I don’t really think about competitors at KSG. I know that’s a convenient belief to hold. Here’s my rationale.
Paige LaCour asked me a great question on her Oil and Gas Industry Leaders podcast: “How do you differentiate yourself from your competitors?”
I explained that my framing around competition is a bit strange.
I don’t think about competitors, in part because I don’t think I have traditional competitors.
In the full episode, I acknowledge to Paige that’s a really convenient position to hold.
All of our businesses are special snowflakes. They all do unique things in unique ways, so there’s no real competition.
Of course that’s fiction. And if we take it too far, we can do real damage to our businesses.
The reason I lean into the “no competitors” posture is, as I’ve continued to grow KSG, the alternative to my offering is almost always for people or teams I work with to either (a) do nothing or (b) do something themselves.
👉 What I’m really offering at KSG is clarity.
Clarity around how energy markets work, what challenges and opportunities exist today and in the future, and how to act with confidence.
I do that in two ways:
1️⃣ Through advisory work with executive teams, and
2️⃣ Through learning & development programs with midcareer professionals and rising executives.
It’s been exceptionally rare that someone has approached me and said, “Hey, I’m shopping around for someone that can yield energy insights. Can you give me a quote?”
Instead, almost all the work I’ve done has come after building a relationship with someone who is working on an interesting problem.
They’ve come to know me, even just casually, and appreciate how I think, how I do analysis, and how I communicate.
The question isn’t so much, should I use KSG or some other advisory or professional development firm?
The question is more, how much value would I get from increased clarity, and how quickly could I get it?
In this sense, I’m very much competing.
But I’m competing against the idea that some insights might not be sufficiently valuable to justify action, or that taking action may not yield value quickly enough.
This is how I stay sharp.
I’m not just relying on the know, like, and trust factors that form the foundation of meaningful relationships.
I’m mapping everything I do to value, so people that work with me have confidence in the return.
It’s easy for me to say on a podcast, “Oh, I don’t really have competitors, so I don’t think about them.”
That’s flippant and untrue.
Instead, it’s as Paige says at the end of this clip: “It’s almost like you’re in competition with yourself.”
