Deploying Judo Strategy To Throw A Stronger Business Competitor
In judo, you do not try to overpower a stronger opponent. You accept their strength, side-step their thrust, and use their weight and momentum to throw them. My earlier article,…
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Deliberately Stupid Executive Onboarding
Every executive walking into a new role is, for a while, stupid. Not incapable. Not unqualified. Stupid in the specific, unavoidable sense that they do not yet know what they…
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Succeeding Your Own Boss
There's a version of executive onboarding that almost never gets written about, probably because it looks so easy from the outside. Whether it’s the CFO succeeding the CEO, or the…
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Functional Leader Onboarding: Converge Before You Evolve
The fastest way for a new functional or operational leader to fail is to start changing the team before becoming part of it. The better sequence is simpler and harder: converge first,…
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Integration Leadership Isn’t a Detail. It’s the Deal.
KKR's $5.7 billion agreement to acquire Integer Holdings closed a strategic review that started back in April. The medtech manufacturer's board ran the process. Advisors ran the numbers. Lawyers ran…
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In M&A Integration, Culture Isn’t the Soft Part. It’s the Job.
Private equity has been on a buying spree. Bolt-on acquisitions, platform builds, roll-ups across logistics, healthcare, professional services, and beyond. Deal teams have gotten faster and more disciplined about diligence,…
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The First 100 Days Don’t Start on Day One. They Start Now.
When Infosys named Ashiss Kumar Dash as CEO-designate in July 2026, the announcement came alongside news that the company had lost a major European client - one of several large…
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The Stakeholders You’re Not Thinking About – And Why They Can Derail Your First 100 Days
Cracker Barrel made headlines when its relatively new CEO departed after less than two years in the role they were hired to transform. The reasons were complex, but one thread…
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Outcome-Based Governance: Aligning Policies, Guidelines, and Principles
Policies channel compliance. Guidelines invite contribution. Principles earn commitment. Start with how you want people to behave at work and then design your governance stack to reinforce, not inhibit that. Three…
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