Inside the Strategy Room

In this episode of Inside the Strategy Room, we discuss how the board’s relationship with management is evolving in an era of heightened uncertainty and rapid change. We are joined by board directors Susan Chapman-Hughes and Lan Kang, as well as McKinsey’s Board Services leader Frithjof Lund, and explore how boards are shifting from episodic oversight to continuous engagement, leveraging more frequent dialogue with management teams, investing in trust and culture, and rethinking structure and composition to add strategic value.

Susan Chapman‑Hughes is a seasoned board director and former C-Suite executive with deep experience in digital transformation and human-capital strategy. She is currently an independent director at The J.M. Smucker Company and Toast Inc.

Lan Kang is a global business leader and board member with extensive experience in healthcare, private equity, and strategy. She currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Azkarra Therapeutics, an early-stage biotechnology company. She serves on the board of Avantor Inc. and has held senior roles across Asia and the U.S.

Frithjof Lund is a senior partner and our managing partner in Norway. He leads our Board Services Practice, helping CEOs and boards of directors improve corporate governance and effectiveness. Frithjof also leads our Organization Practice in Scandinavia, helping clients develop high-performing organizations and leaders across the private and public sectors. He is based in our Oslo office.

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To successfully execute a strategy, organizations must make deliberate choices about their operating model. In this episode, Julie Goran and Dickie Steele, both partners based in New York, discuss the key elements that comprise an operating model and how leaders can design and implement one that drives performance. They explore the significance of moving beyond traditional structures to more emergent models, and share insights from their research on the trends that are shaping the future of organizational design. Drawing on their experience working with clients, they also provide practical guidance on how to navigate the challenges of redesigning an operating model to unlock value in a rapidly changing business environment.

Julie Goran is a partner in our New York office and leads our digital organization work in our People & Organizational Performance and Financial Services Practices. She helps executives transform organizations to pursue growth and seize digital opportunities.

Richard (Dickie) Steele is a partner also based in our New York office. He designs and delivers purpose-driven transformation programs and is an expert in culture change, organizational agility, and using design-thinking to remake employee experiences and drive improved performance and organizational health

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A new operating model for a new world

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After several years of slowed activity, mergers and acquisitions picked up in the first half of 2025, as disciplined dealmakers reentered the market despite continued uncertainty. In this episode, three McKinsey M&A experts share their recent analysis of global dealmaking, explore the continued outperformance of programmatic acquirers, and weigh in on what the rest of the year’s transactions might look like once the data are finalized.

Jake Henry is a senior partner in our Chicago office and the global co-leader of our M&A Practice. He serves clients on M&A strategy, integration, separations, due diligence, and JVs and alliances. Patrick McCurdy is a partner in our Boston office and a leader of our M&A Strategy and Due Diligence work. He serves clients across industries, advising clients on how to leverage M&A as a differentiated capability. Luke Carter is an associate partner in our New York office and co-leads our M&A capability building work, as well as our annual M&A capability survey and our corresponding research into the habits of programmatic acquirers.

Rich in resilience: Dealmakers deliver strong first-half results in M&A

The seven habits of programmatic acquirers

Time to revisit your M&A strategy

M&A Annual Report: Is the wave finally arriving?

Gen AI: Opportunities in M&A

The portfolio management imperative and its M&A implications

McKinsey Insights on Strategy & Corporate Finance

McKinsey Insights on M&A

McKinsey Strategy & Corporate Finance on LinkedIn

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The CFO’s challenge has long been one of translating data into a story that the CEO and their management team can use to set strategy and make other decisions. As generative AI advances, the way that CFOs fulfil this role is changing, as guest and Nestlé CFO Anna Manz describes in this episode. Michael Birshan, a senior partner who leads our firm in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Israel, and host Sean Brown, speak with Manz about how she uses AI now and plans to in the future, the impact of geopolitics on Nestlé's operations, and the CFO’s role in integrating the executive team in strategic decision-making and resource allocation. 

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How finance skills are evolving in the era of artificial intelligence

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Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines since 2016, speaks with our North America Chair and senior partner Eric Kutcher. After 25 years at Delta, including nearly a decade as CEO, Ed reflects on his journey leading the world’s largest airline by revenue—and America’s most recognized carrier, with more than 100,000 employees. The industry was hit hard by the pandemic, and he shares insights on what it takes to get through turbulent times, and keeping his people happy and invested in the company’s success. Ed also talks about leading with the vulnerability to say, “I don’t know,” and the confidence to say, “We’re going to figure it out”.

We recorded their conversation before a live client audience at our Global Strategy Summit in September 2025

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Doug Parker, former chairman and CEO of American Airlines, shares leadership lessons
John Stankey talks about leaning into the long term at AT&T

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Uncertainty often dominates the headlines, but it is possible to cut through the static to find clear signals in the global trends and demographic shifts shaping the next era of global competition. In this episode, senior partners Chris Bradley and Andy West share their latest research into the strategic realities of a new era: the shift from a unipolar to a multipolar world, rapid technological advancements, demographic changes, the productivity imperative, and the role of energy in shaping the future. Together, these insights can guide business leaders as they design and mobilize today’s strategic moves to thrive in the future. 

Andy West is the global coleader of our Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice and a senior partner based in our Boston office. Chris Bradley serves as a director of the McKinsey Global Institute and is a senior partner based in our Sydney Office. 

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Dependency and depopulation? Confronting the consequences of a new demographic reality

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In this second episode of our two-part series on navigating the four seasons of successful CEO leadership, Carolyn Dewar and Kurt Strovink, two of the authors of the upcoming book A CEO For All Seasons, share insights drawn from top-performing CEOs on how to navigate the middle two stages of CEO leadership—starting strong as a new CEO and staying ahead—to maintain long-term effectiveness while at the top.

Carolyn Dewar, a coauthor of the New York Times bestselling CEO Excellence, is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company and founded and co-leads the firm’s global CEO excellence client service line. She is a frequent keynote speaker on leadership and transformation.

Kurt Strovink, a coauthor of the national bestseller The Journey of Leadership: How CEOs Lead from the Inside Out, is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company. Kurt leads the firm’s global CEO services practice and is also a member of McKinsey’s Board of Directors.

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The CEO’s essential checklist: Questions every chief executive should be able to answer

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Serving a greater purpose: CEO Excellence revisited

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The art of 21st-century leadership: From succession planning to building a leadership factory

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In the high-stakes world of corporate leadership, becoming a Fortune 500 CEO is an Everest-like ascent, with only the savviest succeeding across every stage of the journey. Carolyn Dewar, Vik Malhotra, and Kurt Strovink, authors of the upcoming book A CEO For All Seasons, join Sean to share insights from top-performing CEOs on navigating the first and fourth stages of CEO leadership – preparing for the role and fortifying a legacy, in the first of two episodes based on the new book.

Carolyn Dewar, a coauthor of the New York Times bestselling CEO Excellence, is a senior partner at McKinsey and founded and co-leads the firm’s global CEO excellence client service line. She is a frequent keynote speaker on leadership and transformation.

Vikram (Vik) Malhotra, a coauthor of CEO Excellence, is a senior partner at McKinsey where he has worked since 1986. He has served on McKinsey’s Board of Directors and as McKinsey’s Managing Partner of the Americas.

Kurt Strovink is a senior partner at McKinsey and a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. He also leads McKinsey’s global CEO services practice and coauthored the national bestseller The Journey of Leadership: How CEOs Lead from the Inside Out.

Related insights

A CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership

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Stepping up: Becoming a high-potential CEO candidate

Starting strong: Making your CEO transition a catalyst for renewal

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The CEO’s essential checklist: Questions every chief executive should be able to answer

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Serving a greater purpose: CEO Excellence revisited

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McKinsey Strategy & Corporate Finance on LinkedIn

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The current climate of geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty can complicate the strategy process and can make the idea of waiting for calmer times look attractive. But as our guests today point out, waiting out the storm is not an option. Instead, organizations need to make bold strategic moves rooted in a thorough understanding of how they create value and the market conditions they face.

In this episode, Sean is joined by Matt Watters, who is a leader in our Geopolitics, Government, and Strategy and Corporate Finance Practices and a partner in our New Jersey office. Matt’s work focuses on growth and innovation in industries with evolving global dynamics, including defense, space, semiconductors, high tech, and cybersecurity. Ezra Greenberg also joins the podcast and is a partner in our Connecticut office, where he advises executives and investors across multiple sectors on how macro forces and global trends impact critical strategy and investment decisions under uncertainty.

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In a moment of tariffs, can the world find balance and trust to thrive?

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