In Part 2 of her conversation, Sara Lobkovich doesn’t just tell us what strategy is—she shows us who it’s for. Her book, You Are a Strategist, is more than a guide to OKRs or goal-setting. It’s a toolkit for people who’ve always felt misaligned, misunderstood, or mislabeled in traditional business environments. Drawing from her own experience as a trauma survivor, neurodivergent thinker, and late-diagnosed ADHD strategist, Sara offers business frameworks that finally include the rest of us. For Gen Xers who never fit the mold but always saw the system clearly, this episode is both validation and a user manual.From Law School to Strategy Misfit“I never got the interview. I didn’t have the right name on my résumé.”Sara reflects on being locked out of big-name strategy firms—and how that exclusion pushed her to build her own frameworks, grounded in human insight, not prestige.Strategy as Shared Language“The simplest tech in business? Words that mean the same thing to everyone.”Sara breaks down how misalignment over simple terms like ‘strategy’ or ‘goals’ can waste human energy—and how her frameworks give teams a shared starting point.The Book That Became a Love Letter“I wrote the book I needed—and cried when I read the proof.”She shares how You Are a Strategist evolved from a workbook on goal-setting into a deeply personal guide for people who feel unseen in traditional business culture.A Toolkit for the Misunderstood“This book is for introverts, ADHDers, trauma survivors, frustrated changemakers.”Sara explains why her audience matters—and how her tools were designed for people often left out of business conversations but full of unrealized insight.Leading Through Questions, Not Performances“Strategy is asking the question no one else is asking—then listening.”She closes by reframing leadership as a curiosity-driven practice, not a performance—and why the most powerful change-makers are often the ones who feel like outsiders._____________________Connect with us:Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Sara Lobkovich --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.EdTech Leadership Awards 2025 Finalist.15 Million+ All-Time Downloads.80+ Countries Reached Daily.Global Top 3% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>150,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<
Chapter 1: Who are the guests and what is the episode about?
Hi, everyone. Welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist community for change progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world. This episode and the last one are for the introverts, the ADHDs, those on the autism spectrum, trauma survivors, strategy brain square packs, frustrated change makers.
revolutionaries, that is rebels and revolutionaries combined, as well as thinker-doers. Why? Because our guest today, Sarah Lobkovich, is part of these groups. And she's not holding back anymore. In fact, she spent months writing two books that bring together her life lessons and business strategy experience to help us all wake up our inner strategist and achieve big goals. No BS.
In the last episode, part one, We looked into who Sarah is, what she's been through, and how her past has shaped her purpose today. In this episode, part two, we'll dig into the book, her why, her audience, her objectives, and her vision. That said, Sarah's story and her book aren't just personal. They are also deeply rational. She's packed it with tools, analysis, and a lot of business concepts.
For anyone familiar with business school models and buzzwords, you'll find her approach balances speaking to a specific audience while delivering real business value. Let's get started.
Chapter 2: What challenges did Sara face entering the strategy consulting field?
Yeah, I can share from my experience. I can't speak for the larger field because I think my experience was a little unusual. I tried to go the big agency strategy route. I had a few years where I applied over and over to the names that you just mentioned and more. And I really wanted to get in that big agency strategy consulting space.
And I never even got a call because I didn't have the right names on my resume. I didn't have the right experience. I wasn't at the right stage of my career. I didn't come from the right school. So I have worked with lots of those consultants. I've worked alongside those consultants.
I have been brought in after this jump with those consultants and, um, done additional work where it wasn't as successful, um, And so I've seen that big strategy machine operate. I've also worked with folks who come from that world who are some of my dearest colleagues, incredibly talented people.
They learned brilliant ways of working in that environment and really strong frameworks for working in those environments. learned how to work well and how to serve clients well. So I've observed and learned a lot being adjacent to those types. But that the big agency thing just wasn't something that I was a candidate for. So I worked in smaller agencies.
I worked in creative agencies to begin with, and then I started working in smaller consultancies. And I think some of the misconceptions or misunderstandings in the workplace, I think too often The words strategy and smart are conflated. So being strategic or being a strategist is not just being the smartest person in the room.
Being a strategist is being someone who is curious and has a toolkit of questions. that help uncover facts and observations that then spark insight and let us develop ideas. And so I think that's the thing that that I didn't realize until really late is being a strategist.
I'm looking at a book on my bookshelf right now that I always keep within arm's length by Mark Pollard, and it's called Strategy is Your Words. But he is very much from the school. He's a rebel in strategy. He's a delightful rebel in the field of strategy. And Strategy is your words. Strategy is your questions.
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Chapter 3: How does Sara define strategy beyond traditional models?
Strategy is the curiosity to ask questions that yield facts and observations and possibility that wasn't there before the questions were asked. So I think we just think of, I don't, for one, I don't think a lot of people know what strategy is as a field. But for two, when we do, I think we think of strategists as the madman reference, the Don Draper. He's an account guy, but he's also strategic.
The polished person in the suit at the front of the room that's got the line and the story and the room is captivated by the strategy that's being unfolded. And the world of strategy that I've always worked in is not that.
It's me and other collaborators from a diverse range of backgrounds standing at a whiteboard on a Saturday trying to solve a problem that we're so excited to solve together or to create possibility around that we're They're by choice on a Saturday, standing at a whiteboard together, throwing ideas or throwing facts and observations and insights around.
So I think especially what we see when we think of strategic consulting, it is the McKinsey's, it's the Bain's, it's the big ones, it's the folks in suits and the frameworks and they do brilliant research. And that's what we see in the field.
And then there's also this side of it that is just people asking insightful questions of each other, doing research, actually reading research, doing research, finding links and developing insights. and then seeing what that sparks in terms of ideas. And that's more the part of strategy that I worked in.
And then luckily, I always thought that I was something other than a strategist because I had seen the McKinsey's and the Bain's and the large strategy. I knew what that looked like. And I just feel very lucky that I was able graduating out of the field and into consulting at a time when Mark Pollard and some of the other really rebels in the field of strategy were emerging and
That was when I started to see those people in their work and read what they were doing. I was like, oh my gosh, I have a place. Like that is my person. I'm not going to get his last name. I need to put the pronunciation right on screen, but Rob Estraneo is another. I'll make sure that you have the link for the show notes. These are folks who are just democratizing strategy.
And this all started with you mentioning my book, but I hope to contribute to the democratization of strategy so that we don't think of it as the smartest person or as the person in the most expensive suit or with the most beautiful slide deck.
But we can think of strategy as the way that we tap into our very deeply human insight to develop scaffolding for solutions to our biggest problems, including the big problems that affect human life, not just dollars and cents.
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Chapter 4: What inspired the title of Sara's book, 'You Are a Strategist'?
I actually don't remember now. I have some working memory issues and executive functioning issues. So my memory can be a bit spotty. I don't remember. what it was that prompted the title. I think I was doing an ideation session with one of my strategic partners, because I work with a bunch of collaborators.
And I think I said something like, if I could name the book anything, I would name it, You Are a Strategist. But I can't do that. And here's why. And But that title, the minute it came out of my mouth, I knew that was the title. I knew that was the book. I had to rewrite the book to make it that book.
Chapter 5: How did Sara's book evolve from OKRs to a broader strategic toolkit?
It's been a lot of effort to take the book from a book about bouquets to a book that really delivers on its title. But I just got the manuscript back for proofreading. I just got the manuscript back from its first proofread. And I started reading it this weekend and I think I got to page 10 or 12 and then started to cry because it's the book that I wish I had earlier in my career.
To help me know that I wasn't alone in my career. And so that for me, I've been in, I did get the feedback that I should name it. Are you a strategist or some other variation? And I've just absolutely from the moment that title was a possibility held firm to it because it's for every person who's ever been told.
You need to, I don't know how to say this without using a word that I don't usually use, but so let me find an alternative of you need to simplify your work. It's too complicated. This is too smart. Your work is too smart. You need to make it simpler. or anyone who's ever heard, you're too strategic. I need you to focus on the tactics. I need you to get executional.
But it's also for everyone who's ever heard, you need to be more strategic. And there's never been. I got that feedback early in my career. You need to be more strategic. I can tell you there was nowhere to go to get help on what to do about that. So it is, to me, this is
Definitely a passion project with that particular book because I just want everyone to have the chance to get acquainted with their inner strategist because their inner strategist is in there no matter what they do for a living. You might be a dishwasher washing dishes and noticing things in the restaurant and putting linky things together in your brain and that strategy.
Or figuring out a more efficient way to load the washer. That strategy. It's There's strategy in how you're going to decide to reclaim if your house has gotten a little away from you and it's a little messy. There's strategic play in how to reorganize your home. There's just strategic play in so many, in anything, in anything we do.
And that the message I hope to bring with this book is strategy isn't just about being smart. Strategy isn't about being the person who can write the perfect line. It's not about being the person.
who can stand at the front of the room and sell the most effectively it's about asking and answering questions that make people say wow that's a really good question i haven't thought of that way before or i haven't had a chance to think about this before because That's how we change systems that aren't working.
And I think the more people who feel empowered to or the more people who feel like they can ask those questions instead of wondering what's wrong with me. that this doesn't work for me, the more people who can ask questions about their environment or about our world or about our cultures, instead of quietly thinking, I don't know what's wrong with me that this doesn't make sense to me.
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Chapter 6: Who is the intended audience for Sara's book and why?
Chapter 7: What is Sara's vision for democratizing strategy?
I'm looking at a book on my bookshelf right now that I always keep within arm's length by Mark Pollard, and it's called Strategy is Your Words. But he is very much from the school. He's a rebel in strategy. He's a delightful rebel in the field of strategy. And Strategy is your words. Strategy is your questions.
Strategy is the curiosity to ask questions that yield facts and observations and possibility that wasn't there before the questions were asked. So I think we just think of, I don't, for one, I don't think a lot of people know what strategy is as a field. But for two, when we do, I think we think of strategists as the madman reference, the Don Draper. He's an account guy, but he's also strategic.
The polished person in the suit at the front of the room that's got the line and the story and the room is captivated by the strategy that's being unfolded. And the world of strategy that I've always worked in is not that.
It's me and other collaborators from a diverse range of backgrounds standing at a whiteboard on a Saturday trying to solve a problem that we're so excited to solve together or to create possibility around that we're They're by choice on a Saturday, standing at a whiteboard together, throwing ideas or throwing facts and observations and insights around.
So I think especially what we see when we think of strategic consulting, it is the McKinsey's, it's the Bain's, it's the big ones, it's the folks in suits and the frameworks and they do brilliant research. And that's what we see in the field.
And then there's also this side of it that is just people asking insightful questions of each other, doing research, actually reading research, doing research, finding links and developing insights. and then seeing what that sparks in terms of ideas. And that's more the part of strategy that I worked in.
And then luckily, I always thought that I was something other than a strategist because I had seen the McKinsey's and the Bain's and the large strategy. I knew what that looked like. And I just feel very lucky that I was able graduating out of the field and into consulting at a time when Mark Pollard and some of the other really rebels in the field of strategy were emerging and
That was when I started to see those people in their work and read what they were doing. I was like, oh my gosh, I have a place. Like that is my person. I'm not going to get his last name. I need to put the pronunciation right on screen, but Rob Estraneo is another. I'll make sure that you have the link for the show notes. These are folks who are just democratizing strategy.
And this all started with you mentioning my book, but I hope to contribute to the democratization of strategy so that we don't think of it as the smartest person or as the person in the most expensive suit or with the most beautiful slide deck.
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