Expert Shares Approach to Solving Complex Problems
Pedro Morales-Llanos has spent his career managing programs, driving organizational change, and improving business processes. Born in Puerto Rico, Morales-Llanos grew up in a military family, moving to different parts of the world, including Germany and Italy, before settling in Columbia, South Carolina.
This exposure to various cultures helped Morales-Llanos understand how people adapt to new environments and ways of working. He graduated from Richland Northeast High School in 1996 and earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina in 2001.
Morales-Llanos later completed an MBA and a master’s degree in Health Services Management at Webster University in 2003. He went on to build a career in the US federal government, serving in senior program management and management analysis roles at the National Institutes of Health.
Early Career and Education
At the National Institutes of Health, Morales-Llanos worked within the Office of the Director and the Center for Information Technology. In 2020, he joined the US Department of Justice as an Operational Support Manager and Enterprise Program Manager.
After leaving federal service in 2024, Morales-Llanos founded Strategic Rise Advisory Group, drawing on his experience managing programs, improving processes, and addressing organizational change. His work focuses on connecting strategy with practical execution.
Morales-Llanos’ approach to leadership is influenced by his upbringing in a military family, where he learned to observe and understand new environments before acting. This approach has carried over into his professional life, where he tries to understand the culture, people, and history behind a problem before attempting to solve it.
Leadership and Management
Morales-Llanos’ education provided a broad foundation for his interest in management and program work. He became fascinated with how organizations function behind the scenes, including the systems, decisions, and processes that support their operations.
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His time at the National Institutes of Health taught him about operating within large and complex organizations, where technology, people, policy, and operations are closely connected. Morales-Llanos learned to look beyond the initial problem presented to him and consider the broader context.
At the Department of Justice, Morales-Llanos applied similar leadership lessons, recognizing that large programs require structure, communication, and an understanding of risk. He also emphasized the importance of providing context and explaining the reasons behind organizational change to ensure a smoother transition.
Morales-Llanos decided to move into consulting to apply his skills in different environments and to work through challenges involving organizational change, business processes, strategy, and program management from a new perspective.
He believes that organizations often misunderstand change management by focusing too much on technical aspects, neglecting the importance of bringing people, process, and strategy together. Morales-Llanos stresses that good leadership is not about having all the answers but about creating enough understanding to make better decisions.
One key lesson that has stayed with Morales-Llanos throughout his career is the importance of not assuming he understands a problem too quickly. Instead, he emphasizes the need to listen to people, understand the process, and look at the data before attempting to make changes.
Consulting and Leadership
Morales-Llanos’ decision to move into consulting was driven by his desire to apply his skills in different environments. He enjoys the discovery aspect of consulting, which involves asking questions, understanding the underlying issues, and identifying obstacles. This approach has allowed him to help organizations address complex problems and improve their operations.
