You are Winning… So Why Does It Feel Like Losing?

You’re Winning... So Why Does It Feel Like Losing? There’s a moment no one prepares you for. It doesn’t come when you’re struggling. It doesn’t come when you’re trying to prove yourself. It comes when you’ve won. You reach the level you were aiming for. You become the kind of person younger versions of yourself admired. Your career is everything you planned for it to be. And yet, in the quiet moments, when the meetings are over, when the deal is signed, when the room is empty, you feel something you never expected. Emptiness. And the more you achieve, the…

[New Insider Update] Most People Read to Feel Smart, Not to Create Value

Some of the most respected executives and advisors in the world have spent their careers refining one skill. One that determines whether knowledge translates into value. It’s not intelligence. It’s not memory. It’s not even experience. Yet, this single ability separates those who rise from those who plateau. Most people (including consultants, leaders, strategists) believe they are learning when they consume information. They attend workshops, read books, analyze case studies. Join the Strategy Control Room Advanced to access proprietary, battle-tested IP that has generated over $500M in value, including $200M in just one year for a single client. Access to…

[The Annual: NEW Episodes] They Made You Believe This Is Your Dream

They Made You Believe... This Is Your Dream The rules were clear. Some schools were off-limits. Some careers were not meant for people like him. Funding for his education was a fraction of what others received. The message was unspoken but deafening: stay in your place. Most people in his position would have accepted these limitations. Adjusted their ambitions. Found a way to fit within the boundaries that had been set for them. He never accepted that. While others adapted to the constraints, he ignored them. He studied harder, worked smarter, and redefined what was possible. It was never about…

Are you someone’s retirement plan?

Patrick (pseudonym) is a distinguished client and exceptionally talented across disciplines. Yet, when Patrick was twenty-five years old Kris and I predicted how/when/where his life would disintegrate. We predicted his mid-life crisis, which played out as we had explained it to him. His story is not all that different from many of our clients. Patrick's parents remained in Asia to run several small businesses. They were not wealthy by any measure, but their goal was for Patrick to move to the US, study, and ultimately pursue a path in the medical field. When I first met Patrick, he was extremely ambitious. He was trying to pursue a joint MBA and medical degree and was considering interning at McKinsey before returning to medicine. At his parents' urging, he turned down the McKinsey internship to take a research fellowship in Europe to work under one of the world's leading researchers in a specialized medical field. Patrick returned to the US and continued his medical studies. He wanted to be a research-based medical professional in surgery: teach, research, and operate. He suffered from burnout at this stage, but he wanted to make his parents proud, bring them to the US, and care for them. And he was…

[New Program] They’re Negotiating with your Reputation

People Aren’t Just Negotiating with You in the Moment. They’re Negotiating with Your Reputation. You know the moment. The meeting starts, and before you even get a chance to speak, the room takes on a life of its own. Conversations spiral. Egos clash. People talk over each other. And you? You’re sitting there, watching the chaos unfold. Maybe you try to rein it in, only for someone else to grab control. Or worse, you hesitate, wondering: Do I step in now? Will I seem too aggressive? Too passive? Will I look weak? What should I say? If I say it,…

Let’s build a consulting practice, together.

Let's build a consulting practice, together. Along with several significant and ongoing updates to Coaching, Insider, Legacy & the Strategy Control Room Advanced, we have a year-long series of programs that outlines the steps to build a consulting practice/business. From the early idea to a functioning practice and lots of sales strategies, we are going to take you along on that journey. You can watch what we are doing, follow our guidelines, and assess yourself against the best-practice examples we will show you. The files will be loaded in the SCRA and the videos will be available to Insiders & Legacy members. We want to start this in February/March so you have the entire year to follow our guidance, build your practice alongside us, and set yourself up for the first three months of the year after. Building a strong practice should be done slowly, sequentially, and with a strong foundation. Flash-in-the-pan sales, without a sustainable base, often do not lead to growth. We will show you each step as we build things out. 1-on-1 coaching clients can receive our focused personal guidance in our weekend clinics. To get the most from this year-long program, it helps to have done the prep work before we begin in February/March. …

Leadership is lonely.

Leadership is lonely. Yet, we rarely expect this and often cannot understand why it is. Today I want to focus on one moment in my career, which represents the roles I usually take. Most of my career was built in corporate finance and corporate strategy, but largely around turnaround, transformations, and restructurings. That's even more lonely as a leader. Turnaround, transformations, and restructurings are often the least popular engagements due to their intensity and the need to make unpopular decisions. I want to show you why leadership is lonely and how this loneliness can benefit you. Struggling Office When I was a twenty-five-year-old associate, my office was underperforming. Over three years it had slowly shrunk to the point that the firm was considering closing the office. This would have been the first office closure ever and not something the firm wanted to be publicized. Eventually, I was one of the last of about five consultants left. As the decision to close was being debated, administrative functions like payroll, etc. were transferred to another hub. This was a normal course of action and did not worry us too much. A few weeks before all of this happened, I had worked with a principal, my mentor, to deliver…

The lies to stop telling yourself about your career

As we step further into 2025, a lot is happening in the world. Competition is not slowing down. We live in a world of enormous change. This is good for your career because there are more opportunities. But it can also be bad for your career if you’re not the best-suited person for that opportunity. Recently, we worked with a client from the search engine division of a prominent tech firm. He said there was nothing he could take to his superiors that would get them excited about putting the investment in to grow their division. When we have discussions with clients, clearly, we can’t give them all the answers because we don’t know all the problems involved. Sometimes when people talk about their problems, they sanitize it to make it sound like there’s really nothing they can do. They may want us to affirm their lack of options and say it’s not their fault. In this particular case, it’s his career and his division—he has a lot of opportunities, so he needs to do something about it. You will be telling yourself stories as you go further into the new year. Stories about why you cannot change your career. Stories about why you’re up against a…

Reimagine Your Career Before It’s Too Late

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…