Leadership Role In Competitive Strategy

Top talent will NEVER join a company with a mediocre recruiting process. They assume the rest of your company matches that experience. Yet most leaders treat their recruiters like transactional rubber stampers — then wonder why they can't hire A-players. The reality: how you treat your recruiters gets reflected in your recruiting process. Treat them like cogs in a machine? That's EXACTLY how they'll treat your candidates. Here are 8 ways treating recruiters as strategic partners transforms your hiring: 1. Give them a seat at leadership meetings A biz recruiter pitched "we need an implementation specialist" for months. Candidates weren’t biting. Then she learned this hire would unlock a $2M contract. Changed her pitch to "we need this role to hit Q3 revenue." Filled in 2 weeks. 2. Make recruiting metrics visible company-wide When engineering managers check recruiting dashboards daily, magic happens. One team went from "where's my hire?" to "I see 3 strong candidates entering final rounds." Transparency turns recruiting from blame game to team sport. 3. Let them push back on unrealistic demands A recruiter shared w/ me why she quit her last role: "I was tired of smiling when they wanted senior engineers for junior salaries." Smart companies empower recruiters to say, "that's unrealistic." The rest lose their best recruiters. 4. Include them in offer strategy, not delivery Watched a startup land their dream candidate in 48 hours — beating higher cash offers — because their recruiter could negotiate on the spot. Most make recruiters deliver pre-baked offers like pizza. 5. Invest in their tools like engineering Teams tracking candidates in Google Sheets wonder why they can't compete. Companies investing in real recruiting tools see 4x productivity gains. Your engineers get the latest MacBooks. Why make recruiters work in spreadsheets? 6. Give them time to build relationships One Gem customer filled 70% of roles in 3 weeks. How? They maintained relationships with past candidates for YEARS. Most measure recruiters on this month’s roles they need to fill. So they spam everyone and start from zero next quarter. 7. Empower them with data "Trust me, the market's tough" doesn't move executives. "Your salary range is 25th percentile — here's the data" does. Give recruiters access to data and industry benchmarks. Watch them become business partners overnight. 8. Celebrate their wins like revenue That top 1% engineer who chose you over FAANG only happened thanks to your recruiter — celebrate them like AEs winning deals. Ring the gong. Most companies only notice recruiters when hiring stops. TAKEAWAY In this market — 2.7x more applications, 90% unqualified — the difference isn't headcount. It's whether you treat recruiters as strategic partners or paper pushers. Your recruiters are interviewing for new jobs right now. Still think they're just order-takers?

In 2024, leaders faced inflation, hybrid work challenges, and supply chain disruptions. Stability was the focus. But as 2025 begins, the game is changing. Growth is the goal, and leadership must shift to meet new demands. 🚫 Transactional leadership—with its rigid structures and focus on compliance—is falling behind. While it worked during times of uncertainty, it no longer fuels innovation or attracts top talent. ✅ Founder-mode leadership is stepping into the spotlight. This approach combines bold vision, proactive planning, and investment in people. It’s about turning challenges like labor shortages into opportunities—upskilling teams, integrating AI and fostering a culture of innovation. Pair this with agile leadership, which prioritizes flexibility and experimentation, and you’ve got a winning formula. Together, these styles ensure businesses can adapt to change while driving growth. Leadership in 2025 isn’t about maintaining the status quo—it’s about stepping into the future with clarity, creativity, and purpose.

Do your project teams and employees truly understand your organization’s strategy and the why behind it? This entire experience reminded me that you never forget how someone makes you feel. Jaycee did more than serve. He translated strategy. I had just stepped off a British Airways flight from London Heathrow, and I met one of the most exceptional inflight managers. While the inbound flight was more comfortable, Jaycee took the edge off with leadership that cannot be overlooked. Organizations talk about profitability, market share, customer satisfaction, and competitive advantage. Those things matter however, there is a silent engine underneath all of it. How employees are treated that translates into how employees treat clients and customers Jaycee made us feel welcomed. He took responsibility. He understood the company strategy and translated it. When we raised concerns, he did not hide behind excuses. ➟ He explained the why. ➟ He explained the context. ➟ He even shared how he had escalated those issues to senior management in the past and they are being looked into. That is what happens when strategy is not trapped in boardrooms. That is what happens when strategy is translated, communicated, and lived at every level of an organization. ➡️When employees understand the bigger picture, they show up differently. ➡️When they feel heard, they serve differently. ➡️When they see how their role connects to the strategy, they act with ownership. Leaders often ask why customer experience suffers. Here is the simple truth: customers feel what employees feel. 🪀If your people are confused, your customers will feel confusion. 🪀If your people are burnt out, your customers will feel tension. 🪀If your people feel valued and empowered, your customers will feel excellence. Jaycee reminded me that leadership is not a title. It is a transfer of energy, clarity, and purpose. So leaders, here is your real litmus test: Are you creating an environment where your people understand the strategy, feel safe to contribute, and are excited to show up and execute it every day? Because strategy dies where employees are ignored. Strategy and execution thrives where employees are empowered. Shout out to Jaycee for embodying what leadership looks like in motion. Let this be a reminder that excellence is not an event. It is a behavior you build into your culture. #FolaElevates #Strategicleadership #EmployeeExperience #strategiclifestyle

(Excerpted from my new article for Duke University’s business journal, Dialogue Review) In an era of disruptive change, managers who rely on old playbooks risk rapid obsolescence. The need for quick response to hard-to-predict events calls for agility and creativity – in short, innovative leaders. But what exactly makes for an innovative leader? It’s not just about crafting bold strategy, inspiring innovation, or thinking fast. Take two historical examples. In the 1910s, Henry Ford ruled the auto industry. Yet by the end of the 1920s, Alfred P. Sloan had knocked him off his perch without having the manufacturing scale, low costs, or wide distribution that Ford enjoyed. Sloan’s underdog company was an amalgamation of marginal brands, and yet this firm – General Motors – pulled off the feat without any major technological revolution. Instead, Sloan understood the market well and pushed his company to innovate in totally new directions. The auto trade-in, auto financing, and the modern organization of a firm into staff and line functions are all innovations credited to General Motors. Together, these creative moves proved critical to pulling off the feat. More recently, Steve Jobs at Apple built a defensible niche in PCs and then upended two market leaders – Blackberry and Nokia – to re-make the smartphone industry. He wasn’t a technologist, but he set a clear, bold strategy and crafted a well-defined product vision. Then he recruited and enabled a highly-talented team to deliver on this direction, pushing hard for excellence. He wasn’t beyond admitting failure, as with the Apple III, the early GUI entry called the Lisa, and the Apple Newton handheld computer. But he quickly pushed on to new frontiers. To understand the details of how the current crop of innovative leaders think and behave, I teamed with co-authors currently at Philips and Procter & Gamble to interview 50 of them for our book The Innovative Leader: Step-by-Step Lessons from Top Innovators for You and Your Organization. We selected these leaders based on the clear results they achieved and the innovative ways that they accomplished them, being sure to have a mix of industries, enterprise size, job functions, and geographies selected. What emerged was a picture of six vectors along which innovative leaders excel. Together, the names of these vectors spell out a fitting acronym: CREATE. (See my article in Dialogue Review “CREATE for What’s Next,” or stay tuned for further posts that will share the article in parts)

Customer Success Is Entering Its Strategic Era Customer Success is no longer fighting for legitimacy. It is fighting for clarity. As organizations mature, the question is no longer whether CS matters. The question is whether leaders are willing to let it operate as a strategic function instead of a reactive one. The future of Customer Success will be defined by three shifts. First, CS will move from account management to value orchestration. The strongest teams will stop tracking usage in isolation and start translating adoption into business outcomes that executives actually care about. Second, CS will become a primary signal for business health. Not through anecdotal feedback, but through disciplined operating models that connect customer behavior to revenue risk and opportunity early. Third, CS leaders will be expected to influence decisions far beyond their department. Product prioritization. Go to market strategy. Retention forecasting. CS will no longer be downstream. It will be embedded. Customer Success is becoming less about service and more about stewardship. Organizations that recognize this will scale with intention. Those that do not will continue to mislabel CS as a cost instead of a growth lever. #CustomerSuccess #CSLeadership #FutureOfCustomerSuccess #RevenueLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #CS2026

Markets don’t just react to numbers. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. 63% of investors prefer companies where C-Suite leaders engage publicly (Edelman, 2024). 𝐖𝐡𝐲? Because transparency builds trust, and trust drives valuation. Consider Satya Nadella’s leadership at Microsoft. By openly discussing 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐀𝐈, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭, he positioned Microsoft as an enterprise tech powerhouse. Under his leadership since 2014, Microsoft's market capitalization has experienced significant growth, increasing by approximately $2.6 trillion. In 2014, Microsoft's market cap was around $330 billion. As of March 2025, it stands at approximately $2.95 trillion. On the flip side, when leaders go silent, speculation takes over. Investors and stakeholders start filling the gaps with 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭. WeWork's planned IPO in 2019 unraveled due to concerns over CEO Adam Neumann's leadership style and the company's governance practices. Neumann's lack of clear communication regarding these issues led to increased investor skepticism, ultimately resulting in the withdrawal of the IPO and Neumann's resignation. C-Suite visibility isn’t about being vocal for the sake of it. It’s about 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬. Are you shaping market confidence—or letting it slip away? #LinkedIn #LinkedInStrategy #CXO #Leadership #PersonalBranding #Innovation

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 Tariffs are back. Supply chains are rerouting. Countries are mandating where data lives. Talent is harder to move. The question for leaders isn’t whether to adapt, it’s 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 and 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁. What’s unfolding: Nestlé plans to cut 16,000 roles by 2027 [CHF 3B in savings]. New CEO Philipp Navratil: “The world is changing, and Nestlé needs to change faster.” This isn’t panic. It’s strategic 𝗽𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 to move faster in a fragmented world. Procter & Gamble is eliminating 7,000 white-collar jobs, exiting brands and markets. Leadership frames it as an intentional acceleration to win in tougher conditions. Intel Corporation ~24,000 job cuts, pausing expansions to refocus on AI chips and core manufacturing. HSBC is splitting East/West ops to move faster amid regulatory and geopolitical divergence. The pattern? 𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲: 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 Today’s leaders aren’t picking efficiency or adaptability; they’re mastering 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵: ✅ Running lean, staying flexible ✅ Staying global, thinking regional ✅ Centralizing what scales, localizing what matters ✅ Building governance for speed, not just control At Nestlé, I saw this up close: survival isn’t about perfect strategies. It’s about learning, deciding and moving faster 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿: 1️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝗽 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲  If key suppliers or revenue depend on geopolitically distant markets, you're exposed. Know the risks before crisis hits. 2️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆  Backup suppliers. Multi-region ops. Supply chain flexibility. The cost of redundancy beats shutdown. 3️⃣ 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀  Push authority closer to markets. In volatile conditions, speed > perfection. 4️⃣ 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆  Show calm urgency. If leadership freezes, so will teams. Resilience starts at the top. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. The edge? 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. That’s resilience. That’s ambidexterity. That’s leadership in the age of fragmentation. 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳:  Is your organization built for the world that was—or the world that’s coming? What are you seeing? I’d love your perspective. #Leadership #Geopolitics #OrganizationalAgility #StrategicResilience #Ambidexterity #FMCG #GlobalBusiness #ChangeManagement #FutureOfWork

🔍 The Hidden Driver of Stock Performance: Why Stakeholder "Love" for CEOs Matters More Than Ever Fascinating research reveals that a CEO's reputation influences up to 44% of a company's market value. But what drives this impact? It's what I call "emotional capital" - the trust, admiration, and emotional connection between CEOs and their stakeholders. 📊 The Data Tells a Clear Story: - LEADERSHIP WINS: AMD's Dr. Lisa Su leads with the most dramatic success (+4,145% since 2014), followed by Microsoft's Satya Nadella (+1,130%), showing how long-term trusted leadership can transform company value - QUICK WINS POSSIBLE: NVIDIA under Jensen Huang showed even short-term announcements can drive significant gains (+10% in one week) when stakeholders trust the leader - BIGGEST LOSS: WeWork's dramatic fall from $47B to under $8B valuation under Neumann stands out as the starkest example of how leadership distrust can destroy value - ESTABLISHED COMPANIES NOT IMMUNE: Even major players like Meta, GE, and Uber saw value declines despite seemingly strong strategic moves, demonstrating how lack of leadership confidence can undermine otherwise solid initiatives The secret? Three core pillars that market-moving CEOs consistently demonstrate: 1. Authentic Communication Take Jensen Huang at NVIDIA - he transforms complex AI concepts into compelling narratives that resonate with everyone from developers to investors. 2. Strategic Clarity Look at Lisa Su "Su's Corner" series at AMD. By explaining chip technology in accessible terms, she's driven a 40% increase in retail investment activity. 3. Stakeholder Trust Consider Moderna's early days - CEO Stéphane Bancel maintained investor confidence through transparent monthly updates, even before having marketed products. 🎯 Key Insight: It's not just about what news CEOs share - it's about who's sharing it. The same announcement can drive dramatically different market responses based on stakeholders' emotional connection to the leader. The future of leadership valuation is changing. As markets grow more complex, a CEO's ability to build genuine emotional connections isn't just nice to have - it's becoming a crucial driver of financial performance. What do you think? Have you seen examples of CEO reputation directly impacting company performance? #Leadership #StockMarket #CEOReputation #CorporateStrategy #InvestorRelations Insights drawn from research by Weber Shandwick, Burson-Marsteller, and analysis of market performance data.

𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. The U.S. Supreme Court recently reviewed 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗳 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 — but whether they’re upheld or struck down, 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 for global trade. One question I keep hearing: “Should we pause diversification if tariffs might be undone?” That thinking is a trap rooted in the outdated sourcing obsession with 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁. Even a full rollback won’t erase the policy risk that triggered these tariffs. Geopolitical competition is the engine; tariffs are just the lever. 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. For sourcing teams, the mindset shift is clear: stop optimizing for the invoice price and start valuing the 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. The future isn’t about “+1” strategies — it’s about 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗻𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, where production flows follow opportunity, risk, and speed. 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗲’𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱: • 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆. One-country dependence is a risk multiplier, not a cost advantage. • 𝗗𝘂𝗮𝗹-𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲. Flexibility to pivot beats perfect efficiency every time. • 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 (𝗧𝗖𝗢) — expanded to include the 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. Tariffs, delays, and refunds distort working capital and margin. True TCO must quantify the financial upside of speed, resilience, and optionality — not just the unit price. • 𝗦𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆. Treat tariff shocks as recurring variables, not one-offs. • 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀. Resilience is a strategy, not a story. The next wave of trade tension will test who built agility into their networks and who simply hoped for stability. 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Given these structural shifts, how are you building sourcing strategies that 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 and build resilience instead of hoping it disappears? #SupplyChain #SourcingStrategy #Tariffs #GlobalTrade #RiskManagement #TotalCostofOwnership #RegenerativeRetail #LaNaiaCollective #Nearshoring

Most leaders kill innovation without realizing it. The wrong metaphor is the reason: When I was head of Satya Nadella’s innovation team, I faced this challenge every day: How do you make space for innovation today not just “someday”? If your mental model is horizons, you put innovation into the future. And the future never comes. If your mental model is tracks, you can run the business and change the business in parallel. That’s how I won CEOs over to a model of continuous innovation. This is what transformation leaders know that others don't: – Track #1 (Run the Business): sustaining innovation = ~10% growth at best – Track #2 (Change the Business): disruptive innovation = ~70% cumulative growth (HBR) Once leaders see this, it clicks: Innovation isn’t a side lab, a fringe bet, or something “out there.” It must be built into the rhythm and rhyme of the business. Continuous innovation is the backbone of new value creation. Instead of deferring new ideas, bring them into today: – Run small business experiments now. – Validate value early and often. – Talk about new business models alongside the current one. The smartest thing Satya asked me to do: Bring him new business models — today, not tomorrow. That’s what gave our leaders a fighting chance for the future. Metaphors matter. What metaphor is shaping how you lead innovation? Follow for battle-tested lessons on innovation, leadership, and growth.