

Inside the Strategy Room
McKinsey & Company
We talk with McKinsey partners and corporate executives on the challenges they face creating lasting strategies in a fast-changing world. We also examine the different ways these executives approach these challenges and the new and innovative ways they think of creating a vision for their enterprises.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 18, 2023 • 48min
155. Deciphering the economy’s mixed signals
As volatility persists, companies need to be ready for a range of macroeconomic scenarios. Three authors of a recent article on the economic outlook for 2023 and beyond discuss how businesses can prepare for what may be a challenging couple of years. Michael Birshan is the global co-leader of McKinsey’s Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice and serves on the McKinsey Global Institute Council. Ezra Greenberg leads our work on macroeconomic scenarios and trends globally and is co-leader of strategic transformation services in North America. Ida Kristensen is global co-leader of the Risk and Resilience Practice. Join our LinkedIn community of more than 89,000 members. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com If you would like to receive alerts on our latest insights, you can sign up at McKinsey.com/scf Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

17 snips
Apr 6, 2023 • 48min
154. The Committed Innovator: Working with start-ups
Corporate innovators often turn to Israel and its vibrant start-up ecosystem to meet their goals. In this episode, we continue our Committed Innovator series on Israel, talking with innovators from three large organizations about how they approach their relations with start-ups. Roi Bar-Kat is head of Intel Capital in Israel, Neta-Li Meiri is chief of global tech innovation for the Israeli food company Strauss Group, and David Schwartz is vice president of tech innovation for PepsiCo Labs. They spoke with innovation leader and McKinsey senior partner Erik Roth about the intersection of corporate innovation and start-up lead innovation, and how the two functions can support each other. Join our LinkedIn community of more than 88,000 members. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com If you would like to receive alerts on our latest insights, you can sign up at McKinsey.com/scf Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

18 snips
Mar 24, 2023 • 46min
153. Strategies to win in the new ecosystem economy
This shift from industry sectors to customer-focused ecosystems may be the largest economic reorganization in history. What role will your company play? Global ecosystems are breaking down barriers separating traditional industries and organizing the economy around key customer needs. In this episode of Inside the Strategy Room, the co-authors of the new book The Ecosystem Economy: How to Lead in the New Age of Sectors Without Borders, explain how companies can secure their place in the ecosystem evolution. Miklós Dietz leads McKinsey’s strategy and corporate finance work within our Financial Services practice and Venkat Atluri heads up our Technology, Media & Telecommunications practice. Listen to episode 133. Digital ecosystems: Creating value in the new age of sectors without borders Join our LinkedIn community of more than 87,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com If you would like to receive alerts on our latest insights, you can sign up at McKinsey.com/scf Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

4 snips
Mar 10, 2023 • 47min
152. How to make a strong start as a CEO
In this episode, we share advice and insights for new CEOs about how they can make a strong start in the role. Sean Brown is joined by Carolyn Dewar, a senior partner in our San Francisco office who is the founder and co-leader of our CEO Excellence Practice. She is also a co-author of last year’s NY Times bestseller, CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest. Joining Carolyn today is Kurt Strovink, a senior partner in our New York office and co-leader of our global CEO initiative. He serves as a counselor to CEOs across industries and is a co-author, with Carolyn, of the Mckinsey.com article, Starting strong: Making your CEO transition a catalyst for renewal. Join our LinkedIn community of more than 87,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com If you would like to receive alerts on our latest insights, you can sign up at McKinsey.com/scf Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Mar 2, 2023 • 48min
151. Voices of CEO excellence: Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman
The chairman, CEO, and co-founder of the global investment management firm traces his journey as a business leader, financial innovator, and philanthropist. Stephen Schwarzman co-founded The Blackstone Group in 1985 and grew it into one of the largest investment firms in the world, with nearly $1 trillion in assets under management and businesses in private equity, real estate, and credit, among other areas. In this episode, Schwarzman talks with Vik Malhotra, former chairman of McKinsey’s Americas region, and senior partner David Schoeman about his approach to leadership and talent and how he assesses investment opportunities. You can listen to or read our Voices of CEO Excellence interview with Morgan Stanley's James Gorman. Join our LinkedIn community of more than 87,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

24 snips
Feb 17, 2023 • 55min
150. Web3: Demystifying the next generation of the internet
The next generation of the internet contains online capabilities and technologies that promise to transform business models. Our goal today is to demystify these technologies, interrogate the many myths around Web3, and discover where the current and future business opportunities lie. Joining us are Ian De Bode, who leads our Web3 efforts in North America, and Matt Higginson, a partner in our Boston office and a leader in our Financial Services and Risk Practices who heads up our blockchain and digital assets initiatives globally. Ian and Matt are co-authors of the Mckinsey.com article, Web3 beyond the hype. We are also joined by Julian Sevillano, a partner in San Francisco who advises financial institutions, digital assets firms, and regulatory agencies on the risk and compliance implications of launching, scaling, and supervising digital assets businesses. We hope you enjoy the episode. Join our LinkedIn community of more than 87,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

46 snips
Feb 10, 2023 • 45min
149. Capturing value in digital transformations
If you’re not in the tech industry, developing your own software may seem like an adjacency too far. But it’s just one of the things you may need to do today to execute a successful digital transformation. In this episode, we’re joined by senior partners Rodney Zemmel and Kate Smaje who co-lead McKinsey Digital. We were also joined by Laura LaBerge, a senior expert in our Stamford office, who until recently was the director of capabilities in our Digital Strategy Practice. We recorded this episode with Rodney, Kate, and Laura in 2022. They discussed the findings from their research including why most organizations achieve less than one-third of the impact they expected from digital investments. We talked about what companies can learn from the best digital performers about how to beat the odds today. Mckinsey.com article: Three new mandates for capturing a digital transformation’s full value Join our LinkedIn community of more than 87,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Feb 3, 2023 • 35min
148. Driving growth while decarbonizing: A conversation with E.ON’s Patrick Lammers
We're joined by Patrick Lammers, chief operating officer for customer solutions, at E.ON, one of Europe’s leading energy providers. Patrick explains how he fosters growth during a historic, industrywide transition to renewable power.E.ON is a German multinational serving more than 50 million customers throughout Europe. Like every other major European utility, E.ON is contending with supply chain disruptions, a continental energy crisis, and the need to decarbonize without sacrificing growth. Lammers sat down with McKinsey’s Sascha Lehmann to explain his growth philosophy, which includes always being ready for growth with the right organizational framework; creating diverse teams full of new talent to encourage fresh thinking; and relentlessly looking for opportunities to automate key parts of the value chain. We are sharing today’s episode as part of an ongoing collaboration with our Growth, Marketing, and Sales Practice on the topic of growth strategy. It is also the first episode of the Practice's new podcast called C-Suite Growth Talks, which will feature conversations with leading executives about how they are successfully choosing growth, by aligning around a shared mindset, strategy, and capabilities. Links: Episode transcript C-Suite Growth Talks podcast Mckinsey.com article: 'Choosing to grow: The leader’s blueprint' Join our LinkedIn community of more than 87,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Jan 27, 2023 • 31min
147. The CFO’s role in talent development
Ankur Agrawal joins Sean Brown to discuss how finance leaders can help promote talent development within their organizations. Ankur is a partner in our New York office and one of the leaders of our Healthcare Practice. In this episode, he talks with Sean about how CFOs have access to data, a cross-functional perspective, and an expanding role as value manager and strategy partner. They therefore have a critical role to play in ensuring that companies develop the skills, talent, mindsets, and behavior required for long-term success. Ankur and Sean also discuss the recent MIT Sloan CFO Summit and the emerging trends for CFOs to watch in 2023. We hope you enjoy this episode. Connect with Ankur on LinkedIn. Join our LinkedIn community of more than 87,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Jan 22, 2023 • 44min
146. Leading with authenticity: A conversation with Bill George
Bill George joins us to share his insights on authentic leadership–the theme of the latest edition of his best-selling book True North: Emerging Leader Edition. Bill is the former chairman and CEO of medical-device company Medtronic and the author of four best-selling books on leadership. He is currently an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, where he's taught leadership since 2004. Bill currently serves on the boards of Goldman Sachs and the Mayo Clinic, and he is a trustee of the World Economic Forum. Bill recently published a new edition of True North that focuses on emerging leaders. He joined us for an online event with Carolyn Dewar, a senior partner in our San Francisco office who co-leads our CEO Excellence practice and co-authored the New York Times bestseller, CEO Excellence. Join our LinkedIn community of more than 87,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.comSupport the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information


