Independent Consulting Services

Today's episode will make you better at developing a strategy, and evaluating other people's strategies. Roger Martin is one of the world’s most sought-after experts on strategy, and the author of "Playing to Win", one of the most popular (and most actionable) books on learning the art of strategy. He’s written extensively for the Harvard Business Review; consulted for dozens of Fortune 500 companies, including P&G, Lego, and Ford; and written 11 other books on strategy, leadership, and clear thinking. In our conversation, we cover: 🔸 The five key questions you need to answer to develop an effective strategy 🔸 How most companies get strategy wrong 🔸 How to avoid “playing to play” instead of playing to win 🔸 Real-world strategy examples from Figma, Lego, Procter & Gamble, and Southwest Airlines 🔸 Why you need to either differentiate or be the lowest cost 🔸 Shortcomings of current strategy education 🔸 Much more Listen now 👇 - YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gTyPQZus - Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gKWWm-Fp - Apple: https://lnkd.in/gCing92Q Some key takeaways: 1. Strategy is an integrated set of choices that compels a desired customer action. 2. Great strategists aren’t born; they’re made through practice. Even if you see yourself as more operational than strategic, remember that strategy is a skill that anyone can develop over time. Just like any skill, it improves with practice. 3. To win in business, you must be either a low-cost provider or differentiated. If you’re neither, competitors can “bully” you and take market share. Two questions can help you figure out whether you’re winning in these ways. First, could you match competitor price decreases and remain more profitable than them? If not, you’re not a low-cost provider. Second, could customers essentially flip a coin between you and a competitor? If so, you’re not differentiated enough. 4. Use the Strategy Choice Cascade to define and implement effective business strategies. This framework consists of five essential questions: a. What is our winning aspiration? Clarify what you aim to achieve with your strategy. This guides all subsequent decisions and actions toward a clear objective. b. Where will we play? Select specific markets, segments, or niches where you will compete. Focus is crucial; trying to be everywhere can dilute effectiveness. c. How will we win? Determine your competitive advantage. You must either offer customers superior value or operate at a lower cost than competitors in your chosen areas. d. What capabilities must be in place to win? Identify and build capabilities that are critical for executing your chosen strategy effectively. These should be distinctive strengths that set you apart from competitors. e. What management systems are required to ensure the capabilities are in place?

Is Process Management the Key to Strong Risk and Compliance Management? So many organizations struggle with Risk and Compliance management! A quick scan of the headlines and you'll see another organization getting in trouble with the regulators. I was a consultant in the banking industry for over 25 years and have seen the struggle first hand. In my opinion, the root cause of failure is the lack of a semantic structure (a framework that defines and organizes data in a meaningful way) which exhaustively identifies every process the organization performs to provide consistent business context. According to ISO 31000, risk is defined as the effect of uncertainty on an organization's objectives. How are objectives accomplished? Through Process, of course. Organizations that must manage risk have a risk repository, many times a GRC platform, which stores their risk data such as regulatory obligations, controls, etc. The core challenge is that they typically have a size fit all process taxonomy (such as APQC) for business context which doesn't capture the nuances of their business. The result is that risk data is built on interpretations and assumptions which makes it unreliable, risk reporting for executives is inaccurate, and there is massive confusion for everyone that has a role in risk management. To address this, organizations need to create and maintain an inventory of every process they perform in each organizational unit. This approach leads to Business Integrated Risk Management, where risk management is performed through a common business-oriented lens. The Benefits include: -      Clean risk data by aligning all risk types to a common language of "What" processes the organization performs across all risk types. -      Operational efficiency by defining processes in the 1st line (risk owners), 2nd line (risk oversight), and 3rd line (risk assurance) in a standardized way. -      Enhanced decision-making through accurate risk reporting, allowing stakeholders and the customer they serve to make informed decisions. -      Accurate risk reporting to leadership so they can make accurate risk mitigation decisions. This also sets up organizations to leverage the power of AI through Digital Twins and AI agents to continuously scan the environment and perform automated risk assessment which could eliminate many risk management challenges. This is such a common sense approach, why has this simple solution evaded many organizations? To learn more about this approach, check out my book Digital Transformation Success https://a.co/d/2QSq8qf

A few days ago, I got an email from a reputed Talent Management organization. They were looking for an executive coach for their CXOs. I sent back a response and asked 2 questions: → Do you want a coach or a mentor? → What’s your budget? The reply: “Coach and mentor… commercials we can discuss once you share the profile.” So, I clarified—I only coach leaders and my mentorship is for coaches refining their craft. I shared my profile. Their next ask was: “Please share your work experience.” And that’s where I paused. My work experience is already on LinkedIn. But more importantly, coaching is not about my CV. It’s about presence, listening, partnership and transformation. When organizations reduce coaching to a box-ticking exercise, it signals to a deeper gap. A lack of clarity on what coaching truly is—or what their leaders truly need. If you want advice, hire a mentor. If you want delivery, hire a consultant. If you want leaders to expand how they think, feel, decide, and lead—hire a coach. Because leadership doesn’t change with information. It changes with self-awareness.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨u𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. ⚡ Imagine this. Nine partners. Each with 20+ years of winning deals, advising boards, and shaping industries. All convinced they have mastered influence. But by the end of Day 1 of their group coaching, their certainty was cracked. -Their Executive Presence Influence scores revealed blind spots. -Simulations showed where default behaviours collapsed under pressure. -Peer reflections gave them the truth no client ever dares to say. Day 2 of the group coaching is when disruption turns into transformation. We call it - Rewriting the Inner Narrative. The Mindset Shift This isn’t about adding new skills. It is about challenging identity itself. In the group coaching session on Day 2, the consulting partners confronted a hard choice: 👉 Stay anchored in role-based leadership (“my title, my power, my role, my past”) 👉 Or step into presence-based leadership (“my influence, my gravitas, my impact, my present”) Then as their coach I installed the 3 Frames of Executive Presence- Focus, Warmth, Power. Leadership was no longer a single style. It became three currencies of influence they could flex to win trust, collaboration, and decisive outcomes. In the workshop, the conversations grew raw: “What if I bring more Warmth to client negotiations?” "I lean too heavily on Power -it’s costing me collaboration with board members.” You could feel the shift in the room. These partners stopped treating presence as performance. They started seeing it as identity. ✨ Because growth at the top doesn’t come from knowing more. It comes from daring to become more. Day 3 of the group coaching is when identity turns into behaviour. These accomplished partners stopped presence from just being in theory. They started living it. This is when influence leaves the slide deck, and takes its seat in the boardroom. ❓If you were one of those partners in the coaching room - which frame would you strengthen first: Focus, Warmth, or Power? #ExecutivePresence #MBB #Consulting

Over the last decade of coaching leaders across industries, one insight has become increasingly clear: The competitive advantage of tomorrow's leaders won't be IQ or EQ alone - additionally it will be their capacity to navigate complexity, make sense of ambiguity and help others do the same. 'The leaders who will thrive are those who can anticipate what is changing, interpret what those changes mean for the business, align people around a shared direction and challenge assumptions - including their own.' In an environment shaped by AI, shifting customer expectations, geopolitical uncertainty and evolving workforce dynamics, technical expertise and functional excellence are no longer sufficient. Leaders are deepening their business acumen to connect market signals with strategic choices, understand the broader system and make decisions that create sustainable value not just results. What often determines the quality of these decisions is not experience alone, but the mental models through which leaders view the world. These deeply held assumptions influence how we interpret information, assess risk, respond to uncertainty and lead change. The challenge is that the mental models that drove success yesterday may not be the ones that will create success tomorrow. This is where coaching becomes valuable - leaders need a thinking partner who helps them examine assumptions, broaden perspectives, sharpen business judgment and build the capacity to lead amidst complexity. Perhaps the future of leadership is not about knowing more - It's about converting uncertainty into strategic advantage by realigning their mental models. #leadership #coaching #businessacumen #futureofleadership

Training. Coaching. Mentoring. Counselling. Most people use them interchangeably. But they’re fundamentally different — and confusing them can hurt growth. Here’s how I explain it (and how it shows up in consulting): 🔧 Training – Teaching the basics. When I joined consulting, training was learning how to structure slides, analyze data, build models. It’s structured, repeatable, and often classroom-style. A trainer gives you the tools to begin. 🎯 Coaching – Stretching performance. A partner once told me: “You can push this insight further. Go beyond what you think is feasible.” That was coaching, unlocking capability I didn’t know I had. 🧭 Mentoring – Sharing experience. I still remember a senior partner sharing how they navigated a tough client situation, not telling me what to do, but giving me patterns to learn from. A mentor shows you what you don’t yet see. 🪞 Counselling – Guiding behavior & judgment. This happens when someone sits you down and helps you reflect: “What’s really driving your choices? How do you want to show up as a leader?” A counselor helps you understand why you do it. Each has its place. Each works differently. And great leaders know when to use which. In consulting (and leadership), you can’t just train your teams. You need to coach them to stretch, mentor them to grow, and counsel them when they need perspective. Your team doesn’t just need answers, they need enablers. #Leadership #Mindset #Coaching #Mentoring ------------------- I write regularly on People | Leadership | Transformation | Sustainability. Follow Surya Sharma.

As the year closes, I’ve been reflecting on hundreds of leadership and Executive coaching conversations I’ve had this year. Different roles. Different industries. Different Contexts. Yet the same tensions keep showing up — quietly, consistently. What I’ve been paying attention to is what quietly held leaders back this year — despite competence, experience, and good intent. Most leadership struggles I see today are not skill gaps… They’re identity–reputation tensions. Leaders often know exactly what the organisation needs. They hesitate because acting out of their long held identities would disrupt the reputation they’ve carefully built — competent, agreeable, reliable, thoughtful. So they stay consistent with their image… and slowly become inconsistent with their role. A few patterns I keep seeing: • Self-doubt mistaken for humility • Overthinking rewarded as depth • Low visibility explained as introversion • Caution applauded long after it becomes avoidance What got you here will not always help you lead from here. Personality isn’t the constraint. Contextual Adaptability is. Coaching is about facing the question most leaders avoid: "Who do I need to disappoint to lead well?" Growth begins when leaders stop protecting reputation and start acting from responsibility. If you’re shaping people, culture, or decisions, this question matters: "Is who I’m being today aligned with what my role actually requires?" That’s where leadership begins. #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching #CXOLeadership #CHRO #PeopleLeadership #IndiaLeadership #FutureOfWorkIndia #AIaugumentedcoaching

Leadership development is evolving. And what I'm observing validates years of working with senior leaders: The most transformative shifts happen in spaces we often overlook in our drive to scale. I see this pattern repeatedly: A leader has done the development programs, understands the skills, know the frameworks… yet something crucial is still missing. Because the deepest transformation emerges in different moments: - When a CEO realises their drive for excellence is creating team burnout - When an executive discovers their need for control is stifling innovation - When a consultant connects their past patterns to present undesired results These insights surface in the intimate space of 1:1 coaching. In conversations that go deeper. In moments where skilled questioning reveals what's really driving leadership impact. While structured programs build essential foundations, they can't address what emerges in individual coaching: - The subtle patterns shaping team dynamics - The personal blindspots affecting decision-making - The underlying beliefs influencing organisational culture The most powerful leadership transformations happen when: - A trusted thinking partner helps you see your blind spots - Deep coaching conversations reveal unconscious patterns - Individual insight creates organisational ripples This is why forward-thinking organisations are complementing their development programs with 1:1 executive coaching: The complexity of modern leadership demands both Generic solutions alone can't address unique leadership challenges. Real transformation requires dedicated space for truth. While investing in personalised coaching alongside scalable programs might seem resource-intensive, the impact is undeniable: Leaders who see differently, lead differently. Leaders who lead differently, transform organisations. The future of leadership development isn't about choosing between programs and coaching. It's about recognising where real transformation happens. The future of leadership development isn't about reaching more leaders. It's about reaching those with most influence, more meaningfully.

You can’t just “choose any coach” to help your emerging leaders… and here’s why. One first-time leader I worked with had already been through two leadership training programs. She described them as “good” but said they were full of information that didn’t really help with the limiting beliefs holding her back. When her role was extended and the pressure mounted, training wasn’t enough. She felt like a fraud, dreading each day, and was counting down the weeks until it was over. Coaching was different. It gave her a safe space to reflect, test ideas in real time, and build the confidence she’d been missing. A few sessions in, she began leading meetings with more presence, shaping her team with clarity, and even started thinking about applying for the role permanently. But not just any coach will work. If you’re supporting emerging leaders, here’s what to look for: - Real-world leadership experience: Someone who has led teams themselves, not just reads about it. - Evidence-based methods: A grounding in psychology, leadership science, or performance research. - Focus on the inner game: Confidence, resilience, and self-awareness matter just as much as skills. - Ability to connect context to practice: Every organisation, team, and leader is different. - Action over talk: Some coaches act more like mentors or guides, and the sessions end up being a lot of talking with no action. Because training fills your head. And generic coaching can sometimes do the same. The right coaching transforms how leaders lead. #coaching #leadershipcoaching #highperformance #corporatecoaching

TPRM (Third-Party Risk Management) is the process organizations use to identify, assess, monitor, and manage risks arising from their relationships with external vendors, suppliers, contractors, service providers, and business partners. Why TPRM Matters Most organizations rely on third parties for critical services such as: * Cloud computing * IT support * Payment processing * Logistics and supply chain operations * Human resources services * Consulting and professional services When a third party experiences a security breach, operational failure, regulatory violation, or financial collapse, the organization using that third party may also be affected. Key Types of Third-Party Risks 1. Cybersecurity Risk * Data breaches * Ransomware attacks * Unauthorized access to systems 2. Operational Risk * Service disruptions * Vendor outages * Poor service performance 3. Compliance and Regulatory Risk * Failure to meet legal requirements * Violations of privacy regulations such as GDPR 4. Financial Risk * Vendor bankruptcy * Financial instability affecting service delivery 5. Reputational Risk * Negative publicity caused by a vendor’s actions 6. Strategic Risk * Misalignment between vendor activities and organizational goals Core TPRM Activities 1. Vendor Inventory Maintain a list of all third parties and classify them based on criticality and risk level. 2. Due Diligence Evaluate potential vendors before engagement by reviewing: * Security controls * Financial health * Compliance certifications * Business continuity plans 3. Risk Assessment Assess the likelihood and impact of risks associated with each vendor. 4. Contract Management Include requirements for: * Security controls * Data protection * Audit rights * Incident reporting * Service Level Agreements (SLAs) 5. Continuous Monitoring Monitor vendors throughout the relationship using: * Security ratings * Performance metrics * Compliance reviews * Incident reports 6. Offboarding Ensure secure termination of the relationship, including: * Data return or destruction * Access revocation * Asset recovery Benefits of TPRM * Reduces cybersecurity threats * Improves regulatory compliance * Enhances business resilience * Protects organizational reputation * Supports informed decision-making * Strengthens vendor relationships Example Suppose a bank hires a cloud service provider to store customer data. Through TPRM, the bank would: 1. Assess the provider’s security controls. 2. Review compliance certifications. 3. Include security requirements in the contract. 4. Continuously monitor the provider’s performance and security posture. 5. Ensure customer data is securely removed if the contract ends. Common Frameworks and Standards Supporting TPRM * NIST Cybersecurity Framework * ISO 27001 * ISACA COBIT * Shared Assessments TPRM Framework * OCC Third-Party Risk Guidance (for banking) #Fourthtech #Cybersecurity #TPRM #GRC #Riskmanagement