TL;DR You don’t need to own the budget, the team, or the decision to shape the outcome. The most powerful force in business isn’t authority—it’s influence. Soft power—built through trust, education, credibility, and timing—gets decisions made faster, adopted more widely, and resisted far less. When people believe their idea is the solution, they fight for […]

The Strategic Advantage of Mapping the Known Unknowns TL;DR Most business cases and pitches fail before they even begin—because they overlook the hidden dynamics shaping the decision. You can do everything “right” and still walk into a losing room. The real skill isn’t just presenting well—it’s mapping the terrain in advance: surfacing competing interests, unspoken

TL;DR: Most people think a business case is about getting a “yes”—but in reality, it’s about engineering alignment. A great business case doesn’t just present a smart idea; it surfaces hidden landmines, appeals to individual incentives, and enlists the real centers of power—before the pitch even hits the boardroom. The Turning Point In the early

How Listening—and KPI Chaining—Become Your Competitive Advantage One of the more revealing advisory calls I’ve had came from a client asking a simple but powerful question: “Why aren’t our clients renewing with us?” I did the craziest thing you could imagine, I asked them. The top responses from former clients? “They’re not meeting our needs,”