Strategic Minds
Strategic Minds is a business podcast hosted by Rich Horwath, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author on strategy. Each episode features conversations with executives and experts about how to think, plan, and act more strategically. The show argues that strategic fitness is the defining skill separating elite leaders from merely tactical ones. Listeners get practical insights, tips, and techniques aimed at improving performance and becoming a difference-maker in their field.
Episodes
Mastering Your Energy for Peak Performance
Mental toughness isn’t something you’re born with, it’s a capacity you build. Rich Horwath sits down with Dr. Jim Loehr, widely regarded as the father of mental toughness, to explore what it truly takes to perform at your best under pressure. Drawing from decades of work with elite athletes, executives, military leaders, and physicians, Jim reframes performance as an energy challenge not a time pr
Methods of Highly Effective Managers
Highly effective managers don’t rely on titles, tactics, or endless to-do lists. They lead with intention. Today, Rich Horwath is joined by Ashley Herd, former Chief People Officer, founder and author of The Manager Method, to unpack what truly drives managerial effectiveness in today’s complex workplace.
Ashley introduces the idea of a “career quilt,” encouraging leaders to see diverse experience
Train Your Brain to Play Offense
Train Your Brain to Play Offense
Elite performance doesn’t come from motivation: it comes from training. Rich Horwath sits down with Dr. Jason Selk, one of the world’s leading performance coaches, to explore how mental toughness is built, practiced, and sustained under pressure.
Drawing from Selk’s work with championship teams and senior executives, the conversation reframes performance as a disci
10 Tips to be Strategic in 2026
As the year comes to a close, Rich Horwath reflects on lessons learned from working with dozens of organizations and thousands of leaders in 2025. He re-centers the true meaning of strategic: possessing insight that leads to advantage. Rich states that strategy begins with curiosity, an explorer’s mindset focused on learning, reflection, and deliberate choice.
Rich walks listeners through a practi
Using Nature to Nurture Innovation
Nature has spent billions of years perfecting strategy, and those lessons can help leaders think more clearly about innovation. Rich Horwath sits down with Ines Garcia, author of Nature’s Blueprint for Business, in this episode of Strategic Minds Podcast to explore how ecosystem principles can strengthen the way organizations work and grow.
She shows why leaders must stay attuned and responsive to
Managing the Mental Game
In this episode of Strategic Minds Podcast, Rich sits down with Derin McMains to explore how elite athletes develop clarity, resilience, and composure—and how business leaders can do the same. Drawing from his career in professional baseball and mental performance coaching across major sports, Derin breaks down the “mental game”: the crucial seconds between moments where decisions are shaped.
He s
The Power of Frameworks as Disruptive Catalysts
In this episode of Strategic Minds, host Rich Horwath speaks with legendary strategist and bestselling author Geoffrey A. Moore, whose landmark books - Crossing the Chasm, Zone to Win, and Dealing with Darwin - have transformed how leaders approach innovation, disruption, and go-to-market strategy.
Moore shares how storytelling, pattern recognition, and intellectual curiosity shaped his unique app
Win or Learn: Finding Your Optimal Challenge Point
Neuroscientist and performance coach Dr. Mark Guadagnoli joins Rich Horwath to share how neuroscience and strategy intersect to elevate performance under pressure. Drawing from his groundbreaking Challenge Point Framework, Dr. Guadagnoli explains how practicing at your personal edge boosts learning speed, resilience, and confidence.
From the operating room to the boardroom, he shows why the best l
Discovering Insights at the Edges
Discovering Insights at the Edges
In this episode, Rich Horwath sits down with Dr. Rita McGrath, Columbia Business School professor and one of the world’s foremost experts on strategy and innovation. Known for her books including, Discovery-Driven Growth, The End of Competitive Advantage and Seeing Around Corners, Dr. McGrath reveals how leaders can identify the early signals of change and shape o
The Octopus Approach to AI
The Octopus Approach to AI
In this episode, Rich sits down with Stephen Wunker, innovation strategist, author, and Managing Director at New Markets Advisors. As the co-author of AI and the Octopus Organization, Steve brings decades of experience helping companies harness innovation to drive real strategic change.
Together, Rich and Steve explore how artificial intelligence is transforming the way
Shaping the Future with Strategic Thinking
Strategy: The Art of Shaping the Future
In this episode, Rich sits down with renowned strategist, psychologist, and innovation expert Dr. Max McKeown. As the author of The Strategy Book, SuperAdaptability, and several other bestsellers, Max brings a uniquely creative lens to the world of strategic thinking — blending research, live visual art, and a deep appreciation for paradox.
Together, Rich an
Mindfulness: Setting the Stage to Think
In this episode, Rich sits down with Mo Edjlali, mindfulness innovator, entrepreneur, and founder of Mindful Leader. With more than 25 years of cross-industry experience, Mo has helped shape how mindfulness is applied in the workplace. His book, Open MBSR, reimagines the future of mindfulness in organizational life.
Together, Rich and Mo explore the intersections of mindfulness, leadership, and st
Strategy: The Art of Problem Solving With Imagination
How can leaders develop winning strategy by solving competition-based problems?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Martin Reeves — chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, prolific business strategist, and co-author of books like The Imagination Machine, Your Strategy Needs a Strategy, and his recently published work, Like: The Button that Changed the World. Martin shares why great strategies of
The Origin Story of Strategy
How can leaders develop strategies that adapt to uncertainty and avoid the pitfalls of overconfidence?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman — Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London and one of the world’s leading scholars on strategy, international relations, and military history. Knighted for his contributions and the official historian of the
Creating a Confident Mind for Elite Performance
How can you apply the mental training techniques of world-class achievers to maximize your performance?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Dr. Nate Zinsser — performance psychologist, long-time director of West Point’s Center for Enhanced Performance, and author of The Confident Mind. Dr. Zinsser shares practical tools for building unshakable confidence, how to mentally prepare for high-stakes m
Cultivating a Future Ready Mindset
If plans don’t always pan out, how can we best prepare for the future?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Dr. Frederik G. Pferdt who was Google’s first Chief Innovation Evangelist and is now a Stanford educator and an Executive-in-Residence and Visiting Fellow at NYU Stern.
In this conversation, he shares insights into how to ritualize and embody cultural values, how to prepare for the future
Playing the Long Game: Growing a Startup into a Household Name
How does a long-term entrepreneur identify a good idea, scale it, and stay committed to that vision over 30 years?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Angie Hicks, Co-founder and Chief Customer Officer at Angi, formerly Angie’s list. They discuss building a business from the ground up, leading employees and external partners, and maintaining enthusiasm for a long-term goal.
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Battle-Tested Strategy: Lessons from a Four-Star General
What military strategies and tactics can business leaders leverage to position their companies for success?
In this episode, Rich sits down with four-star General Robert Brown, President and CEO of the Association of the United States Army. General Brown is an experienced commander who has led at every level, from platoon through Army Service Component Command, leading a group of over 100,000 so
“All In” on Strategy: Insights from a World Poker Champion
What strategic thinking techniques can leaders apply from a world poker champion to better position themselves for success?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Darren Elias, a four time World Poker Tour champion. Darren is ranked number one all time in victories, final tables and cashes on the World Poker Tour and has amassed over $12.5 million in live tournament poker winnings.
In this conv
Business Checkmate: Techniques from a Chess Master CEO
What are the business techniques leaders can learn from a Chess Master CEO and how should they be thinking about the future of AI?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Alan Trefler, a chess master and the Founder and CEO of Pegaystems, the Enterprise Transformation Company that helps organizations Build for Change® with enterprise AI decisioning and workflow automation. Alan has earned multiple p
Insights from Inside the Beautiful Mind
How can you use the principles of neurosurgery to maximize your leadership performance?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Dr. Theodore Schwartz, a pioneering neurosurgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine, known for developing minimally invasive techniques for brain tumor and epilepsy surgery.
Dr. Schwartz explores the mental and physical preparation required for surgery, navigating the challenge of ma
Road Trip: Scaling Brands To Succeed
What does it take to scale a business for sustained success?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Joel Holland, CEO of Harvest Hosts, a unique membership program for RVers offering stays at over 5,000 locations.
Joel shares his entrepreneurial journey founding and growing Storyblocks into a nine-figure business, culminating in a successful sale to a private equity firm. He dives into the real chal
Growing Talent into Competitive Advantage
How can you guide the growth of your people into a competitive advantage?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Tami Wolownik, Head of People & Organization at Siemens Mobility, where she leads the HR function for 4,000 employees.
Tami discusses one of the biggest strategic resources for any company: talent. She shares practical advice on how to help people create a skills-based future, impr
Think Big, Move Fast, and Own the Outcome
How can you drive disruptive innovation and gain competitive advantage in a highly-regulated industry?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Dennis Devine, President and CEO of Alliant Credit Union, one of the largest and fastest-growing credit unions in the United States. Dennis explores how to design differentiated strategies that disrupt industry norms, build a member-centric culture, leverage
Transforming Complexity Into Clarity
How do you navigate all of the challenges that come with running a business and transform them into actionable insights that drive continued success? In this episode, Rich sits down with Alex Atzberger, CEO at Optimizely, a digital experience platform that helps more than 10,000 businesses orchestrate their entire content lifecycle, monetize digital experiences and experiment across all customer t
Storytelling to Strategize
How do you identify and seize opportunities for disruption? In this episode, Rich sits down with Jed Ayres, CEO of ControlUp, a company that helps IT resolve issues faster, prevent tickets, and reduce spending. Jed is widely recognized for the transformational impact he is making on the end user computing industry. He and Rich discuss innovation, creative thinking and the importance of storytelli
AI, Atoms, and the Science of Strategy
How can you leverage the principles of physics to grow your business? In this episode, Rich sits down with Bob Rogers, CEO of Oii.ai and a PhD in physics who studied supermassive black holes. They discuss how Bob’s background as a scientist informs how he thinks about business, how to know when to pivot in a startup, and how cross-pollinating ideas from different domains leads to innovation for cu
Constructing Creative Strategy
How do you find creative and original ideas? When you do, how do you continue to find them consistently over a long period of time? How do you transform them into strategies that create competitive advantage?
In this episode, Rich sits down with Bradley Hartmann, CEO of Bradley Hartmann & Co. Bradley has consistently put unique products into the construction industry, innovating within a m
CEO as Architect of the Future
How does a leader evolve the business and their role for future time horizons? In this episode, Rich sits down with Assaf Resnick, CEO of BigPanda. Assaf’s journey is anything but conventional—transitioning from venture capitalist at Sequoia Capital to founding a successful software company. He shares invaluable insights on fostering a first-team culture, maintaining differentiation in a competiti
Strategic Leadership Shaped by a Service Mindset
What does it take to lead organizations through change and innovation? In this episode, Rich sits down with Christie Tarantino-Dean, CEO of Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). With over 30 years of experience in association management, Christie has also served as President and CEO of the Association Forum of Chicagoland and Executive Director of the Academy of General Dentistry. She shares insi
Blank Page to Billions: How an “Ideas Guy” Strategizes
How do you identify and develop the ideas that generate a multi-billion-dollar business using strategic thinking? In this episode, Rich sits down with Bill Harris, former CEO of TurboTax, PayPal and Intuit, and current founder of Evergreen Money. Bill is a prolific founder and “ideas guy” who has spent 30 years building and leading companies at the intersection of investing, tax and technology. Bi
Gold-Medal-Winning Strategy
How does a winning Olympic coach approach strategy? In this episode, Rich sits down with Hugh McCutcheon, the Assistant Athletics Director and Sport Development Coach at the University of Minnesota. Hugh coached the US Men’s Volleyball team to the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic games, then coached the US Women’s volleyball team to the silver medal at the 2012 Olympic games. He shares his thoughts
Strategic Minds Trailer
Are you tactical or strategic?
Research shows that this distinction is the difference between failure and a Kevlar competitive advantage.
In a world where bad strategy is the leading cause of bankruptcy – and only one out of every four leaders is truly strategic – strategic fitness is the meta-skill of elite executives.
Welcome to Strategic Minds, the podcast that explores how some of the gr
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