Episode Details

Big goals are easy to write and hard to live.

When strategies promise transformation but leave people asking what do I do on Monday, momentum dies and the execution gap widens.

We sat down with Andrea Olson -  behavioral scientist, Harvard Business Review contributor, TEDx speaker, and founder of a change agency that works with companies from $300M to $36B. She's helped some of the biggest organizations in the world figure out why their strategy looks great on paper and dies in execution. We unpack how to move from lofty visions to daily behaviors that actually change outcomes.

We'll chat about:

• Why "getting the right people in the right seats" is nearly meaningless without a definition of right
• The mistake most companies make at the top with their strategy that cascades down into chaos
• What Andrea calls a "Rosetta Stone" — a simple tool to translate high-level strategy into real behaviors for every person, from the CEO to the janitor
• Why SMART goals aren't the answer at the strategy level (and what is)
• The 2 things that actually change behavior at work: confidence and belief
• Why culture and strategy aren't two separate things, and why treating them that way is costing you
• How to help your team make better decisions in uncertainty without just telling them what to do
• The Undercover Boss move every executive should be making right now
• What AI adoption really requires, and why "everyone just use it" is not a strategy
• ...

This one is for every leader, business owner, and striver who's tired of watching great plans go nowhere. 

Expect concrete language, role-level guidance, and a step-by-step way to cascade strategy without crushing initiative.

Subscribe, share with a leader who needs a clearer path from plan to action, and leave a review telling us the one behavior you’ll change this week.

Connect with Andrea:

• Personal website: andreabelkolson.com
• Pragmadik: pragmadik.com
• LinkedIn: Search Andrea Belk Olson 

Andrea's work:

• Articles on Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc. Magazine, and World Economic Forum — just Google "Andrea Belk Olson" or check out one of my favorites, "Jargon is Hurting Your Strategy"
• Her book What To Ask: How To Learn What Customers Need but Don't Tell You — available on her website and everywhere books are sold
• Her upcoming book Execution Drift: The Invisible Forces that Derail Strategy Implementation and How to Fix It — available for pre-order at andreabelkolson.com

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Brought to you by Angela Shurina

Behavior-First, Executive, Leadership and Optimal Performance Coach 360, Change Leadership & Culture Transformation Consultant