The Strategy and Leadership Podcast with Anthony C. Taylor

The Strategy and Leadership Podcast with Anthony C. Taylor

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/

Episodes

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

October 16, 2026 • 26 mins
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 ki...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

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

October 7, 2026 • 25 mins
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 ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

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

October 1, 2026 • 29 mins
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 i...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

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

September 22, 2026 • 22 mins
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, K...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

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

September 10, 2026 • 25 mins
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...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

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

September 1, 2026 • 24 mins
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 communicat...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

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

August 20, 2026 • 21 mins
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 innova...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

The Apple Store Architect on Hiring Baristas, Killing Commissions, and Inventing the Genius Bar

August 6, 2026 • 25 mins
Ron Johnson built the Apple Store from scratch. He was also CEO of JCPenney and led the design-for-all era at Target. In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, he walks Anthony Taylor through the specific counterintuitive bets that made Apple retail the most successful launch in the history of the category. The list is longer than most people realize. He hired baristas and librarians instead of technology experts, be...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

How Tracy Nolan Led 24,000 People Through the Largest Telecom Merger in US History

July 30, 2026 • 27 mins
What does it take to lead 24,000 people through the largest telecom merger in US history — during COVID — and come out the other side with a stronger team? In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Anthony Taylor sits down with Tracy Nolan, SVP at Humana and board member at Dress for Success. Tracy has driven $31B in revenue through a $6B operating budget across a Fortune 100 career that includes leader...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

High Performance Under Pressure - Dr Justin Anderson

July 23, 2026 • 22 mins
Dr. Justin Anderson CEO of Premier Sport Psychology and Premier Performance Advising Justin’s work has supported Hall of Famers, All-Pros, world and national champions, and organizations across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, WNBA, NWSL, Olympic sports, collegiate athletics, and executive leadership spaces.He shares insights on how elite performers achieve their success through mental frameworks, attention management, and intent...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

From Google to Salesforce: A Transformation Leader on Why People Resist Change | Travis Hahler

July 14, 2026 • 29 mins
What if resistance to change isn't stubbornness or rebellion, but biology? Travis Hahler has spent nearly two decades sitting between great strategies and the people who have to adopt them, and he has a startling answer for why so many transformations stall: change signals threat to the human brain, and most leaders have no idea they are triggering it. In this episode of the SME Strategy and Leadership Podcast, host Anthony Taylor ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Canada's $3 Trillion Blind Spot: Kendra MacDonald on the Ocean Economy

July 7, 2026 • 22 mins
The global ocean economy is doubling in size to three trillion US dollars. Canada, a country with the longest coastline in the world and the fourth largest ocean territory, sits at roughly fifty billion. Kendra MacDonald calls that gap the opportunity of a generation, and she left one of the largest professional services firms on the planet to go after it. In this episode of the SME Strategy and Leadership Podcast, host Anthony Tay...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Never in Doubt: A Strategy Playbook From Former WWE President George Barrios

June 30, 2026 • 28 mins
Note: This episode contains some strong language. When a recruiter called George Barrios about a CFO job, George was treasurer of The New York Times Company. His verbatim reaction when he heard the company was WWE: "are you fucking kidding me?" He took the role anyway. Twelve years later, the stock had gone from $15 to $100, and he had helped engineer the largest acquisition in sports entertainment history. In this episode of the S...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

How a 15 Person Floor Heating Company Became the North American Leader | John Rose

June 23, 2026 • 27 mins
Three computers, no fridge, and 15 employees. That was Nuheat when John Rose walked in. Sixteen years later it was the North American leader in its industry, and John says culture is the reason why. In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with John Rose, former President and CEO of Nuheat Industries, advisor, investor, and board director, about what 16 years at the helm of a market leader ta...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

A Navy Captain on Trust, Self-Doubt, and Leading Under Pressure | Jenn Donahue

June 16, 2026 • 19 mins
What does it actually take to lead when the stakes are life and death, and what happens when those same pressures show up in a boardroom? According to Jenn Donahue, the answer starts not with strategy or skill, but with the voices inside your own head. In this episode, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Jenn Donahue, PhD, PE, retired U.S. Navy captain, international keynote speaker, business coach, and USA Today bestselling author of Be...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Selling Zico to Coca-Cola and Buying It Back | Mark Rampolla

June 9, 2026 • 26 mins
What happens when you build a global brand, sell it for $200 million, and realize it's not what you want? According to Mark Rampolla, the real lesson isn't about the exit or buyback. It's about understanding that growth isn't something you do. It's something you become. In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Mark Rampolla, founder and CEO of ZICO Coconut Water, co-founder and managin...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Fighting for Flawless: A Fighter Pilot and F1 Insider on Building High-Performance Teams

June 2, 2026 • 22 mins
What separates teams that chase perfection from those that settle for good enough? According to Jason Richardson, it comes down to three things: the culture you build from the roots up, the trust you earn before you need it, and the ownership every leader takes for the environment their team lives in. In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Jason Richardson, a former Royal Australian Ai...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Your Team Is Watching You Panic: A 36-Year CEO on Leading Through Chaos

May 26, 2026 • 20 mins
What separates the leaders who scale from the ones who stall? According to Jim Remley, it comes down to three things: the expectations you set, the people you develop, and the financial discipline you build before you need it. In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Jim Remley, founder of the largest independent real estate brokerage in Oregon and nationally recognized coach at eRealE...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

How a 102-Year-Old Real Estate Company Stays Relevant: Lessons from Sage CEO Jonathan Iger

May 19, 2026 • 29 mins
What if the secret to building a company that lasts over a century isn't disruption, technology, or even capital — but the discipline to put relationships before transactions, every single time? In this episode, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Jonathan Iger, CEO and President of Sage, a 102-year-old commercial real estate company that has outlasted every recession, market shift, and industry disruption since 1924. Jonathan shar...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

The Three Levels of Financial Acumen That Separate Leaders from Operators with Tim Vipond

May 12, 2026 • 19 mins
Most executives will tell you they understand their business. Ask them to walk you through their financial statements, and the room goes quiet. In this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with Tim Vipond, Co-Founder and CEO of Corporate Finance Institute (CFI), about why financial acumen is a non-negotiable leadership skill and why the rise of AI is making it more critical, not less. Tim break...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Stuff You Should Know

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Dateline NBC

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    The Breakfast Club

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.

    Crime Junkie

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

Explore

iHeart

Live Radio

Podcasts

Artist Radio

Exclusives

News

Features

Events

Contests

Photos

Information

About

Advertise

Blog

Brand Guidelines

Contest Guidelines

Subscription Offers

Jobs

Get the App

Automotive

Home

Wearables

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.

  • Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • AdChoicesAd Choices