Every leader needs a wingman.

I want you making the moves your competitors have to respond to.

When you see a valuable opportunity, you should have a business capable of taking it. You should be able to commit boldly, with a clear view of what it will take to succeed and enough freedom to handle what follows.

I spent sixteen years as a fighter pilot. An opponent was watching what we did and adapting to defeat us. We had to make decisions without certainty, take the initiative and maintain freedom of manoeuvre.

That experience shapes how I look at strategy.

In business, you can lose that initiative while the numbers still look sound. You secure funding to expand, but the operation cannot scale profitably. A transformation consumes years without improving what you can offer customers or what it costs to deliver. Several promising initiatives compete for the same people and capital until none gets what it needs.

These are strategic failures. They leave you carrying the commitments without gaining the advantage.

I work alongside owners and CEOs on the choices that determine whether expansion will be profitable, how a business can recover its margins, or where technology could open a market it cannot currently serve.

You have my judgement alongside yours on where to commit your money and effort, and what needs to change in the business to make that commitment worthwhile.

Staying ahead of the jet means being in a position to shape what happens next. Strategy should give you that initiative.