Level5 Strategy

What does it mean to lead with people at the centre of strategy?

For Maura Dyer, Chief People Officer at Neighbourly Pharmacy, it starts with understanding that every strategic priority ultimately depends on people and whether they are ready, equipped, and committed to bring it to life.

In our latest Level5 Women in Strategy interview, Maura shares how her career shaped her perspective on people-first leadership, why business acumen is essential to building strategic influence, and what she has learned about navigating ambiguity, earning trust, and creating opportunities for others.

Her perspective is a powerful reminder that people decisions are business decisions, and that some of the most important strategic leadership happens through the way we bring people along.

Read our full conversation with Maura: https://level5strategy.com/maura-dyer-people-first-leadership/

More customer research does not always lead to better customer insight.

Organizations can invest significant time gathering customer input and still come away without the evidence they need to make a decision. The challenge is knowing what to ask, which research method fits the question, and how different sources of evidence fit together.

It also means looking beyond what customers say they want. In automotive insurance, for example, research into the claims experience showed how a customer’s emotional state could change what they needed in the moment, which impacted when and how information should be delivered.

Check out our latest article from Laura Richard and Veronica Moore, which explores five common pitfalls that can limit the value of customer research: https://level5strategy.com/customer-research-strategic-decisions/

A strategic initiative can’t keep expanding and still be held to the same expectations.

As new ideas, stakeholder requests, and adjacent priorities emerge, the boundaries around an initiative can quickly become blurred. What began as a clear commitment gradually becomes responsible for work that was never part of the original scope.

In our latest article, we share a lesson from a recent Strategic Planning engagement with an Ontario regulator: defining what an initiative will not take on can be just as important as defining what it will deliver.

Clear boundaries help organizations protect capacity, clarify accountability, and make more credible commitments about what they can achieve.

Read more: https://level5strategy.com/strategic-planning-initiative-boundaries/

Meet the newest members of Level5 👋

Simon Chou and Sabrina Chen joined the team last week as Analysts, and we’re very happy to officially welcome them to the firm.

Their first week is officially in the books, and we’re looking forward to what’s ahead as they get started with the team.

Welcome aboard, Simon and Sabrina!

Last week, the Level5 team traded the office for pickleball courts at RCYC. 🏓

It was a great opportunity to mix up the teams, spend time together outside of work and enjoy some friendly competition.

Collaboration is one of our core values at Level5, and afternoons like this are a good reminder that the relationships behind great teamwork are built well beyond the work itself.

The inaugural Women in Strategy Fellowship Program is officially wrapping up!

Created as a professional development opportunity for young women interested in the world of strategy, the Fellowship gives participants the chance to learn more about strategy in practice, connect with leaders and mentors, and gain hands-on experience contributing to Women in Strategy initiatives.

This summer, we were excited to welcome our first cohort of Fellows: Donna Sanatkar, Emma Goodstadt, Sarah Ball and Sharanya Sivas. Over the course of the program, they had opportunities to build their understanding of strategy, learn from members of the Level5 team and the broader WIS community, and contribute their own thinking and perspectives to our work.

A big thank you to our inaugural Fellows for helping us bring the program to life. We’re excited to continue building the Fellowship and creating more opportunities for the next generation of women interested in strategy.

Interested in joining the next cohort? Send us a note at [email protected] to express your interest and follow the Level5 Women in Strategy page on LinkedIn to learn more.

Strategic decisions require more than alignment.

In this article, Jordan Shapiro explores three habits that can weaken decision-making: avoiding constructive disagreement, saying “yes” to too many priorities, and failing to challenge assumptions before committing to a direction.

When leadership teams make trade-offs explicit, test their thinking, and get clear on what they will not pursue, strategy becomes a deliberate choice rather than a collective preference.

Read more here: https://level5strategy.com/strategic-decision-making/

A strong strategy can still struggle to gain traction if the people expected to deliver it weren’t meaningfully engaged in shaping it.

That challenge becomes even greater in complex, multistakeholder organizations, where different groups bring different priorities, perspectives and realities to the table.

Building commitment doesn’t mean incorporating every piece of feedback. It means being thoughtful about how the strategy is developed from the start, so it is grounded in organizational realities and has the focus and commitment needed to move forward.

Read more about developing strategies in complex, multistakeholder environments: https://level5strategy.com/developing-strategies-that-stick-multistakeholder-environments/

In our experience, even the best strategies lose momentum when the work needed to succeed feels too big to start or too difficult to sustain. That’s why we believe “momentum is built 10% at a time”.

Ex*****on momentum starts with a practical first move, grows through repeatable rhythms, and compounds when leaders continue to raise the bar.

Read the article below by Managing Partner Efram Lebovits to explore how leaders can turn an ambitious strategy into one that sticks.

https://level5strategy.com/strategy-ex*****on-momentum/

In 2026, Level5 was ranked #28 on the Vault North America Consulting 50 for the second consecutive year and named the #4 Boutique Consulting Firm in North America. We are especially proud to be the only Canadian consulting firm recognized on the list.

For many clients, these recognitions provide the confidence to start the conversation with us, but it is the quality of our work that builds lasting partnerships. Clients choose Level5 because we combine rigorous strategic thinking with a deep understanding of organizations and markets. We help leadership teams navigate complex challenges, align their organizations, and develop Strategies that Stick.

Next year, Level5 will celebrate its 25th anniversary. As we approach this important milestone, we look forward to partnering with even more organizations to build a stronger future together.