the need to cancel a pacemaker program:
“I asked… what’s the benefit to the customer, to the patient? And they said, well, it’s got all this great technology. I said, no, no. So we canceled.”
He also stresses the importance of firsthand observation:
“I saw over 700 procedures… I sure was learning what the problems were… It was very different than you think. This is not a circuit problem. This is a human problem.”
And warns leaders against becoming disconnected:
“Executives were spending 72% of their time in their offices and conference rooms, only 5% of their time with employees, and 3% of their time with their customers. This is a disaster.”
3. Risk Tolerance Determines Strategic Renewal
George explains how Medtronic fostered innovation through structural insulation from corporate resistance:
“At any one given time, we owned part interest in two to three dozen venture companies… I was quite willing to let them fail.”
“We actually had to change the structure… We put all these creative new things… under [our Vice Chairman]… and when they came to market, then we would transform [them] to the mainstream business.”
He warns of middle managers who block change:
“We have too many people in middle management that are pushing back… it’s time for them to either change or to go away.”
4. Culture Must Reward Learning Over Defensiveness
George contrasts Silicon Valley with more failure-averse regions:
“The one beautiful thing about Silicon Valley, it’s almost a badge of honor. ‘What did you learn from that experience?’”
“Switzerland was just ranked number one… in innovation. [But] we don’t form any new companies. That’s what America does so well.”
He believes innovation requires structural freedom and cross-functional collaboration:
“It’s not going to come out of a giant company… It’s going to come out of allowing them to have freedom to go produce whole new ideas.”
5. AI Is a Strategic Imperative, Not a Cost Play
George cautions against viewing AI through an efficiency-only lens:
“An awful lot of people are looking at [AI] as efficiency. How can I cut out the frontline workers? … That’s the wrong way of looking at it.”
Instead, he sees AI as a platform for new growth models:
“How do you think about new business models? … That’s what we need to think about.”
“Don’t let the blockers get in your way. Bust your way through the system… If you take a couple of hits, a few arrows along the way, that’s okay.”
He encourages boldness in applying AI:
“Be creative inside large companies. Push the limits.”
George’s message is:
“Stay true to your purpose and values. Don’t be motivated by external acclimation and adulation. Be motivated by… making a difference in the world and leaving a mark.”
His leadership call-to-action is:
“If you don’t do it now, you won’t do it when you’re 50 or 60. So take those risks and do it, and you’ll have a great career.”
Listen to the episode here (you can also watch or read the transcript).
Additionally, here are the recent releases on FIRMSconsulting / StrategyTraining.com / Kris Safarova YouTube Channels:
IT Strategy vs. Corporate Strategy: Microsoft - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
How to Build Consulting Storyboards in 3 Weeks (This is How McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte Do It) - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
How to Feel Comfortable on Camera - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
Management Consulting Storyboard | Storyboarding used by McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, PwC et al. - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
McKinsey’s Rise to Prominence Under Marvin Bower - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
The Systems Behind Sustained High Performance with ADHD - with Kris Safarova
Access here.
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