The Strategy and Leadership Podcast with Anthony C. Taylor

SME Strategy Consulting INC
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The Strategy and Leadership Podcast with Anthony C. Taylor explores strategic planning, strategy execution, and executive leadership in complex organizations. Hosted by Anthony C. Taylor, Founder & Principal of SME Strategy, the show features conversations with CEOs and senior leaders on business strategy, organizational alignment, leadership development, and change management. Episodes examine real trade-offs, decision-making, and the practical structures that turn strategic plans into measurable results and sustained team performance. Designed for CEOs and executive teams responsible for making strategic plans work in the real world. Learn more: https://www.smestrategy.net Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604/

  1. 3d ago

    Ware Malcomb Chairman Lawrence Armstrong: How a $3M Firm Became a $240M Company

    Lawrence Armstrong joined Ware Malcomb in 1984 as a designer, when the firm was one office and about 30 people in Irvine, California. In 1992 he and his business partner bought it in the middle of a real estate recession. That year the firm billed just over $3 million. By the time he handed over the CEO role 28 years later, it was billing $139 million. This year, with Lawrence as chairman, it will pass $240 million, with 30 offices and close to 1,000 people. In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Lawrence explains that the growth came from developing people. He describes Ware Malcomb as a leadership academy, modelled on what Jack Welch built at GE. He walks through the leadership meetings, mentoring and business reviews that keep 30 offices operating as one company. He also talks about how his work as an artist shaped the philosophy in his USA Today bestselling book, Layered Leadership. In this episode: Why client requests to open new offices became the core growth strategy How a leadership meeting of six people grew to more than 100, held three times a year for over 30 years What Lawrence tells people who ask him how to get promoted How the “whole brain” demands of architecture carry over into running a business His work as board chair of Orange County United Way, including United to End Homelessness, which has housed more than 1,300 people Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:43 Ware Malcomb and Lawrence’s start in 1984 02:04 One office, 30 people, and running the new LA office 03:26 Buying the firm during a recession 04:12 From $3M to $240M 05:02 Art, architecture and whole-brain leadership 10:17 The foundational growth strategy 12:53 From the building business to the people business 13:37 The GE inspiration and Ware Malcomb’s leadership academy 16:06 Caring for the whole person 18:03 “The company needs you to be promoted” 18:50 Orange County United Way and ending homelessness 21:14 Where to find Lawrence and the book 22:28 Key takeaways About Lawrence Armstrong Lawrence is chairman and former CEO of Ware Malcomb, an international architecture, interior design and engineering firm headquartered in Irvine, California. He is the author of Layered Leadership and board chair of Orange County United Way. Links Lawrence: https://lawrencerarmstrong.com Layered Leadership: https://layeredleadershipbook.com Ware Malcomb: https://www.waremalcomb.com SME Strategy: https://www.smestrategy.net #Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #StrategicPlanning #CEO #BusinessGrowth #Architecture #StrategyAndLeadership

    Ware Malcomb Chairman Lawrence Armstrong: How a $3M Firm Became a $240M Company

  2. Oct 16

    Michael Dell Put a Glass Wall Between Himself and His COO. Here's Why It Worked

    Nate Bennett has spent twenty years studying the COO role. His book Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO, co-written with Stephen Miles, is now in its third edition from Stanford Business Books. In this conversation: why the right question is what makes a great CEO and COO pair, not what makes a great COO; why founders pushed by their board to hire a number two often never empower that person; the seven types of COO and the three kinds of fit to test before you hire; and why average COO tenure has dropped from five years to about two and a half. Blog post and full notes: https://www.smestrategy.net/blog/michael-dell-put-a-glass-wall-between-himself-and-his-coo.-heres-why-it-worked Connect with Anthony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604 Work with SME Strategy: https://meetings.hubspot.com/anthony930

    Michael Dell Put a Glass Wall Between Himself and His COO. Here's Why It Worked

  3. Oct 7

    How to Scale a Service Business to 2,500 People | Jim Weiss | Strategy & Leadership Podcast

    Jim Weiss built Real Chemistry from one person to 2,500 employees by refusing to do marketing work that didn't move a number the client's CEO cared about. Media impressions were never the measure. Patients on therapy, revenue and stock price were. Jim is the founder and chairman of Real Chemistry (formerly W2O Group), an integrated marketing and communications firm that helps healthcare companies launch new medicines, vaccines and treatments. Over 25 years he grew the company into a global firm, and he now advises a range of companies and organizations while hosting the Get Real podcast. In this conversation, Jim and Anthony talk about what actually drove that growth: hiring people with shared values, letting clients pull the firm into new services, and building ownership into the business so people share in the wins. Jim also explains what changed when he moved from CEO to chairman and had to lead through influence instead of authority. Key takeaways: - Alignment is what keeps a growing company flying in formation. Without coordination, more people just means more noise. - Let clients pull you into new work. When a client asked "can you also do this?", Jim hired or bought the capability and grew alongside them. - Measure against your client's business objectives. If the work doesn't support something the C-suite cares about, don't do it. - As chairman or advisor, your influence works like the moon on the tides. Advice lands best when it becomes their idea. - Real ownership, or at least a sense of it, changes how people show up. Jim's advice to owners is to give people stock where they can. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: Jim Weiss and Real Chemistry 01:04 Growing up in Honesdale and what Real Chemistry does 02:33 Business lessons learned by age eight 03:46 Alignment and the flying formation 06:32 Clear roles, great hires and picking the right clients 09:28 Growing with clients: "Can you also do this?" 11:25 Values as hashtags and the "no assholes" rule 11:47 Tying the work to the client's business KPIs 17:17 From CEO to chairman: direct impact to influence 18:39 Why ownership matters 20:28 Be like water 21:33 Get Real podcast and the Music and Medicine program 24:30 Closing takeaways Want to talk about your organization's strategy? Book a conversation with Anthony: https://meetings.hubspot.com/anthony930 Prefer to start on your own? Take the One Destination Alignment Scorecard: https://www.smestrategy.net/one-destination-scorecard Connect with Anthony C. Taylor at https://www.smestrategy.net #Leadership #Strategy #ScalingABusiness #HealthcareMarketing #StrategyAndLeadership

    How to Scale a Service Business to 2,500 People | Jim Weiss | Strategy & Leadership Podcast

  4. Oct 1

    AI Everywhere, Strategy Nowhere (with Former Accenture Leader John Rudd)

    Eighty percent of your people using Copilot does not make you an AI company. In a lot of mid-market organizations it means AI is everywhere and strategy is nowhere. John Rudd built SolutionsIQ into North America's largest Agile consultancy, sold it to Accenture, and went on to run Accenture's global Agile practice and its North America technology M&A program. A former turnaround CFO and current private equity board member, he is co-founder of LightSight and author of The Age of the Speedboat: How Middle Market Leaders Can Win the AI Era. Anthony and John talk about why license counts are the wrong measure of AI progress, what a CEO should put in place before chasing use cases, and why the leaders who win this era will be the ones who stop pretending to have every answer. Book a conversation with Anthony: https://meetings.hubspot.com/anthony930 Take the One Destination Alignment Scorecard: https://www.smestrategy.net/one-destination-scorecard More from SME Strategy: https://www.smestrategy.net Get John's book: https://speedboatbook.com

    AI Everywhere, Strategy Nowhere (with Former Accenture Leader John Rudd)

  5. Sep 22

    Former Walmart VP Keith Wyche: The 4 R's That Decide Whether Change Stick

    Keith Wyche has spent his career inside companies in the middle of a transformation. He was at AT&T before the 1984 breakup, at IBM during its shift to services, at Pitney Bowes looking for life beyond mailing, and at Walmart as it moved from brick and mortar to e-commerce. He was also President of Cub Foods and ACME Markets for SuperValu, and he now serves as an independent director on the board of Brink's. In this episode, Keith explains the 4 R's he uses to drive change: relevance, readiness, responsiveness, and robustness. He tells the story of growing a grocery chain with no grocery background by tailoring 15% of each store to its community. He also describes the Sears story he used to get long-tenured Walmart teams behind e-commerce, and he shares his equation for trust: character × competency × consistency. His new book is Uncommon Leadership. CONNECT WITH KEITH Website: keithwyche.com Instagram: @therealkeithwyche Book: Uncommon Leadership, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and wherever books are sold WORK WITH ANTHONY Anthony Taylor facilitates strategic planning and alignment sessions with leadership teams, and speaks at conferences and events as a keynote speaker, trainer, and working-session facilitator on strategy and leadership. Contact: smestrategy.net/contact LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604 #Leadership #ChangeManagement #Walmart #BoardGovernance #StrategyAndLeadership

    Former Walmart VP Keith Wyche: The 4 R's That Decide Whether Change Stick

  6. Sep 10

    KEH Camera's CEO on Why He "Reports" to His Own Board

    Glenn Kaufman runs KEH Camera, North America's largest pre-owned camera and video equipment reseller, founded D Cubed Group, and previously chaired the Finance Committee on the board of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers. In this conversation he explains why he treats himself as reporting to his own board even as CEO, the line he uses to build real alignment with the leaders he backs, and how he tells a company that's genuinely healthy from one that's been dressed up to sell. If you sit on a board, report to one, or want to, this is a masterclass in building trust before you need it. 🔗 Read the full write-up: https://www.smestrategy.net/blog/glenn-kaufman-keh-camera-ceo-board-accountability 🔗 Strategic planning facilitation with Anthony: https://www.smestrategy.net/strategic-planning-facilitator 🔗 Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604/

    KEH Camera's CEO on Why He "Reports" to His Own Board

  7. Sep 1

    He Led 4,500 Engineers Through the Dell-EMC Merger. Now He Runs the Company Behind the Jet Card

    Alan Walsh is President of Sentient Jet, the company that invented the private jet card. Before that, he spent 20+ years at Dell and EMC, including leading the 4,500-person Global Support Center team through the EMC-Dell merger across 12 locations and six continents. In this episode, Alan shares the leadership credo he's carried since his EMC days ("if there's no precedent, you can't be wrong"), what it actually takes to communicate change to thousands of people at once, and the operational discipline behind Sentient Jet's commitment to answering every phone call in 15 seconds or less, 24/7. 00:00 Intro: Meet Alan Walsh, President of Sentient Jet 01:12 From Cork, Ireland to the U.S. — Alan's path 02:06 The first rule of leadership: "It's never about me" 03:33 Alan's credo: "If there's no precedent, you can't be wrong" 05:15 Communicating "the why" across a 4,500-person global team 07:38 Inside the Dell-EMC merger integration 10:45 The failure that changed how Alan leads 13:17 How applied physics shaped his leadership style 15:02 A day in the life as President of Sentient Jet 18:08 Where AI fits in private aviation (and where it doesn't) 20:51 The 15-second rule: Sentient Jet's service philosophy 22:46 Close Learn more about Sentient Jet: https://sentient.com Want strategic clarity like this in your own organization? Work with SME Strategy on your strategic plan: https://www.smestrategy.net/strategic-planning-facilitator Or connect with Anthony directly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604/ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and subscribe wherever you listen. It helps more leaders find the show. #Leadership #PrivateAviation #ChangeManagement #CustomerExperience #ExecutiveLeadership #BusinessPodcast

    He Led 4,500 Engineers Through the Dell-EMC Merger. Now He Runs the Company Behind the Jet Card

  8. Aug 20

    Why Franchisees Quit the Idea, Not the Brand: Ex-Tropical Smoothie CEO Mike Rotondo

    Most franchise CEOs chase the wrong number. Mike Rotondo — who's led Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Edible Arrangements, and Altitude Trampoline Parks, and now runs pet care franchise Skiptown — explains why the real measure of a healthy system isn't new franchise agreements, it's the "second signature": whether the franchisees you already have want to do it again. Anthony and Mike dig into unit-level economics, when to innovate versus when to protect your core (and why "we'll never do that" often doesn't age well), and the three traits that separate franchisees who thrive from ones who burn out. A candid, practical conversation for anyone building a business — franchise or not — that depends on other people executing well. ABOUT SME STRATEGY SME Strategy helps organizations around the world create and execute their strategic plans through expert facilitation, leadership training, and organizational alignment. We work with leadership teams to make strategy implementation easier, faster, and more effective. Learn More About Our Strategic Planning Facilitation Services: https://www.smestrategy.net/strategic-planning-facilitator Visit SME Strategy Consulting: https://www.smestrategy.net Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604/

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The Strategy and Leadership Podcast with Anthony C. Taylor explores strategic planning, strategy execution, and executive leadership in complex organizations. Hosted by Anthony C. Taylor, Founder & Principal of SME Strategy, the show features conversations with CEOs and senior leaders on business strategy, organizational alignment, leadership development, and change management. Episodes examine real trade-offs, decision-making, and the practical structures that turn strategic plans into measurable results and sustained team performance. Designed for CEOs and executive teams responsible for making strategic plans work in the real world. Learn more: https://www.smestrategy.net Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604/

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