In this episode of Create the Future with Rick Williams Podcast, Tom Doorley shares powerful lessons from decades of leadership, strategy, entrepreneurship, consulting and corporate governance—including difficult decisions he made in his own career and the strategic decisions he helped major companies navigate.
Tom Doorley is the CEO of Sage Partners, a strategy and governance advisory firm, and an experienced entrepreneur, advisor to senior leadership teams, board member and operating manager. He previously co-founded Braxton Associates, which ultimately became part of Deloitte Consulting. His career has focused on helping leaders identify the “Big Things” facing their organizations and turn strategy into action and value.
This conversation is about something every CEO, founder, business owner and senior executive faces: making important decisions when you don't have all the answers.
Tom explains why leaders need to slow down, challenge their assumptions, seek advice from people with different perspectives, understand what is really driving their business, and recognize when what worked yesterday will not work tomorrow.
He also shares a fascinating story from his work with Howard Schultz and Starbucks, when the company was considering expansion into Japan. The question appeared to be whether the Japanese partner and locations were right. But Tom discovered that the more important question was whether Starbucks had a business model and value proposition that could successfully travel beyond its existing market.
The lesson: before making a big strategic move, make sure the thing that made you successful can actually scale.
In this episode, you'll learn:
• How leaders can make better decisions when the future is uncertain
• Why slowing down can lead to better strategic decisions
• How to challenge your own assumptions before making a major decision
• Why leaders should seek advice from trusted people inside and outside the organization
• How to protect yourself against the downside when making a major career or business move
• The strategic lesson Tom learned from advising Starbucks and Howard Schultz
• How to determine whether a business model or value proposition can scale
• Why leaders need to distinguish between a real opportunity and a “shiny object”
• Why growing companies sometimes need to “jump the chasm” to reach their next stage of growth
• How resource allocation decisions can determine the future of a business
• How experienced advisors can help leaders navigate complex strategic decisions
• How leaders can use their teams, advisors, values and risk preferences to find the best path forward
• Why the future is something leaders can actively create through the decisions they make today
A powerful leadership lesson
One of the central ideas in this conversation is that a leader's job is not to have every answer.
A leader's responsibility is to bring the right people together, listen carefully, challenge assumptions, understand the organization's goals and risk preferences, and work with others to discover the best path forward.
As Rick Williams puts it, leaders create the future through the decisions they make today.
That is the heart of Create the Future Podcast with Rick Williams.
About Tom Doorley
Tom Doorley is the CEO of Sage Partners and has extensive experience as an entrepreneur, strategy advisor, senior leadership advisor, board member and operating manager. He co-founded Braxton Associates, which grew into a global consulting business before becoming part of Deloitte Consulting. Tom has also served in senior board and governance roles and authored Value-Creating Growth.
Tom's work focuses on strategy, governance, growth and helping leaders turn important ideas into action and measurable impact.
Learn more about Tom Doorley and Sage Partners through the links below.
https://www.sagepartners.net/thomas-doorley
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomdoorley/
About Create the Future with Rick Williams Podcast
Create the Future with Rick Williams Podcast is a leadership podcast for CEOs, founders, business owners, senior executives and aspiring leaders.
Rick Williams speaks with leaders about the difficult decisions, challenges, failures, turning points and experiences that shaped how they lead.
The goal is simple: learn from the decisions other leaders have made so you can make better decisions yourself.
If you're responsible for leading a company, growing an organization, managing people or making decisions that will shape the future, subscribe to Create the Future with Rick Williams Podcast.
Remember: You create the future by the decisions you make today.
