Inner Chief Podcast

“You've got to have the wherewithal and the EQ to know when to stick your nose in and ask the questions, and other times to trust and let people get on with it. Noses in, fingers out.”   In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Angela Tsoukatos, CEO and 20 years executive team member, on pivotal career moments, how to focus on core business, and the most effective ways the Board and C-Suite can work together.  

“In 10 years’ time, are you going to look back and be happy with how you spent the last 10 years?” This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode. This Mini Chief episode features Nigel Marsh, Former CEO Leo Burnett and Y&R Brands, Founder Earth Hour, viral TEDx Talker, bestselling author and podcaster. His full episode is titled Following your own path to achieve balance, getting cut-through, and authentic success. You can find the full audio and show notes here:

“One of the big lessons anyone can take out of COVID was that everyone was forced to live in a world that was out of control and you just had to adapt and respond.”   In this episode, I chat to David Knoff, Antarctic Expedition Leader and author of 537 Days of Winter, on high-stakes risk and crisis management, and being adaptable around your mission.  

“No high performance happens without those three big things, so make sure they're embedded into a new year ahead.”   In today’s episode, I've just got three big questions for you. If you can answer these, I think you can make 2025 your best year ever.

“Make it your goal in 2025 to not just simplify, but focus. Get more dialed in on just a few things, stuff that will make a difference. Make some hard calls.” In our final episode for 2024, we are going to cover the five big themes from 2024 that are going to be vital in 2025. I'm seeing these 5 themes emerge more and more through the work we do with executives and boards. And what I'm seeing is if we don't all lean in and get better at these five things, life is going to get more difficult and frustrating and we're going to find it harder and harder to win. Chief, the best executives right now are nailing these things. And all the best organisations need people with these five traits right now, more than ever.

“If you spend too much time worrying about the outcome and not about the process, then you just create anxiety and a lack of focus.”   This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous CEO guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode. This Mini Chief episode features Rob Patterson, Managing Director of Parkins Lane. His full episode is titled Humility, relationships and scaling fast. You can find the full audio and show notes here:

“A CEO client of mine said that when he dies, his to-do list will be full. Not empty, full. In 10 years’ time, are you going to look back and be happy with how you spent those 10 years?”   In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Nigel Marsh, Former CEO Leo Burnett and Y&R Brands, Founder Earth Hour, viral TED Talker, Bestselling Author and Podcaster, on following your own path to achieve balance, getting cut-through, and authentic success.

“What are the things that I do daily to build and maintain relationships with people I deeply care about. And then I just do that to the people that are the next sphere out from me.”   This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode. This Mini Chief episode features Mike Smith, Founder and CEO of Zero Co. His full episode is titled How to build a tribe of loyal customers, creating a better world through business, and personal growth. You can find the full audio and show notes here:

“If you spend too much time worrying about the outcome and not about the process, then you just create anxiety and a lack of focus.”   In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat we had in 2019 with Rob Patterson, Managing Director of Parkins Lane, on humility, relationships and scaling fast.  

“We built this school. And then over the next 12 months, we ended up building two more schools in other, other villages around. And it completely changed my perspective on what meaningful work is.”   In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Mike Smith, Founder and CEO of Zero Co, on how to build a tribe of loyal customers, creating a better world through business, and personal growth.

“Good character is essential because talent isn't enough to navigate through a messy time.”   This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode. This Mini Chief episode features Zaklina Craig, Executive Director - People, Culture & Workplace of Business NSW. Her full episode is titled Optimising role design for peak performance, managing differences in confidence between men and women, and navigating the decision to fire someone. You can find the full audio and show notes here:

“Your brand or your reputation is what people say about you when you're not in the room.”   Chief, today we are going to guide you through the process of mastering the art of influencing stakeholders and partners, such that it catapults you forward (and upwards!) in your career. Stakeholders have a huge impact - negatively and positively - on your career and your personal life whether you like it or not. These people can be your corporate peers, suppliers, customers, board members, executive team members, your boss, the community, media, anyone out there who's got a key stake in what you do. As such, getting buy-in from difficult stakeholders is one of the most important tasks and skills of all senior executives and leaders.

“For me, the four H's were a very simple way of outlining what I stood for as a leader.”   This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode. This Mini Chief episode features Mike Schneider, Managing Director of Bunnings Group. His full episode is titled Career diversity, genuine empathy, and the 4Hs of authenticity. You can find the full audio and show notes here:

“You're a business leader first, and a HR professional second.”   In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Zaklina Craig of Business NSW, on optimising role design for peak performance, managing differences in confidence between men and women, and navigating the decision to fire someone.

“The danger for CEOs is to allow yourself to be surrounded by people who tell you how good your ideas are. You actually need a balance of people who tell you when you’ve got something wrong or if you could have handled something in a different way.”   In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat we had in 2019 with Mike Schneider, the Managing Director of the Bunnings Group, on career diversity, genuine empathy, and the 4Hs of authenticity. 

“The biggest thing a leader can bring to the business is the responsibility to put the right people on the bus. And to have the bravery to say that there's a reason that they need to hop off the bus.”   In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Carolyn Creswell, Founder and MD of Carman’s Kitchen, on how to fire people gracefully, doing what you love, understanding menopause and having genuine work-life balance.

“Your direct reports actually want you to provide a clear framework and guidance, and then get out of their way so they can do the job you're paying them to do.” Chief, today we complete our Think Like a CEO Series, and we’re going to look at how great chiefs work on the business, not in the business. As you move up the ranks, your role increasingly becomes about working on the business. If you are in a senior or executive role, this is about stepping out of the day-to-day operational grind: the thousands of tasks, the endless emails, the back-to-back meetings, the constant demands of stakeholders. That is what your employer actually employs you for. The best leaders I've ever met embrace this responsibility. They look beyond their immediate role and work to improve the entire organisation.

“All the best leaders of change I've noticed, bring their people with them.” Chief, today we continue with Part 4 of our Think like a CEO Series, and we’re going to cover how to overcome resistance to change. This is one of the most difficult and stressful parts of running a business. Getting people on the train, keeping them inspired and creative, and not slowing momentum down can be an incredibly difficult journey. I've been involved in a lot of transformations now, and I've seen every mistake under the sun. And what I've learned is that the CEOs and the senior leaders who successfully drive change happen to do a few things that others seem to skip. So I want to share with you five things that I know that if you apply them properly, it will make an immediate, tangible difference to the momentum you are getting in leading change in your organisation.

“Correctly diagnosing your people’s performance issues will mean you enjoy the benefits of watching your people grow and thrive, and they will never forget that you did that for them.” Chief, today we continue with Part 3 of our How to think like a CEO Series, and we’re going to look at how to build confidence in your people. I believe that one of the biggest problems in both sport and business - and I have seen this over and over and over again - is misdiagnosis of performance issues. Leaders will talk about their people not having the right capability, but they simply lack the skills. Luckily, misdiagnosis of performance issues is something we can fix, and I will take you through this process in this episode.