Michael P. Sealy, Director of Corporate Strategy at Sealy & Company, is calling on professionals to resist the pull of early specialization and instead invest in understanding how businesses operate end-to-end. Drawing on more than two decades of experience across construction, development, capital markets, investment analysis, and corporate strategy, Sealy argues that broad operational knowledge leads to better decision-making and long-term career resilience.
According to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs research, nearly 40% of workers' core skills are expected to change in the coming years as technology, automation, and evolving business models reshape industries. At the same time, surveys consistently show that employers increasingly value adaptability, critical thinking, collaboration, and cross-functional understanding alongside technical expertise. Sealy believes these trends make broad business knowledge more important than ever.
“Experience matters,” Sealy says. “The more you understand, the better decisions you can make.” After beginning his career as a leasing broker at Colliers International, Sealy joined Sealy & Company in 2000 and intentionally pursued roles across multiple departments—construction, development, capital markets, and investment analysis—before moving into leadership and corporate strategy. “I didn’t want to stay in one lane,” he explains. “Seeing every part of the business changes how you think.”
The issue extends beyond individual careers. Research from Gallup continues to show that employee engagement remains a challenge across many industries, while business leaders increasingly cite communication gaps between departments as barriers to performance and innovation. Sealy believes organizations benefit when people understand how their work affects other teams and broader business goals. “You cannot build strategy in isolation,” he says. “You need perspective from across the business.”
Rather than advocating for formal programs or expensive training initiatives, Sealy encourages professionals to take ownership of their own development. Practical steps include spending time learning how other departments operate, asking experienced colleagues how decisions are made, volunteering for cross-functional projects, reading industry publications outside one’s specialty, scheduling conversations with people in different roles, focusing on understanding systems rather than just tasks, and developing curiosity about how businesses create value. “Nothing happens overnight,” Sealy says. “You build it piece by piece.”
Several trends are making broad business knowledge increasingly valuable: the World Economic Forum estimates that nearly 40% of workers’ core skills will change within the coming years; cross-functional collaboration has become a top priority for organizations adapting to economic and technological change; employee engagement surveys continue to highlight communication and alignment challenges across industries; and businesses increasingly rely on teams that can connect information from multiple disciplines. “My job is to connect the dots,” Sealy says. “Strategy is about understanding how everything fits together.”
Sealy encourages professionals at every stage of their careers to commit to learning beyond their current responsibilities. Rather than focusing solely on titles or promotions, he suggests taking time each month to understand another aspect of the business, ask more questions, and seek out new perspectives. “The bigger picture is often where the biggest opportunities are,” Sealy says. “The more you learn, the more valuable you become to the people around you.”
