(Featured in “Top 25 Executives to Watch”)
In the high-stakes world of mega projects, especially in industries such as mining, energy, and infrastructure, success has traditionally been measured by the tons of earth moved and the billions of dollars spent in pursuit of maximum profitability. However, Sam Houston, a leader shaped by these complex environments, is advocating for a different metric; the development of the resilience and capability of the people who are at the heart of it all.
The scene is a common one in today’s global economy. Based in Portugal, where he lives with his family and two dogs, Sam Houston, Principal and Founder of Strategist Solutions, navigates across time zones and industries with confidence, maintaining a calm and focused demeanor in a world defined by complexity, ambiguity, and immense pressure. He might spend his morning facilitating a governance workshop for a mega oil and gas project in West Africa. In the afternoon, he reviews a risk strategy for a critical minerals investment in Europe. By evening, he is coaching a senior executive team in North America.
Sam’s journey to his unique position is quite fascinating. It began in the precise, data-driven field of engineering and project controls. He worked with major companies such as Rio Tinto, ArcelorMittal, Eldorado Gold, BHP, and Jacobs, quickly advancing through the ranks into leadership roles on major infrastructure projects. Notable examples include the King’s Cross Redevelopment Project in London, UK, and BHP’s Potash Portfolio in Canada, among other complex projects, programs, and portfolios around the globe. However, over time, his focus shifted from development and delivery optimization to human dynamics. He became intrigued by the unseen architecture of leadership; how teams make decisions under pressure, how they navigate complexity, and how they build the trust necessary to deliver on monumental promises.
His work builds on decades of leadership experience inside industry, including executive roles at global mining companies Rio Tinto and Eldorado Gold, giving him a uniquely insider’s perspective on what it takes to deliver and sustain impact.
This shift in emphasis, from the “what” to the “how,” ultimately led him to found Strategist Solutions, a consultancy grounded in the radical idea that the most effective way to manage complexity is to invest in the people who must navigate it.
The Genesis of a New Approach
Sam’s transition from executive leadership to independent advisor was a thoughtful evolution. He pursued an ICF-accredited executive and team coaching background, which formalized his interest in the human side of leadership. He wrote a master’s thesis that centered on the strategic value of cognitive diversity in mining industry executive leadership. This academic rigor, layered on top of decades of operational leadership across sectors, gave him a distinctive view into the systemic barriers that often hinder transformation in complex industries.
“I kept encountering the same issues; strategy disconnected from delivery, ineffective governance, and under-leveraged leadership talent,” Sam recalls.
He saw a gap in the market for a consultancy that could bring commercial rigor and people-centered transformation together. In 2021, with headquarters in London and Lisbon, Sam launched Strategist Solutions to fill that gap.
“I wanted to build something that combined rigor with humanity, a business that could help organizations not just perform, but evolve,” Sam says. His mission became clear; to help leaders and teams move forward with purpose, creating clarity where there is ambiguity and momentum where things feel stuck.
A Systemic, People-Centered Model
At the core of Strategist Solutions is a straightforward but powerful concept; “Progress doesn’t come from more process, it comes from meaningful alignment.”
To achieve this, the firm operates across four core service areas, each designed to strengthen the foundations of complex organizations. It collaborates closely with specialized technical, digital, and commercial consultancies as part of an intentional ecosystem approach.
- Growth Strategy Development: This pillar assists organizations in aligning their bold ambitions with grounded, scalable execution, ensuring that strategic plans translate into tangible results.
- Program Management Advisory: This service provides delivery assurance and governance support for high-stakes programs, ensuring projects stay on track and deliver intended outcomes.
- Leadership Advisory & Systemic Coaching: This pillar equips leaders and teams to thrive amid complexity, fostering effective decision-making and strong team dynamics.
- Due Diligence, Risk Management & Organizational Reviews: This area offers critical insights into an organization’s readiness and systemic risks, helping clients make informed investment decisions and mitigate potential issues.
The approach is systemic and deeply people-centered. “We focus not only on what needs to be done, but on how the organization is set up to do it,” Sam explains. This involves examining the interdependencies among leadership, culture, organizational structure, and stakeholder dynamics.
A key differentiator for them is their attention to the client’s side of delivery. While many consultancies focus on executing a project and then moving on, Strategist Solutions works to ensure that the owner organization is set up for long-term success. This involves designing the right operating model, building internal capability, and aligning leadership and governance around clear strategies. Whether it’s a mine, a power plant, or critical infrastructure, Strategist Solutions ensure long-term operational excellence under the owner’s leadership. “For us, sustainability starts with capability and readiness on the owner’s side,” Sam says.
Sam’s philosophy is elegantly simple: “Complex doesn’t have to mean complicated.” He sees complexity as an inherent part of global, multi-stakeholder environments. The unnecessary complications, such as the opaque processes, bloated governance, and disconnected strategies, are often self-imposed.
“Our role is to simplify complex systems without losing the value that deep experience and capability bring,” Sam says. “It’s about making complexity navigable, not paralyzing.”
A Leader’s Day: From Giga-Factories to Human Connection
The variety of Sam’s work is something he genuinely enjoys. A typical day is a blend of high-level strategy and deep human engagement. Amidst this demanding schedule, he carves out dedicated time for writing. He produces articles for his website and for platforms like LinkedIn and Medium, creates social media videos, and steadily works on his upcoming book. “Staying planned and focused is essential in a schedule that spans time zones, industries, and disciplines” he admits, highlighting the self-awareness required to manage such a dynamic career.
When asked what he is most proud of, his answer moves beyond project metrics to the foundational elements of his work. “I’m most proud of the relationships we’ve built with clients and collaborators who share our values,” he says, noting the significant time and effort he invests in this. For him, the true measure of success is the trust his firm has earned. This is evidenced by their ability to influence major decisions at the highest levels, “whether it’s around giga-factory delivery governance in India or critical infrastructure investment strategy in Europe.”
Sam is also deeply proud of a core innovation he has brought to the consulting space. “We’ve also made systemic thinking and leadership development central to our delivery offer,” he states, viewing this integration not as an add-on, but as a fundamental re-imagining of how value is delivered.
The Cognitive Advantage
Central to Sam’s work is the concept of cognitive diversity, which is also the focus of his Master’s thesis. He argues that in the complex, capital-intensive realm of mega projects, where ambiguity, scale, and pace intersect, having a variety of thinking styles, backgrounds, and lived experiences is not only a “nice-to-have” but a crucial element of effective decision-making.
This concept goes beyond academic theory for him; it is a practical tool that informs his approach to team design, leadership development, and transformation programs. Sam pays close attention to the cognitive patterns, blind spots, and decision-making dynamics within leadership teams.
“Effective transformation doesn’t come from a single smart person,” he insists. “Success comes from harnessing different perspectives in service of a shared outcome, and creating the psychological safety needed for challenge and creativity to coexist.”
Sam is a passionate advocate for this concept, frequently speaking at industry conferences and leadership forums. He has noticed that audiences are becoming increasingly receptive to the idea that high performance and cognitive diversity are inextricably linked.
A Journey through Global Complexity
Sam’s perspective has been shaped by a career spent navigating the unique challenges of delivering complex projects across diverse geographies. He has worked on every continent except for Antarctica, in settings as varied as Canada, India, Japan, Australia, South America, Africa, and Europe. Each environment has presented its own cultural norms, regulatory pressures, and delivery expectations. “Learning to adapt my leadership and advisory style to local context while still driving global standards of excellence… has been a continuous and rewarding stretch,” Sam says.
Another defining challenge has been designing execution strategies that create value for all stakeholders, not just the project owner or the most powerful voice in the room. This involves creating space for meaningful collaboration between contractors, communities, regulators, and delivery partners, often in environments where misalignment, competition, and even dysfunction were the norm.
The transition from a senior executive role to launching his own business brought its own set of personal challenges. “It meant leaving behind the structure and prestige of global brands and learning to articulate my value on my own terms,” Sam reflects. “It required resilience, resourcefulness, and a willingness to sit with ambiguity.” He tackled these challenges by staying grounded in his purpose and surrounding himself with brilliant collaborators.
The Measure of Impact
While the financial results are impressive, the real impact of Sam’s work lies in the confidence and capability he fosters. His firm’s risk-based due diligence supported a successful investment decision for a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project. His leadership advisory helped a senior technical executive transition into a COO role with strategic clarity. He has generated over $1 billion in net present value across a portfolio of mega projects and has been instrumental in securing approval for several billion dollars in additional capital investment.
Furthermore, he has successfully restructured stalled delivery models, improved assurance frameworks, and changed leadership mindsets. By doing so, he ensures that organizations are equipped for sustained growth. However, beyond the key performance indicators, Sam states, “True success lies in helping organizations move forward long after the engagement ends, with systems that work and people who are ready.”
The Next Chapter: Designing the Future
Looking ahead, Sam is focused on expanding his firm’s presence in India and Europe while continuing his work in North America. He is developing a series of residential leadership programs in Portugal that combine leadership training, executive and team coaching, mindfulness, travel, and excellent food and wine. Located just outside Lisbon, these immersive experiences provide opportunities for reflection, resilience, and renewal, built to complement broader coaching and collaborative teamwork.
In addition, Sam is developing proprietary frameworks and tools to support systemic readiness assessments and team alignment. What excites Sam most, however, is the upcoming launch of his book, tentatively titled “Mega Projects Reimagined: How to Lead the Next Generation of Global Growth.” This book distills three decades of experience into a practical guide for leaders tasked with delivering complex, high-stakes initiatives in a rapidly evolving world.
It provides a practical framework for delivering growth strategies with an emphasis on people, technology, and sustainability. “It’s designed to be practical, grounded, and immediately useful for leaders navigating transformation in real time,” he explains.
Readers are invited to follow and connect with Sam on LinkedIn or visit_www.strategistsolutions.com for updates or to express interest in the book launch.
Amid his demanding global schedule, Sam stays grounded through intentional balance. His life in Portugal provides a strong sense of place and rhythm. He makes time for swimming, tennis, and, more recently, padel, which has quickly become a favorite. He draws inspiration from live performance, visual art, and exploring new cultures. “I genuinely love what I do, and that makes it easier to maintain a grueling schedule and the realities of frequent international travel,” Sam states.
Leading with Purpose in a Constantly Changing World
Sam’s advice to emerging leaders distills his life’s work. “Start with purpose. Learn to listen deeply. Surround yourself with diverse thinkers. And don’t underestimate the power of systemic thinking.” He believes the future belongs to those who can bridge strategy with execution, performance with people, and complexity with clarity.
“We’re in a reality where change is constant, technologically, geopolitically, environmentally, and socially; and those who can adapt with integrity and foresight will thrive. Future-proofing your career means being ready to learn, unlearn, and evolve. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, although make sure you learn from them!”
“Mega projects are complex and high-stakes, and they’re rich with possibility; from solving real-world challenges to working across cultures and leaving something meaningful behind.”
“If you approach them with the right mindset and collaborative intent, the legacy you help shape can far outlast the work itself. If you’re looking to build something that matters, start there,” Sam concludes.
Contact Sam Houston:
🌐 www.strategistsolutions.com
🔗 www.linkedin.com/in/samhoustons
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