Most advisory firms hand you a plan. We build the system that makes execution hold.
Most organizations do not stall because they lack ambition. They stall because execution has not been designed. We help founders, CEOs, and leadership teams close the gap between strategic intent and measurable performance by building the operating architecture that makes the work move.
Trusted by businesses across industries.
Who We Are
The Art of Strategy is a strategic advisory firm built on one belief: strategy doesn't fail. Execution does.
We work with founders, CEOs, and leadership teams when the gap between what the organization intends to do and what it consistently executes is costing too much. In time. In momentum. In growth. In performance.
Our work sits at the intersection of strategy, leadership, and people systems because execution only holds when all three are designed together. We bring the diagnostic precision of strategic advisory, the hands-on discipline of implementation, and the leadership development capability required to make change hold under pressure. We are not a firm that builds the plan and hands it over. We build the operating architecture, and then we work it.
We do not leave when the plan is built. We stay close to the work because that is where strategy either compounds or quietly erodes.
Who We Work With
Clients bring The Art of Strategy in when the plan is clear, but momentum is not. When priorities compete. When decisions slow. When capable people are working hard, but not always in the same direction. When growth, change, or pressure has outgrown the operating model.
Our work helps leaders see what is really breaking, align the people carrying the work, and build the structures, rhythms, decision rights, and people systems required for performance to hold.
Meet Alison Geskin
Twenty-five years building the systems behind organizational performance.
Alison Geskin is the Founder and CEO of The Art of Strategy. As the firm marks its 10th year, she continues to work alongside founders, executives, and leadership teams navigating growth, complexity, and change, helping them see what is really breaking, align the people carrying the work, and build the operating discipline required for performance to hold.
Her work sits at the intersection of strategy, leadership, and people systems because that is where execution either strengthens or breaks. Alison brings a practical, close-to-the-work approach to strategy and transformation, staying connected to the real conditions leaders are operating inside, not just the plan on paper.
She is the author of Leading with Purpose: A Field Guide for Managers, host of the Live. Learn. Lead. podcast, and an ICF PCC-credentialed coach. Her work has been recognized by LinkedIn, Forbes, CEO Today, ManageHR, and The Global 100.
Certifications + Designations:
Professional Certified Coach (PCC), International Coaching Federation
Accredited Solutions Provider (Management & Leadership), CDP
Member, International Coaching Federation
Board Member, ICF Calgary Chapter
Fellow, Institute of Coaching, Harvard Medical School
PCC Assessor, International Coaching Federation
Certified Executive Coach (CEC), Certified Organizational Development Coach (CODC), Certified Life Coach (CLC), ICF
Member, CPHR
Accolades:
Top 10 Training & Coaching Firms, Canada (2024 + 2023), ManageHR
Top Executive Coaching Voice (2024), LinkedIn
Top Executive Coach (2024 + 2023) CEO Today
League of Extraordinary Women Leaders to Follow (2023), Fortune
Business Strategist of the Year, Canada (2023 + 2022), The Global 100
No organization succeeds through one perspective. Neither does the work we do. The Art of Strategy brings together a trusted group of strategists, executive coaches, facilitators, HR practitioners, and leadership experts. Every engagement is built around the challenge at hand, not a standard service package.
Meet the Executive Team
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Delana McKinsley
HEAD OF PEOPLE & STRATEGY
Delana McKinsley is the Head of People Strategy at The Art of Strategy. She works with CEOs and executive teams to translate strategic intent into the people systems, leadership expectations, operating models, and talent infrastructure required for execution to hold.
Her work sits in the gap many organizations feel but have not fully named: the space between what the business is trying to become and how its people systems actually operate. Delana helps organizations build the internal architecture required for clarity, consistency, accountability, and scalable performance.
At TAoS, Delana is engaged where strategy must be supported by the people systems, capability models, talent practices, and leadership behaviours required to make change real. Her expertise spans people strategy, organizational effectiveness, performance coaching, change management, business transformation, leadership development, workforce planning, succession planning, and talent systems. She holds an MBA specializing in Global Strategic Human Resource Management.
With more than 15 years of experience across Canada and the United States, Delana has led enterprise-wide transformation at organizations including Wawanesa Insurance, Cenovus Energy, and Shaw Communications, working across workforces of 3,500 to 13,000 employees. Her work spans operating model redesign, workforce planning, leadership development, and integrated talent systems.
She holds an MBA with a focus in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management.
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Lisa Karell
HEAD EXECUTIVE COACH & FACILITATOR, USA
Lisa Karell is the Head of Executive Coaching and Facilitation, USA at The Art of Strategy. She works with leaders and organizations navigating change, complexity, and the challenge of building alignment that holds across functions, teams, and levels of leadership.
Her focus is the gap between what leaders intend to change and what actually sticks once pressure builds. Lisa brings formal expertise in organizational change management, certified through Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business, and deep experience supporting leaders through growth, transition, and organizational change.
At TAoS, Lisa is engaged where executive coaching, facilitation, change leadership, and team alignment are essential to moving strategy into sustained performance.
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Sandhya Mathur
HEAD OF GLOBAL EAST
Sandhya Mathur is a Master Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation and Head of Global East at The Art of Strategy. She brings more than two decades of experience working with CEOs, executives, entrepreneurs, and coaches across global markets.
Her work strengthens the leadership capability required to lead under pressure, navigate complexity, and create meaningful shifts in how leaders think, respond, and perform. At TAoS, Sandhya is engaged where executive coaching, leadership capability, emotional intelligence, and coach development are central to the client mandate.
She has worked with clients across the US, Australia, Canada, and the Indian subcontinent, and brings deep experience in executive coaching, mentor coaching, emotional intelligence, and leadership development. She is a Certified Emotional Intelligence Assessor, ICF-accredited coach trainer and mentor, NLP practitioner, and author of Coaching the Invisible and Emotional Intelligence at the Workplace.
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Elliott Geskin
HEAD OF OPERATIONS
Elliott Geskin is the Head of Operations at The Art of Strategy. He leads the delivery infrastructure, systems, and operational discipline that allow TAoS client engagements to move from strategy and design into consistent execution.
Elliott works behind the scenes to ensure the firm’s client work is supported by the structure, coordination, and delivery standards required to hold under real-world conditions. Where operational design is part of the client mandate, he is brought directly into engagements to help translate strategic intent into practical operating structure.
At TAoS, Elliott strengthens the operational backbone behind the firm’s work, ensuring complex engagements are supported by the systems, coordination, and follow-through required to deliver well.
