About the Author
Paul Sacco lives in Calgary, Alberta, where, after a twenty-five-year career in the energy industry, he retired in 2009. He began the next chapter of his life by starting-up Propheta Lucro Management Consultants with the mission of developing business leaders.
As a volunteer, Paul enjoys mentoring business students and has also served on industry committees and non-profit boards.
In his free time, Paul enjoys reading about history, psychology, and leadership. Paul also enjoys writing about business and has tried his hand at playwriting. Paul and his wife, Juli, are avid golfers, theatre buffs, and travelers.
Paul holds a B.A.Sc. and an MBA, both from the University of Toronto. He is also a certified MBTI® practitioner.
AUTHOR Q & A
What inspired you to write Strategy Quest?
My personality type, INTJ, is known for its strategic thinking ability. I have been a strategic thinker since I was a kid and remember coming-up with ideas for winning games and sports. I was always trying to think of a game-changing way. Unfortunately, in the energy business, I didn’t see a lot of thinking that I would classify as strategic. I later discovered that, in my opinion, the strategy courses taught in business schools are lacking since they fail to teach people how to create winning ideas. So, I conceived a way to show other personality types about how they can find their strategic mindset.
What do you hope that readers will get from Strategy Quest?
I hope that readers will understand what strategy is. Despite what they learn in business schools, different people interpret the abstract word strategy in a way that is consistent with their personality type. I want them to understand the difference between the tactical mindset and the strategic mindset and that both are required to become a successful executive. I also want them to know how to make the mindset shift and to overcome the habitual behaviors might prevent them from doing so.
How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?
The energy industry is full of brilliant people, yet it befuddled me that few of them could create an original idea or solve a creative problem. I didn’t understand personality type well enough to see that their strengths were different than my own. Once I had the epiphany that our different behaviors were related to personality type, I intensely studied this subject. In Strategy Quest, I relied on my experience working with different MBTI types to determine if my method made sense.
Tell me something that isn’t in the synopsis of Strategy Quest.
In Strategy Quest, I talk a lot about the preferences of the four personality types that dominate the executive ranks. I do that to provide them a starting point from which to make their shift to a strategic mindset. I also write a lot about the entrepreneurial mindset and how it differs from the strategic mindset. Many leaders in established businesses say they want their people to be more entrepreneurial, but they don’t understand the implication of this. The entrepreneurial mindset wants to take risks that would never get approved. What they really should be doing is encouraging a strategic mindset that finds opportunities that have a moderate risk while adding value at scale.
Paul A. Sacco’s books on Goodreads
