Inside the Strategy Room
Inside the Strategy Room
The world is moving faster, and as upheaval becomes the norm, vast business opportunities will be within the grasp of the extraordinary few. But it takes bold people and courageous approaches to seize those opportunities and create value. In each episode of our weekly podcast, we interview the world’s highest-performing CEOs, CFOs, innovators, and McKinsey experts and discuss how they build the …Social links:
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319. Why strategy needs mobilization, especially in this moment
As strategy rises to the top of executive agendas, many organizations are struggling to translate bold strategic choices into sustained performance. In this episode, the global coleaders of our Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice, Sébastien Lacroix and Andy West, along with Whitney Zimmerman, a…
31:46
318. Inside the 2026 CFO Forum: How finance leaders are preparing for what's next (bonus episode)
In this bonus episode, McKinsey CFO practice leaders Kevin Carmody, Matt Maloney, and Christian Grube share their insights from the 2026 CFO Forum in London. Their conversation explores how the CFO role is evolving from financial steward to strategic value creator; why leading finance organization…
17:38
317. Strategic re-underwriting in private equity
Private equity firms are under increasing pressure to create value in a tougher market, with longer hold times and evolving value creation theses. Leading funds are using re-underwriting as a repeatable discipline that supports better decisions across the hold period. Join AD Bhatia,Jason Phillips,…
51:00
316. Your budget is killing your strategy: 4 imperatives for CFOs
The traditional annual budget process is broken. It is rigid, backward-looking, and not operationally fit to keep up with today's fast-moving markets. Top-performing companies are outpacing peers by budgeting differently. Matthew Maloney, Karen McLoughlin, and Michele Tam join us to discuss their r…
55:04
315. The $106 trillion infrastructure opportunity: Private market outlook
Infrastructure is at a pivotal inflection point: its definition is expanding beyond traditional assets to digital and interconnected systems, demanding a fundamental mindset shift by governments, investors, and operators to plan, fund, and maintain integrated infrastructure that supports future gro…
50:18
314. How to maximize competitive advantage
Competitive advantage is becoming much more fluid as market positions shift faster across industries, with advantages eroding and differentiation narrowing. Despite this increased volatility, companies often fail to actively monitor shifts in their competitive edge. Join Matt Banholzer and Laura La…
48:11
313. Driving value with an investor mindset
Long-term value creation is foundational to building strong companies and economies, yet many leaders struggle to ensure that well-conceived, well-executed strategies receive full recognition from investors. Senior Partner Ryan Davies and Associate Partner Jacob Marcus join us to discuss how to ant…
47:30
312. Improving private equity exit prospects
In today’s tougher exit environment, private equity firms are facing longer holding periods, valuation gaps, and increased pressure to return capital. Kai Vollhardt and Jelena Bauer are joined by Christian Habrich and Frederyk Schroeder as they unpack their latest article on how to drive successful…
47:58
311. Proven growth strategies from market leaders
Discover how market leaders—Walmart, Builders FirstSource, Progressive, and JPMorgan Chase—achieved exceptional growth from 2019 to 2024, outperforming peers by an average of five percentage points in revenue and seven points in profitability. In this episode, Simon Jones, David Schiff , and Kate S…
1:00:26
310. The CEO's role in transformation
Transformations often falter due to internal dynamics that divide organizations, such as misaligned incentives, siloed efforts, and risk aversion. CEOs are uniquely positioned to address these challenges by tackling the root causes of collective-action problems and uniting their organizations aroun…
51:02