Execution

E120 | Who Should Facilitate The Company’s Planning Session? The best person to facilitate a company’s planning session is often the one who knows the business least. Because their job is to challenge assumptions, surface disagreement and create genuine alignment. A plan only becomes powerful when the people responsible for executing it have helped build it. Brad Giles is joined by my fellow Evolution Partners coaches Andres Zylberberg, Richard Peake and Sue Turk, to discuss the Read More...

e120 Who Should Facilitate The Company’s Planning Session?

E120 | Who Should Facilitate The Company’s Planning Session? The […]

E118 | Have You Outgrown Your Business Operating System? The right business operating system isn’t the one with the best software or the most passionate followers. It’s the one that helps your people consistently execute, adapt and achieve what the business needs at its current stage. Brad Giles is joined by Evolution Partners leadership coaches Andres Zylberberg, Sue Turk and Richard Peake to explore what happens when a business outgrows its operating system — and whether the real Read More...

e118 Have You Outgrown Your Business Operating System?

E118 | Have You Outgrown Your Business Operating System? The […]

E117 | The Founder Effect with Lawrence Lam Lawrence Lam has spent his career studying why founder-led companies consistently outperform, and his answer comes down to three traits: bold judgment, aligned incentives, and public influence. Founders with real skin in the game make decisions salaried executives rarely can. Lawrence is Founder and Managing Director of Luminary Investment Management, which runs the Luminary Global Founders Fund, investing in listed companies where founders retain Read More...

e117 The Founder Effect with Lawrence Lam

E117 | The Founder Effect with Lawrence Lam Lawrence Lam […]

E113 | Building Trust Without Sacrificing Accountability with Errol Amerasekera Under pressure, capable people don’t lose their skills — they lose access to them, as fear shuts down the brain’s decision-making centre. That’s according to leadership advisor and psychotherapist Errol Amerasekera, owner of Bluestone Edge, who has spent almost two decades working with executive teams and elite sporting organisations on trust and performance. Errol unpacks his concept of Read More...

e113 Building Trust Without Sacrificing Accountability with Errol Amerasekera

E113 | Building Trust Without Sacrificing Accountability with Errol Amerasekera […]

E112 | Red Brick Thinking with Donna McGeorge The biggest productivity gains rarely come from adding more, they come from removing what no longer serves you. Productivity expert Donna McGeorge calls this “red brick thinking”: identifying what can be removed to create space for better decisions, clearer priorities and more meaningful work. Donna is an international speaker and bestselling author of 15 books. Her practical approach to reclaiming time has been featured in Harvard Business Read More...

e112 Red Brick Thinking with Donna McGeorge

E112 | Red Brick Thinking with Donna McGeorge The biggest […]

E111 | AI is changing the Operating System of Work with Dave Hajdu The central challenge of AI is not learning new tools. It’s learning to organise information, redesign workflows and lead change. Dave Hajdu argues that businesses focusing only on AI are solving the wrong problem. Dave Hajdu is an entrepreneur, technology leader and founder whose career began at Microsoft before launching and scaling multiple technology businesses, including TinyPulse, the employee engagement platform Read More...

e111 AI is Changing the Operating System of Work with Dave Hajdu

E111 | AI is changing the Operating System of Work […]

E110 | Critical Thinking in the Age of AI with Bethan Winn The biggest risk of AI isn’t that it will replace us. It’s that we’ll stop exercising the critical thinking, judgment and curiosity that make us human. Speaker and facilitator Bethan Winn helps leaders and teams strengthen critical thinking, communication and decision making through her work at Human Skills Co. She works across business, government and education, helping people think more clearly, question assumptions and make Read More...

e110 Critical Thinking in the Age of AI with Bethan Winn

E110 | Critical Thinking in the Age of AI with […]

E109 | World Class Service with Monique Richardson Customer service expert Monique Richardson argues that exceptional service starts long before a customer interaction. It begins with leadership, culture and how people inside the organisation are treated. Monique is an author, speaker and consultant, for more than two decades, she has helped organisations across Australia create customer experiences that build loyalty, trust and lasting relationships. She explains why service is Read More...

e109 World Class Service with Monique Richardson

E109 | World Class Service with Monique Richardson Customer service […]

E108 | Why Simple Wins with Lisa Bodell The biggest barrier to growth is often not a lack of talent, effort or ideas. It is the complexity that quietly accumulates inside organisations, consuming time, energy and attention. Lisa Bodell believes that when leaders focus on removing unnecessary work, rather than adding more, they create the space for better thinking, stronger performance and more meaningful results. Lisa is a futurist, keynote speaker, and founder of FutureThink. Her work has Read More...

e108 Why Simple Wins with Lisa Bodell

E108 | Why Simple Wins with Lisa Bodell The biggest […]

E107 | To Be Honest with Dominic Thurbon Honesty is not a value to put on the wall. It is a behaviour, a skill and a choice leaders must practise every day. Dom Thurbon is an entrepreneur, researcher, writer and speaker who has spent nearly 20 years helping leaders and organisations change behaviour through disruption. He has built and sold two global businesses, worked as a partner at EY, co-founded Alchemy Labs and written several publications. Dom explains why truth is so difficult Read More...

e107 To Be Honest with Dominic Thurbon

E107 | To Be Honest with Dominic Thurbon Honesty is […]

E106 | The Connect Effect with Kylie Paatsch Senior leaders do not get ownership from their leaders simply by setting expectations. According to leadership coach and author Kylie Paatsch, ownership grows when people feel known, trusted, supported and clear about what matters. Kylie is a leadership coach and speaker who has spent more than 30 years leading at every level and more than 20 years coaching and facilitating senior leaders from mid-level through to C-suite. Kylie explains why Read More...

e106 The Connect Effect with Kylie Paatsch

E106 | The Connect Effect with Kylie Paatsch Senior leaders […]

E105 | The Excellence Trap with Brian Brault Entrepreneurs often build the business they want, then try to fit their life around it. The better path is to define the life you want first, then build a business that supports it. That’s according to Brian Brault, a seasoned entrepreneur, leadership educator and former global chair of Entrepreneurs’ Organisation. Brian built and scaled multiple companies, including Advanced Facilities Services, and now works through Legacy of Significance Read More...

e105 The Excellence Trap with Brian Brault

E105 | The Excellence Trap with Brian Brault Entrepreneurs often […]

E102 | AI, Threats and Human Agency with Brian David Johnson The future is not something technology decides for us. According to applied futurist Brian David Johnson, leaders must keep humans at the centre, retain their agency, and actively shape what comes next. Brian David Johnson is an applied futurist who helps governments, militaries, corporations and startups build actionable visions of the future. He was the first futurist at Intel Corporation, influencing decisions impacting Read More...

e102 AI, Threats and Human Agency with Brian David Johnson

E102 | AI, Threats and Human Agency with Brian David […]

E101 | 25 Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer (Part 2 of 2) In the second of this two-part series Brad Giles, Andres Zylberberg and Richard Peake continue to answer the rest of the 25 questions entrepreneurs must answer to build an enduring great company. After exploring vision and strategy in part one, this conversation moves into leadership, execution and the economic engine. We discuss why second-level leaders matter, why accountability must be documented and reviewed, and how Read More...

e101 25 Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer (2 of 2)

E101 | 25 Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer (Part 2 […]

E100 | 25 Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer (Part 1 of 2) For this special 100th episode, I’m joined by Andres Zylberberg and Richard Peake. We unpack the 25 questions every entrepreneur must answer. It is a framework designed to help business owners assess where growth is happening, where it is stalling, and what may be holding the business back. In part one of this two-part series, we focus on two of the five disciplines in the Compounding Growth Scorecard: vision and strategy. Read More...

e100 25 Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer (1 of 2)

E100 | 25 Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer (Part 1 […]

E93 | The Brutal Truth About A-Teams with Dominic Monkhouse A strong leadership team is not built by accident. It comes from clarity, trust, high standards and the courage to stop tolerating mediocrity. That’s according to Dominic Monkhouse, a UK-based business coach who works with founder CEOs growing through the complexity of scale. He previously helped grow Rackspace and Pier 1 in the UK to more than £30 million, before spending the past decade coaching more than 100 founders. Dominic Read More...

e93 The Brutal Truth About A-Teams with Dominic Monkhouse

E93 | The Brutal Truth About A-Teams with Dominic Monkhouse […]

E91 | AI Human Fusion with Leanne Shelton AI can lift performance fast, but only if you guard the thinking, the standards, and the trust behind it. That’s according to Leanne Shelton, founder and CEO of Human Edge AI Training. Leanne shares her journey from copywriting to AI training and keynote speaking after early shifts in client behaviour signalled that AI was changing the nature of knowledge work. She explains the risks of inconsistent adoption, “shadow AI,” and over-reliance Read More...

e91 AI Human Fusion with Leanne Shelton

E91 | AI Human Fusion with Leanne Shelton AI can […]

E90 | The Money Habit with Mike Michalowicz Best-selling author Mike Michalowicz returns to explore what sits beneath financial systems: psychology, habits, and the personal behaviours that drive money stress. Mike explains why successful entrepreneurs often struggle with money despite strong businesses, highlighting the tension between business and personal finances. He discusses lifestyle inflation, the myth that growth fixes everything, and why true financial control comes from clarity, Read More...

e90 The Money Habit with Mike Michalowicz

E90 | The Money Habit with Mike Michalowicz Best-selling author […]

E87 |The Leadership Skills That Prevent Burnout with Mark Butler Mark Butler is an expert working at the intersection of psychology and performance. Mark helps leaders and teams perform under pressure while reducing the mental-health risks that quietly undermine results. He’s known for turning complex psychological insights into practical tools leaders can use immediately. His work sits at the forefront of burnout prevention, psychosocial hazard compliance, and sustainable high Read More...

e87 The Leadership Skills That Prevent Burnout with Mark Butler

E87 |The Leadership Skills That Prevent Burnout with Mark Butler […]

E86 | What Australia Could Learn From The Mittelstand (Summer Series) Germany’s Mittelstand is the quiet engine of its economy, and Australian mid-market leaders can learn a lot from it. In this last of the summer series Andres Zylberberg, Richard Peake and I examine how these often family-owned firms dominate narrow global niches by focusing on being the best in the world at one thing. They think in decades, not quarters, and build deep capability through apprenticeships and long-term Read More...

e86 What Australia Could Learn From The Mittelstand (Summer Series)

E86 | What Australia Could Learn From The Mittelstand (Summer […]

E85 |Pricing Is A Function (Summer Series) Many leaders avoid pricing decisions due to fear of losing volume, yet pricing has the greatest impact on profitability. Andres Zylberberg, Richard Peake and I continue our summer series on why pricing must be treated as a core business function rather than an ad hoc reaction when profits decline. A critical factor is pricing elasticity: different products and services respond differently to price changes, and profit often sits in low-elasticity Read More...

e85 Pricing Is A Function (Summer Series)

E85 |Pricing Is A Function (Summer Series) Many leaders avoid […]

E84 |Why Don’t I See A Profit? (Summer Series) Business owners often feel frustrated when their P&L shows strong profits but there’s little cash in the bank. This disconnect isn’t incompetence or unfairness – it’s a misunderstanding of how cash really flows through a growing business. In this fifth summer series episode, Andres Zylberberg, Richard Peake and I discuss how profit and cash are not the same. Growth itself consumes cash through working capital tied up in inventory, Read More...

e84 Why Don’t I See A Profit? (Summer Series)

E84 |Why Don’t I See A Profit? (Summer Series) Business […]

E83 |The Weekly Meeting (Summer Series) Weekly meetings are the cornerstone of effective execution, yet they often fail by becoming unfocused status updates that drain energy and momentum. When designed well, the weekly meeting creates rhythm, clarity, and accountability, helping teams move faster and avoid surprises at month or quarter end. I’m joined again this episode for our summer series by Andres Zylberberg & Richard Peake. We discuss how effective weekly meetings, over time, Read More...

e83 The Weekly Meeting (Summer Series)

E83 |The Weekly Meeting (Summer Series) Weekly meetings are the […]

E82 |Fall In Love With Your Business Again (Summer Series) Many business owners slowly drift from loving their business to feeling trapped by it. The spark fades, Mondays are dreaded, and frustration replaces purpose. This happens when growth is chased for its own sake, signals of drift are ignored, and the owner tries to shoulder everything alone. Richard Peake, Andres Zylberberg and I return for this third part of this summer series to discuss how to get your passion back on track. The Read More...

e82 Fall In Love With Your Business Again (Summer Series)

E82 |Fall In Love With Your Business Again (Summer Series) […]

E81 | Why Growth Stalls Around $50 Million (Summer Series) Developing strong second-level leaders is essential for any organisation aiming to break through its next growth ceiling. Richard Peake, Andres Zylberberg and I examine the predictable points where companies stall, and the leadership evolution required to move beyond them. Common warning signs – including swamped executives, constant decision bottlenecks, and missed market signals – show why the old way of operating stops Read More...

e81 Why Growth Stalls Around $50 Million (Summer Series)

E81 | Why Growth Stalls Around $50 Million (Summer Series) […]

E80 | Quarterly Performance Reviews (Summer Series) Quarterly performance reviews are often dreaded by employees and managers alike, largely because they’re treated as bureaucratic, last-minute tasks rather than meaningful coaching conversations. However, done properly, performance conversations can be one of the most powerful tools to consistently grow your people and your business. This is the first episode of a summer series, where I am joined by Andres Zylberberg and Richard Peake. We Read More...

e80 Quarterly Performance Reviews (Summer Series)

E80 | Quarterly Performance Reviews (Summer Series) Quarterly performance reviews […]

E79 |The Healthy Hundred with Dr Peter Larkins If you want to stay sharp, energetic and high-performing well into your later decades, you need to deliberately invest in your healthspan, not just your lifespan. Sport and exercise physician Dr Peter Larkins is a former Olympic middle-distance runner and one of the pioneers of sports medicine in Australia. Across his career, Peter has worked with elite athletes, AFL clubs, national teams and major media networks. Peter breaks down the five Read More...

e79 The Healthy Hundred with Dr Peter Larkins

E79 |The Healthy Hundred with Dr Peter Larkins If you […]

E78 |How Entrepreneurs Avoid Destructive Divorce with Catherine Leach Strong marriages don’t succeed by luck — they succeed by design. Leading family lawyer and Leach Legal founder Catherine Leach shares the patterns she’s seen over 35 years that determine whether a relationship thrives or falls apart. Recognised nationally for her strategic approach to family law, she has guided thousands of couples through complex transitions and brings a rare blend of empathy, clarity and Read More...

e78 How Entrepreneurs Avoid Destructive Divorce with Catherine Leach

E78 |How Entrepreneurs Avoid Destructive Divorce with Catherine Leach Strong […]

E77 |First Meeting Differentiator with Lee Salz The first meeting can make or break a sale. Discovery-style meetings – where salespeople focus on gathering data – often fail to deliver meaningful value. Instead, Lee Salz introduces the consultation mindset, where sales professionals lead with insight, empathy, and emotion to create momentum from the very first conversation. Lee Salz is one of the world’s leading voices in sales differentiation. As founder of Sales Architects, he helps Read More...

e77 First Meeting Differentiator with Lee Salz

E77 |First Meeting Differentiator with Lee Salz The first meeting […]

E76 | Curious, Connected & Calm with Stephanie Bown High-performing organisations aren’t built on strategy alone – they’re built on leadership teams that stay curious, connected and calm. That’s the core message from organisational psychologist, author and leadership expert Stephanie Bown, who has spent 20+ years helping founders, startups, scale-ups and market disruptors embed high-performance habits and culture. Stephanie works with leaders to strengthen trust, alignment, and Read More...

e76 Curious, Connected & Calm with Stephanie Bown

E76 | Curious, Connected & Calm with Stephanie Bown High-performing […]