Leading with Strategy

TIMOTHY TIRYAKI, PhD, is a globally recognized strategist, executive advisor, and leadership coach. He is the founder of the Maslow Research Center and co-founder of Strategy.Inc. Drawing on his experience in corporate leadership, consulting, and research, Dr. Tiryaki brings a holistic, human-centered approach to strategy, culture, and leadership development.

• Introduction xiPART I Unlearn: Revisiting Our Assumptions About Leadership and Strategy 1Chapter 1 Leadership Versus Management: Breaking Down the Executive Caste System 3Chapter 2 Strategy as a Competency: Anyone Can Become More Strategic 7Chapter 3 Becoming the Leader the Future Needs: The 6Es of Leadership Model 13Chapter 4 The Myth of Strategic Planning: Why Strategy and Planning Are Not the Same 20Chapter 5 Strategic Thinking: A Foundation for Leadership and Action 26Chapter 6 Rebalancing Strategy: A New Era of Design and Execution 30Chapter 7 The Strategy of Strategy: Clarifying the Strategic Planning Process 34Chapter 8 What Most Consultants Miss: The Holy Grail of Organizational Success 39PART II Rethink: Reimagining How Value Is Created Through Culture, Business Models, and Transformation 43Chapter 9 AIM for Building Culture with Strategy, Structure, and Soul 45Chapter 10 From Values to Behavior: The Culture Cascade 50Chapter 11 North Star in Action: How Leadership Behavior Builds Culture 55Chapter 12 Business Models and Operating Models: The Blueprint for Success 59Chapter 13 The Living Organization: Strategy as Consciousness 64Chapter 14 The Art of Reinvention: Why Business Models Must Evolve to Stay Alive 69Chapter 15 When Giants Fall: The High Cost of Business Model Inertia 75Chapter 16 Stability and Transformation Management: Leading the Paradox 82PART III Discover: Rediscovering Purpose, Identity, and Our Inner Compass Through the North Star 87Chapter 17 Defining Your North Star: Overview 89Chapter 18 Defining Your North Star: Vision and Goals 94Chapter 19 Defining Your North Star: Values and Strengths 98Chapter 20 Defining Your North Star: Habits and Mindsets 103Chapter 21 The Human Compass: Five Ethical Considerations for a Technological Future 108Chapter 22 Values on the Wall Versus Values in Action: What the Fortune 100 Reveal About Leadership 113Chapter 23 The Art of KPI Calibration and Goal-Setting Philosophies 117PART IV Design: Building Coherent Strategies Using the Strategy Sketch and Systems Thinking 123Chapter 24 The Strategy Sketch: 6Ms of Your Strategy 125Chapter 25 The Strategy Sketch: 10 Elements 129Chapter 26 Dancing Between Divergence and Convergence: The Creative and Logical Thinking Cycle 134Chapter 27 Systems Thinking: A Leadership Superpower for Awareness and Insight 139Chapter 28 Seven Practices That Combine Systems Thinking and Foresight 143Chapter 29 Beneath the Surface: The Iceberg Model of Systems Thinking 150PART V Deepen: Exploring Paradoxes, Navigating Dilemmas, and Mining Conflict for Insights 155Chapter 30 Understanding Mental Traps: How They Sabotage Our Growth, Goals, and Leadership 157Chapter 31 The Paradox Mindset: Holding Tensions, Finding Strategy 162Chapter 32 The Rubber Band Model: Staying in the Stretch Zone of Dilemmas 167Chapter 33 From My Way to Our Way: A Strategic Approach to Conflict Management 171Chapter 34 The Empowering Leader: Coaching and Mentoring as a Leadership Practice 178Chapter 35 Implementation Coaching: Driving Strategy Forward One Conversation at a Time 183Chapter 36 From Knowing to Embodying: Reclaiming Self-Knowledge in Leadership 188PART VI Execute: Translating Clarity into Action and Movement 193Chapter 37 Humanizing Action Planning: Bridging the Doing Plan and the Being Plan 195Chapter 38 The One-Page Action Plan Template 199Chapter 39 Reclaiming RASCI: How Role Clarity Drives Strategic Execution 203Chapter 40 Beyond the Comfort Zone: Navigating Growth Without Burnout 208Chapter 41 Leader as Operator: The 4Ps of a Meeting 213Chapter 42 From Possibilities to Priorities: The Impact–Effort Matrix 218PART VII Evolve: Preparing for the Future and Cultivating Foresight in the Age of AI 223Chapter 43 Leader as Technologist: Why Strategy Now Demands Technological Literacy 225Chapter 44 AI Adoption Strategy: Integrating Technology, People, and Transformation 229Chapter 45 The Business Model Evolution Ladder: How Organizations Evolve Value Through Technology 236Chapter 46 AI Adoption Mindset: Building a Healthy Relationship with Intelligence 243Chapter 47 Five Technologies That Will Shape the Next Era 250Chapter 48 The Futures We Choose: Utopia, Dystopia, and the Tipping Points In Between 258Chapter 49 Revisiting Organizational Design in the Age of AI: From Hierarchies to Adaptive Structures 266Chapter 50 Emerging Departments: How AI Is Transforming Organizations 274Chapter 51 From VUCA to FLUX 279Conclusion: Strategy as a Mirror: What We Learned, What Comes Next 287References 289Acknowledgments 293About the Author 295Index 297