Susan Black, 2023 Winner
This award is intended to honor the highest level of achievement in strategic management by a business leader. The honoree is invited to give a lecture at the SMS Annual Conference, discussing their achievements in strategy. This award is only presented when an appropriate honoree is nominated.
This year, this award goes to Dr. Susan Black. Dr. Susan Black has more than two decades of experience leading successful organizational transformation across a broad spectrum of sectors and industries. She has worked at the C-suite level in insurance, retail, for-profit, non-profit, publicly traded and family-owned enterprises. Whatever the business situation, be it a startup, a turnaround, a realignment or driving to sustain success, at the core of Dr. Black’s approach has been a devotion to disciplined strategic planning and correspondingly, a formidable focus on strategy execution. The business world is replete with tales of organizations whose strategies have failed, not because they are ill-conceived, but because they fail in execution. Dr. Black subscribes to the belief that a critical element in effective execution is ensuring that all employees are aware of the strategy, understand the strategy and are committed to playing a role in its successful execution.