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 communicate change to thousands of people at once, and the operational discipline behind Sentient Jet's commitment to answering every phone call in 15 seconds or less, 24/7.

00:00 Intro: Meet Alan Walsh, President of Sentient Jet
01:12 From Cork, Ireland to the U.S. — Alan's path
02:06 The first rule of leadership: "It's never about me"
03:33 Alan's credo: "If there's no precedent, you can't be wrong"
05:15 Communicating "the why" across a 4,500-person global team
07:38 Inside the Dell-EMC merger integration
10:45 The failure that changed how Alan leads
13:17 How applied physics shaped his leadership style
15:02 A day in the life as President of Sentient Jet
18:08 Where AI fits in private aviation (and where it doesn't)
20:51 The 15-second rule: Sentient Jet's service philosophy
22:46 Close

Learn more about Sentient Jet: https://sentient.com
Want strategic clarity like this in your own organization? Work with SME Strategy on your strategic plan: https://www.smestrategy.net/strategic-planning-facilitator
Or connect with Anthony directly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604/


If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and subscribe wherever you listen. It helps more leaders find the show.
#Leadership #PrivateAviation #ChangeManagement #CustomerExperience #ExecutiveLeadership #BusinessPodcast

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 innovate versus when to protect your core (and why "we'll never do that" often doesn't age well), and the three traits that separate franchisees who thrive from ones who burn out. A candid, practical conversation for anyone building a business — franchise or not — that depends on other people executing well.

ABOUT SME STRATEGY
SME Strategy helps organizations around the world create and execute their strategic plans through expert facilitation, leadership training, and organizational alignment. We work with leadership teams to make strategy implementation easier, faster, and more effective.

Learn More About Our Strategic Planning Facilitation Services:
https://www.smestrategy.net/strategic-planning-facilitator

Visit SME Strategy Consulting:
https://www.smestrategy.net

Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604/

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, because he could train product knowledge in a week but couldn't train warmth. He killed sales commissions, so customers would buy when they were ready and not when a rep needed a number. He invented the Genius Bar as a visible promise of service at the back of every store. He put Apple on the world's most expensive real estate. And he built the Fifth Avenue store underground, so rent landed at roughly 1% of sales while the store did $350 million in its first year.

The through-line for CEOs and senior operators: the strategies that separate you from your competitors are the ones that look counterintuitive on paper, and they come from your own lived experience, not from copying what's already been done.
If you're a CEO, president, or senior operator running a mid-market business and trying to build a strategy that actually differentiates you, this conversation is for you.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Ron Johnson: Apple Store, JCPenney, Target
01:05 Starting at the bottom, unloading trucks at Mervyn's
03:25 Why he hired baristas and librarians instead of tech experts
06:07 The real future of retail: 85% of sales are still physical
09:25 Why customers want to be approached in stores
10:42 Killing sales commissions at the Apple Store
11:47 Designing a store so the service is visible from the door
13:41 What made the Apple Store concept so counterintuitive
15:42 Personal geography: the edge nobody can copy
17:16 The Fifth Avenue store, the fifth most photographed site in NYC
19:52 $350M in year one at 1% rent: the underground bet
21:15 What courage in strategy actually looks like
22:22 Ron's new book and where to find him

ABOUT THE GUEST
Ron Johnson is the former Senior Vice President of Retail Operations at Apple, where he built the Apple Store from concept to global rollout and created the Genius Bar. He was previously Executive Vice President of Merchandising at Target, where he led the design-for-all strategy that reshaped the brand, and later served as CEO of JCPenney.
His new book, Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple's Genius, is out from HarperCollins.
Learn more: https://ronjohnsonshopsdifferent.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST
The Strategy and Leadership Podcast is hosted by Anthony Taylor, Managing Partner at SME Strategy, and features conversations with CEOs and senior operators about the strategic bets, frameworks, and decisions that separate great companies from average ones.


Work with SME Strategy on your next planning session:
https://www.smestrategy.net
Subscribe for a new episode every week.

#RonJohnson #AppleStore #StrategicPlanning #RetailStrategy #BusinessStrategy

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 leadership roles through the Sprint/T-Mobile merger, the Verizon/Alltel merger, 9/11, and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Tracy shares the six ingredients she looks for in every team she builds, why "if your name is on the invite, you've earned the right to be in the room," and the story of a goose in a parking lot that reshaped how she thinks about listening as a leader.

Whether you're leading a mid-market company through change or building your first executive team, the fundamentals in this conversation apply.

What you'll learn:
• The six success ingredients Tracy uses to evaluate any team (trust, integrity, commitment, execution, teamwork, right people)
• How to build two-way trust before you need it
• The "open bridge" method Tracy used to lead 12,000 people through a merger during COVID
• Why vulnerability at the executive level accelerates transformation
• The concept of "full circle leadership" — managing your team, peers, boss, and customers as one system
• The most overlooked element of transformation plans (and why decisiveness beats consensus)
• How Dress for Success helps women re-enter the workforce

Chapters:
00:00 – Introducing Tracy Nolan
01:11 – Heart + leadership: how Tracy defines her MO
03:09 – The six success ingredients
05:14 – Building trust during major transformation
06:11 – The Sprint/T-Mobile merger & the goose in the parking lot
10:59 – Being the first woman in the boardroom
14:39 – Driving results and full circle leadership
20:49 – What most leaders miss in transformation
22:46 – Dress for Success and giving back
25:15 – Where to connect with Tracy

Connect with Tracy Nolan:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tracy-nolan

Learn more about Dress for Success: dressforsuccess.org

About the host:
Anthony Taylor is the founder of SME Strategy Consulting and host of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast. He helps mid-market leadership teams get aligned on one destination and execute on it. Learn more at smestrategy.net.

If you got value from this conversation, leave a review and let us know your biggest takeaway.

#Leadership #StrategyAndLeadership #Transformation #ChangeManagement #ExecutiveLeadership

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 intentional focus. Discover practical strategies to enhance your performance and leadership by understanding the mind's role in overcoming challenges.Key Topics-The importance of attention in performance-Breaking through mental barriers-The five personal attributes for success-The role of biases, fears, and insecurities-The intentional attention framework-Managing pressure and stress effectively-The concept of amnesia and forgetting the past-Renewal strategies for high performers-The impact of routines and language on mindset-Practical tips for leaders and athletes

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 sits down with Travis Hahler, Senior Director of Global Strategy and Transformation at Salesforce, former Global Change and Transformation Lead at Google, and founder of The Neurological Nomad. Drawing on a background that spans neuroscience research, an MBA, and change leadership at Google, Salesforce, and Deloitte, Travis brings a rare fusion of brain science and boardroom experience to the question every leader eventually faces: how do you actually get people to move?

Together they unpack why 70 percent of change initiatives fail to achieve their expected ROI, how the brain interprets organizational change as a loss of competence, relationships, or control, and why urgency and free rein so often backfire. Travis shares the practical shift that separates the successful 30 percent from the rest, including why your program manager gets a project live but your change manager is the one who actually delivers the return.

What You Will Learn in This Episode

How the brain interprets organizational change as a threat, and what leaders consistently misread when teams push back

Why every change equals loss, and how to lead through the three types of loss people experience at work: competence, relationships, and control

Why "just go play with it" is the wrong way to roll out AI, and what people actually need before they will engage

The difference between program management and change management, and why underinvesting in the second one quietly kills your ROI

How to think about adoption in terms of ROI, and why 20 percent adoption rarely justifies the investment

About Travis Hahler

Travis Hahler is Senior Director of Global Strategy and Transformation at Salesforce and the founder of The Neurological Nomad. Over more than fifteen years he has guided over one hundred companies through organizational transformation, earning the nickname "Resistance Fortune Teller" for his ability to predict where change efforts will fail. His signature keynote, The Neuroscience of Change, has reached over 25,000 leaders across 150 global events. His book, Rethink Resistance: Embracing Neuroscience to Lead Transformational Change, is forthcoming from Fast Company Press. Travis has held change and transformation roles at Google and Deloitte, studied neuroscience at Harvard and conducted EEG research at Aalborg University in Denmark, and holds an MBA from the University of South Dakota.

Connect with Travis Hahler

Website: https://www.theneurologicalnomad.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travisdhahler/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneurologicalnomad/

About the Podcast

The SME Strategy and Leadership Podcast is where leaders come to sharpen their thinking on strategy, execution, and the human side of moving plans forward. Hosted by Anthony Taylor, each episode brings candid conversations with executives and experts who help teams get aligned and turn strategic plans into action.

Strategy Resources

Get help facilitating your strategic plan: https://www.smestrategy.net/strategic-planning-facilitator

Connect with Anthony Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604

Learn more about SME Strategy: https://www.smestrategy.net

Produced by Rednyne Productions: https://www.rednyne.com

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 Taylor sits down with Kendra MacDonald, CEO of Canada's Ocean Supercluster and former Chief Audit Executive of Deloitte Global. After twenty five years at Deloitte, Kendra stepped out of a 275,000 person organization to become the first employee of a not for profit built to grow Canada's ocean economy. She talks candidly about why she made the leap, what it takes to align competing industries and countries around a shared goal, and why leadership in this moment looks different from what most people picture.

The conversation moves from the raw economic case for the ocean economy to the messy reality of collaboration at national and international scale. Kendra explains how a supercluster functions as a network of networks, why the devil is in the details when it comes to budgets and intellectual property, and how she keeps fishing executives, oil executives, researchers, and government partners focused on a common objective instead of the friction between them. She also shares a personal turning point that shaped her whole career, and makes the case for stepping into leadership even when you do not feel ready.

What You Will Learn in This Episode

How Kendra frames the size of the ocean economy opportunity and why Canada is significantly undersized relative to its coastline. Why collaboration is harder in practice than it sounds, and where partnerships tend to break down. How to keep diverse stakeholders aligned by returning to shared purpose rather than fixating on friction points. What it takes to lead a national initiative that spans four Atlantic provinces, coast to coast to coast, and nine countries. How technology, from sensors and autonomous platforms to AI, is being used to instrument the ocean and solve real problems. Why one moment should never be allowed to become career defining, and why the current moment needs more people to step into leadership.

About Kendra MacDonald

Kendra (she/her) is the CEO for Canada's Ocean Supercluster (OSC), responsible for driving the sustainable growth of Canada's Ocean Economy. Along with the OSC team, Kendra is passionately committed to raising awareness of Canada's ocean opportunity and role as an ocean nation.

Connect with Kendra

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendramacdonald-40b574

Canada's Ocean Supercluster: https://oceansupercluster.ca

Saltwater Signals on Substack: https://substack.com/@saltwatersignals

About the Podcast

The SME Strategy and Leadership Podcast brings you conversations with leaders and thinkers from around the world on strategy, leadership, and building organizations that last. Hosted by Anthony Taylor, founder of SME Strategy Consulting and strategic advisor to leadership teams across North America, each episode gives executives practical perspective they can bring back to their own teams.

Strategy Resources

Looking to align your leadership team around a clear strategic plan? Learn more about strategic planning facilitation with Anthony and the SME Strategy team: https://smestrategy.net/strategic-planning-facilitator

Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604

Produced by Rednyne Productions: https://rednyne.com

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 Strategy and Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with George Barrios, former Co-President and Board Member of WWE, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Isos Capital, and author of Sometimes Wrong but Never in Doubt, about how deep preparation builds the conviction to act when everyone says you are wrong. George and his business partner Michelle Wilson took WWE from a roughly $1 billion North American event business to the company that anchored the $9.3 billion merger with UFC to form TKO Group.

Anthony and George explore the insight that the entire industry rejected, why being right when everyone else is wrong is the only kind of right that matters, how over 1,100 meetings in three and a half years changed the market's mind, and what it takes to rebuild after being fired in front of your whole industry. The conversation also goes deep on the research method behind every decision George makes, the partnership dynamic with Vince McMahon, and how he now applies the WWE playbook across La Liga, Ligue 1, and the WTA.

What You Will Learn in This Episode

- How George and Michelle Wilson took WWE from roughly $1 billion to a $9.3 billion valuation

- Why deep preparation, not self-confidence, is the real source of conviction

- The insight about live content that the entire industry insisted was wrong

- Why being right when everyone else is wrong is where the value lives

- What over 1,100 meetings in three and a half years actually accomplished

- How George rebuilt after being fired publicly and then called back to finish the deal

About George Barrios

George Barrios is a business leader, investor, and operator working at the intersection of sports, media, and technology. He is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Isos Capital, where he invests across sports, entertainment, and media. He is also an investor in and Director of Global Sport Group (GSG), a CVC-backed sports investment platform whose portfolio includes La Liga, Ligue 1, the WTA, and Equine Network, and serves as a Trustee of the University of Connecticut.

George is best known for his tenure as Co-President and Board Member of WWE, where he helped transform the company into a global, multi-platform entertainment business and lead its merger with UFC to form TKO Group. Earlier in his career, he held senior executive roles at The New York Times Company, Time Warner, HBO, and Praxair. He holds an MBA from the University of Connecticut School of Business. A first-generation Cuban American raised in Queens, New York, he is the author of Sometimes Wrong but Never in Doubt.

Connect with George Barrios

Website: https://georgebarrios.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgebarrios/

About the Strategy and Leadership Podcast

The Strategy and Leadership Podcast is hosted by Anthony C. Taylor, a strategic advisor to mid-market leadership teams ($30M to $300M) across North America. He works directly with CEOs and senior leaders to align their teams, clarify priorities, and execute strategy in complex organizations, interviewing founders, executives, and industry leaders about what actually works when strategy has to survive execution.

Strategy Resources for Leaders

Work with a Strategic Planning Facilitator: https://www.smestrategy.net/strategic-planning-facilitator

Connect with Anthony Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604/

Produced by Rednyne Productions: https://www.rednyne.com

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 taught him about culture, alignment, and building a company people are proud to work for. John took Nuheat from 15 staff, three computers, and humble beginnings to the North American industry leader in electric radiant floor heating, with 120 full time employees and roughly 4,000 distribution partners before its sale to Pentair in 2015.

Anthony and John explore why culture is a precondition for performance rather than a perk, how celebrating 24 nationalities on staff galvanized the team, why alignment is the most important thing a leader can build, and how to define what winning actually looks like. The conversation also covers family business succession, the relationship between an executive and their board, and the two interview questions John used in nearly every hire at Nuheat.

What You Will Learn in This Episode

How John transformed Nuheat from 15 employees into the North American market leader

Why culture is a precondition for performance, not a perk

How celebrating 24 nationalities on staff galvanized the team and drove results

Why alignment is the most important thing a leader can build

How to define what winning looks like for your organization

Why hope is not a strategy and how accountability keeps a plan alive

How to structure family business succession so the next generation can lead

Why an executive should own the conversation with their board

The two interview questions John used in 90% of his hires

About John Rose

John Rose believes a strong corporate culture is the key ingredient for long-term success. Leaders create the culture, and the culture creates results.

John spent 13 years in his family business, Kirkland and Rose, a bakery and grocery supplier across Western Canada, before it sold to a Dutch company in the early 90s. He then served as President and CEO of Nuheat Industries for 16 years. His focus on culture earned Nuheat Platinum Status as a 10 time winner in Canada's Best Managed Companies Program, a Cultural Diversity Award for employing staff from 24 countries, recognition as one of BC's Best Places to Work, and BC Exporter of the Year. The company grew from 15 staff to the North American leader in electric radiant floor heating, with 120 full time staff and roughly 4,000 distribution partners before its 2015 sale to Pentair.

John is also an engaged community leader. He served as a Director and later Chair of Canuck Place Children's Hospice, and Chair of the Board of Mackay CEO Forums. He currently works with companies on Leadership, Succession, and Transition, and sits on the Boards of VanAir Design, Highgate Senior Living, Travelers Financial Group, and Tap & Barrel Restaurants.

Connect with John Rose

Website: https://www.johnroseconsulting.com

Instagram: @johnrose1

About the Strategy and Leadership Podcast

The Strategy and Leadership Podcast is hosted by Anthony C. Taylor, a strategic advisor to mid-market leadership teams ($30M to $300M) across North America. Anthony works directly with CEOs and senior leaders to help them align their teams, clarify priorities, and execute strategy in complex organizations. He interviews founders, executives, and industry leaders about what actually works when strategy has to survive execution.

Strategy Resources for Leaders

Work with a Strategic Planning Facilitator https://www.smestrategy.net/strategic-planning-facilitator

Connect with Anthony Taylor on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604/

Produced by Rednyne Productions https://www.rednyne.com

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 Becoming the Warrior: Harnessing Your Inner Strength to Silence Self-Doubt. Jenn commanded an 800-personnel battalion in Afghanistan, built a bridge across the Euphrates River during the Iraq War, survived enemy fire and a contract on her life, and led teams through decisions where the cost of hesitation was measured in lives, not quarterly results.

Anthony and Jenn explore the two inner voices that quietly undermine leaders at every level, why self-doubt gets louder the higher you climb, how military preparation maps directly to business leadership, and what a 360 review revealed about her own leadership that changed everything.

What You Will Learn in This Episode

The two inner voices that hold leaders back, what they are, how they work, and why one is harder to catch than the other.

Why self-doubt gets proportionally louder as the stakes get higher, and what neuroscience says about rewiring that response.

How military briefing and debriefing practices translate into business leadership and why most organizations skip the step that matters most.

What Jenn learned when a subordinate called her out for not trusting her team under stress, and how that feedback transformed her command.

Why trust determines how well an organization actually performs, and what it looks like when leaders build it versus let it erode.

How to mentally prepare for high-pressure conversations so you stay grounded instead of falling into fight, flight, or freeze.

The Warrior Framework Jenn developed from combat training: perceive, assess, ready, act, and how leaders can use it to move from stuck to decisive.

About Jenn Donahue

Jenn Donahue, PhD, PE is an international keynote speaker, retired U.S. Navy captain, business coach, and one of North America's leading voices on leadership and personal growth. Over a 27-year military career, she commanded an 800-personnel battalion in Afghanistan, built a bridge across the Euphrates River during the Iraq War, and led the construction of combat outposts in hostile terrain. Her USA Today bestselling book, Becoming the Warrior, draws on her battlefield experience to build a four-part framework that helps leaders move past self-doubt and take decisive action.

Connect with Jenn Donahue: https://www.jenndonahue.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenndonahue-phd-pe/

Instagram: @iamjenndonahue

About the Strategy & Leadership Podcast

The Strategy & Leadership Podcast is hosted by Anthony C. Taylor, a strategic advisor to mid-market leadership teams ($30M to $300M) across North America. Anthony works directly with CEOs and senior leaders to help them align their teams, clarify priorities, and execute strategy effectively in complex organizations.

Work with a Strategic Planning Facilitator: https://www.smestrategy.net/strategic-planning-facilitator

Connect with Anthony Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyctaylor604/

Produced by Rednyne Productions: https://www.rednyne.com