The story
Andy Clark is co-founder of ClarkMorgan, a training company that turns 25 in November 2026, and founder of Shine Training in Hong Kong. The business grew to 117 people on the payroll across China, shrank in the 2009 financial crisis, was bought back by Andy in 2017 with far more debt than he expected, and then had to move online overnight when COVID arrived.
“You have my sword.”
The skill at work: Political Savvy & Coalition Building (Skill 9)
Political Savvy & Coalition Building is the skill of understanding who matters to a change and building the alliances that make it stick. Andy’s story shows how those alliances are built long before the crisis, and how they hold when it comes.
He told people the truth, even when it hurt
In 2009 ClarkMorgan had to downsize quickly and let go of people who were like family. Andy went weeks without sleeping. What helped most, he says, was being “very honest with people, very upfront about the situation,” and helping each person through the transition.
He gave first
Years later, on a trainer retreat at the Great Wall, Andy taught board breaking, ran values cards and shared “the best of the stuff that I had learned over the years.” He gave his knowledge freely before he asked for anything.
He shared his worry openly
Around the bonfire, he told the trainers about the chance to buy back ClarkMorgan, and how worried he was about its debt. Their answer: “You have to do it. It’s got your family name in the company name.” Several offered to train for free to help him.
He asked for help again in the dark time
After the purchase, the debt turned out to be much bigger than he expected. Andy reached out to the same trainers and told them the situation. One of them quoted The Lord of the Rings: “You have my sword.” Others joined in: you have my bow, you have my axe. “They’ve got my back.”
He keeps the coalition wide
Today Andy calls himself a team surfer. He watches how others ride each new wave, asks how they do it, and reconnects with old friends to learn their best tools. In the age of AI, he says, “it’s relationships that are so super important.”
Try this
Think of a change you are leading. Who would you want to say “you have my sword” if things got hard? This week, give one of them something useful with nothing asked in return, and tell one of them honestly what worries you.
More stories
Two Herds of Cats: Clive Miller’s story of Coalition Building →
Feed Your Mind: Andy Clark’s story of Self-Regulation →
This article is our interpretation of Andy’s story, based on the conversation on The Adaptive Edge Podcast. The framework names are ours; the events and lessons are his own.