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Throttle Up Leadership PodcastAuthor: Dr. John P Dentico
A common sense approach to building leadership capacity in organizations. An action resource of innovative ideas and proven 21st-Century leadership practices designed to help people live a more productive, prosperous, and meaningful life. Episodes produced every week. Language: en-us Genres: Business, Education, Management Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Episode 167: From Static Plans to Living Strategy: The CIO Who's Making Strategic Planning Affordable and Unstoppable with Mike Burns
Episode 168
Monday, 23 February, 2026
What happens when a billion-dollar CIO decides the nonprofit world deserves better strategic planning tools? You get StratSimple — and one of the most honest conversations about strategy, leadership, and AI you'll hear this year. Mike Burns spent over two decades driving organizational transformation, including serving as CIO of Benco Dental. In 2023, he co-founded StratSimple, an AI-powered platform built to make high-quality strategic planning accessible to nonprofits and consultants who've long been priced out of the game. In this episode, Dr. John Dentico and Mike dig into the critical difference between strategic thinking and strategic planning, why the five-year static plan is officially dead, and how AI is reshaping what it means to truly listen to your organization. They explore why leaders fail to operationalize their plans, the irreplaceable role of human facilitators, and why "context engineering" is the real skill of the AI era. If your organization has ever confused activity for strategy, this conversation is your wake-up call. 0:00 — Meet Mike Burns: From Army Brat to AI Strategist 2:30 — Why Nonprofits Are in an Existential Crisis Right Now 4:30 — The Death of the Five-Year Plan — and What Replaces It 6:15 — Strategic Thinking vs. Strategic Planning: A Critical Distinction 10:00 — Leadership as Process, Not Position 13:00 — The Fence Company Story: What a Salesperson Saw That the CEO Missed 15:00 — How AI Enables Real Listening at Scale 17:30 — Context Engineering: The Skill That Actually Matters 20:00 — Nonprofits Have Competitors — Whether They Like It or Not 23:00 — Why Having a Plan Means You're Just at the Starting Line 27:00 — Process Mapping, Deming, and the Power of the How-To 32:00 — Empowerment, Delegation, and Letting Go of the Seesaw If you enjoy our podcasts please like, share and subscribe we genuinely appreciate your support.
