Blog
The 14 Traits of a Modern Badass Leader
What Makes a Badass Leader? I get this question all the time when people ask me if they are a fit for the Inconceivable Influence program. I’ve created a list of what I know to be true about the badasses I know and love. If you recognize some of these traits in...
I’m ready. Are you?
I get a lot of questions about the passion I have for my work and why I do what I do. I work with badasses. I help them discover and unleash their superpowers… the stuff which defines THEIR brilliance. My absolute favorite thing to do is to stand in front of...
Two Ingredients To Land Your Box Jump
When I talk to c-suite executives and senior leaders about what has made them successful, two related themes come up over and over again: resilience and persistence. So it’s worth asking: What is it that makes someone resilient? After trying, and trying, and trying,...
How To Sharpen Your Business Vision
Do you miss the forest for the trees? Are you sometimes nearsighted when it comes to your work? Good business vision can help you see the entire picture. Children are told to eat their carrots to improve their vision but entrepreneurs need to eat their strategy...
Legacy And Strategy
A recent conversation about ancestry got us thinking about legacy and how it influences our future. Many times, we've seen history repeat itself because we've not learned from it. This applies to business history, too. Having your own business can feel like a series...
The Rolling Stones… And Hustle
Do you hustle? No, not this hustle. Generally, do you hustle? Do you take a hard look at your business, your business environment and use experimentation to navigate your way forward? It's time to look for outside inspiration: The Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones...
Fear Is A Motivating Ally
Fear. We all experience it. Occasionally, fear gets the better of us. Naturally, we look upon it with an unkind eye but we should rethink that. In business, it is possible to be afraid of any number of things: failure, success, growth, making mistakes, rejection, the...
Employees As Secret Weapons
Previously, we've talked about the Lean Canvas Model, building block questions, value propositions, pivots and empathy. The one thing that's key to success as we build and grow our businesses? Employees. It turns out we won't be successful until we've convinced our...
Failing Is Not Failure But Success
Half empty or half full? It's a question to test who is an optimist. However, the better question is: does it matter if the glass is half empty or half full? That's not meant to be a philosophical question to ask at a dinner party. It is a question that's used for...
Pivot ≠ Flip Flop
Passion got you to a certain point and passion will always carry you in your business. Passion for your business, however, shouldn't blind you to being focused while running your business. In this post, we talked about knowing when to hold and knowing when to fold. In...
Metrics Matter
Remember this post? As you recall, we talked about how metrics can matter for your business strategies. There are any number of ways you can measure the life and health of your business. We all know what our pulse rate should be and therefore, knowing your metrics is...
Kenny Rogers and the Pivot
One of the hardest things to do with your business is to figure out what or when to pivot. It's really difficult to decide what you should no longer do. There is a temptation to keep putting effort, resources or time into something even though experience shows that it...
Ego Kills Empathy in Business
This is a very old cartoon, originally about project management, but it applies to how well oiled your business machine is. It never fails to amuse mainly because we've all lived it. But, it also never fails to be painful because we've all lived it. In this post, we...
What’s the Power of U?
The Power of U is your Unique Value Proposition. It is an impactful, easy to understand statement that explains why your business stands apart from your competition. The best (and correct) ones are written from the vantage point of the customer. In other words, your...
7 Building Block Questions to Ask
Many of you heard my last podcast episode and I'm happy to provide a written follow up on what 7 questions to ask as you build your strategy for the first, fifth or fiftieth time. It can be kind of intimidating when you're ready to (re)design your business strategy....
One Thing You Can Do Right Now
All businesses have peaks and valleys. When we're at our peaks, it's a great feeling. Like we are geniuses, that we've hit the jackpot and can eat all the chocolate cake in the world without gaining a pound. Sales and revenues are doing nothing but going up. It's a...
Getting Down to Brass (Strategy) Tacks
Ever see one of these before? I'm sure some of you have. But, for others, this is the Lean Canvas Model and was developed by Ash Maurya. It's a great tool for startups and businesses looking to take a fresh, objective look at their business strategy which is what we...
What’s with Empathy, Anyway?
By now, you’ve read a few posts and maybe even listened to a Sixense Strategy podcast which means you’ve heard or read “empathy” a few times. You’ve also read about asking questions. You may have also peeked at the approach section of the Sixense Strategy site where...
On the Same Side of the Table
Embracing the Unknowns & Asking the Right Questions We know our clients want answers. That’s why they come to us. It’s also why we start all our engagements with questions. Open-ended and targeted questions help us better determine what assumptions and biases our...
A Q&A with Sixense Strategy founder Parissa Behnia
Why did you decide to launch Sixense now? The idea of Sixense has been evolving over time, but it has really come to fruition the last 12 months. As I evaluate companies for investing, work with my clients, and network with my peers, the idea of empathy and using...
Strategy Consulting Case Study
We develop and deliver corporate strategy recommendations with a decidedly different approach. We’ve found when you focus on something “soft” like empathy, you can still deliver work predicated on “hard” skills. In fact, we find that we can do even more. Most...
Parissa Behnia
350 N Orleans Street, Suite #9000N
Chicago, IL 60654
312.208.7329
parissa@sixensestrategy.com
