Strategy

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 […]

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 […]

E103 | Better. Escaping Average with Andrew Horsfield Feeling stuck is not always a warning sign. Often, the discomfort, uncertainty and challenge people try to avoid are the very conditions that produce growth. Performance consultant, speaker and author Andrew Horsfield discusses why so many capable people mistake struggle for failure. Drawing on his work with leaders in business, elite sport and education, Andrew explains the difference between productive struggle and burnout, why Read More...

e103 Better. Escaping Average with Andrew Horsfield

E103 | Better. Escaping Average with Andrew Horsfield Feeling stuck […]

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 […]

E99 | Shiftcode Leadership with Preetie Boler The true test of leadership is not what a person knows, but how they behave when the pressure is on. That’s according to behavioural risk strategist Preetie Boler, who insists that many workplace problems commonly seen as technical are, in fact, behavioural. With 30+ years’ experience in legal and commercial roles across construction and facilities management, Preetie explains why trust can be damaged in a single moment and why Read More...

e99 Shiftcode Leadership with Preetie Boler

E99 | Shiftcode Leadership with Preetie Boler The true test […]

E98 | The Negotiation Playbook with Glin Bayley Your results in negotiation are shaped long before you enter the room – the internal dialogue you carry determines whether you ask, hold firm, or settle early. That’s according to negotiation specialist Glin Bailey, whose background in commercial finance and two decades in multinational organisations brings a distinctive lens to negotiation. Glin shares her belief that every negotiation happens twice: externally with others, and internally Read More...

e98 The Negotiation Playbook with Glin Bayley

E98 | The Negotiation Playbook with Glin Bayley Your results […]

E97 | BioHack Me with Camilla Thompson Sustained performance is not built on willpower alone. Leaders who ignore sleep, recovery and the biological effects of stress eventually compromise decision-making, energy and long-term health. Camilla Thompson is one of Australia’s leading biohacking experts and executive wellness coaches, working with high-performing leaders to optimise health, performance, and longevity. After experiencing burnout, sepsis, and prolonged illness linked to mould Read More...

e97 BioHack Me with Camilla Thompson

E97 | BioHack Me with Camilla Thompson Sustained performance is […]

E96 | Story Intelligence with Gabrielle Dolan If you want the best out of your team, you can’t bludgeon them with data and expect it to stick. Numbers inform, but stories are what people remember, repeat and act on. Gabrielle Dolan is a leading expert on business storytelling, having worked with organisations including Australia Post, National Australia Bank and Accenture. She is the author of six books on leadership communication. She explores why the brain is wired for story, and how Read More...

e96 Story Intelligence with Gabrielle Dolan

E96 | Story Intelligence with Gabrielle Dolan If you want […]

E95 | The AI Ultimatum with Steve Brown Artificial intelligence is no longer a peripheral experiment; it is becoming a defining force in how organisations operate, compete and grow. Leaders who treat it as a simple software upgrade risk missing the far deeper transformation already underway. That’s according to Steve Brown, futurist, author, and former Intel and Google DeepMind executive, who examines what practical AI adoption really requires. Drawing on decades of experience helping Read More...

e95 The AI Ultimatum with Steve Brown

E95 | The AI Ultimatum with Steve Brown Artificial intelligence […]

E94 | Peptides for Entrepreneurs: Unsafe Biohacking Hype or Real Healthspan Breakthrough? with Paloma Hatami Peptides are rapidly emerging as one of the most discussed frontiers in modern medicine and longevity science. Yet alongside the promise sits significant confusion, misinformation and regulatory complexity. Understanding where peptides genuinely fit within evidence-based healthcare is becoming increasingly important for clinicians, entrepreneurs and high-performing professionals Read More...

e94 Peptides: Unsafe Biohacking Hype or Real Healthspan Breakthrough? with Paloma Hatami

E94 | Peptides for Entrepreneurs: Unsafe Biohacking Hype or Real […]

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 […]

E92 | Lessons Learned with Steve Stanley Steve Stanley is a former education CEO and Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel who has spent decades building leaders in high-stakes environments. Now a Director at the CEO Institute WA and Team Smart, he designs strengths-based leadership and change programs across business, government and elite sport, including BHP, Chevron, the West Coast Eagles and the WA Institute of Sport. Steve shares 39 hard-won lessons he’s distilled into a private handbook Read More...

e92 Lessons Learned with Steve Stanley

E92 | Lessons Learned with Steve Stanley Steve Stanley is […]

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 […]

E89 | The End of Abundance: Demographics and the Future of Business with Hari Hara Priya Kannan Australia is entering a period of long-term labour scarcity and rapid demographic change driven by ageing, low fertility, and migration-led population growth. Hari Hara Priya Kannan, Chief Data Scientist at The Demographics Group, explains why these shifts matter for business and the economy. She outlines how population trends influence workforce availability, consumer behaviour, and long-term Read More...

e89 The End of Abundance: Demographics and the Future of Business with Hari Hara Priya Kannan

E89 | The End of Abundance: Demographics and the Future […]

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) […]

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 […]

E75 5-Star Employee Hiring with Danielle Mulvey The key to building a thriving business is surrounding yourself with what Danielle Mulvey calls “five-star employees” — the top 15% of talent who think and act like owners. Danielle has scaled multiple businesses generating over $50 million annually while working only around 10 hours a week, thanks to her proven hiring system. Drawing on 25 years of experience, Danielle reveals the five essential criteria for identifying five-star Read More...

e75 5-Star Employee Hiring with Danielle Mulvey

E75 5-Star Employee Hiring with Danielle Mulvey The key to […]

E74 The Four Forces of Growth with Kevin Lawrence Some companies keep climbing, while others plateau – and the difference often comes down to where leaders focus their time and energy. Kevin Lawrence is founder of Lawrence & Co, co-author of Scaling Up, and my co-host for 166 episodes of The Growth Whisperers. Kevin explains why growth only happens when CEOs stay in the cockpit, fix their eyes on opportunity, and summon the courage to push forward – especially when the business Read More...

e74 The Four Forces of Growth with Kevin Lawrence

E74 The Four Forces of Growth with Kevin Lawrence Some […]