The CEO Soapbox Podcast

We've all been taught that "the customer is always right," but is that mantra actually hurting your business? For CEOs and entrepreneurs building valuable companies, clinging to this outdated belief can be a costly mistake. It leads to burnt-out teams, shrinking profit margins, and a culture of appeasement rather than partnership. This philosophy simply doesn't hold up when you&#...

Are you tired of chasing the impossible dream of work-life balance? For ambitious CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs, the idea of a perfect 50/50 split is not just unrealistic—it's a recipe for guilt and burnout. In this candid episode of The CEO Soapbox, host Neda Farzad dismantles the myth of work-life balance and offers a more pragmatic and powerful alternative. Forget about dividing your li...

Ever promoted your best salesperson only to end up with a terrible manager and no top salesperson? It’s one of the most common—and costly—mistakes leaders make. This episode tackles why the traditional career ladder is broken and how to stop the cycle of promoting top performers into management roles they aren't suited for. We're challenging the old way of thinking and giving you a practic...

Are you constantly checking your competitor’s every move? This episode explores why that obsession might be the biggest threat to your business, slowly killing your originality and confusing your team. By the end of this episode, you will learn how to break free from reactive competitor-chasing and build a focused, original strategy that creates a lasting competitive advantage. In this candid epis...

Is your obsession with being "nice" secretly sabotaging your company? This episode confronts the uncomfortable truth that a conflict-avoidant culture prioritises your comfort over your team's growth. Discover the critical difference between kind vs nice leadership and get a clear framework to foster a culture where direct feedback fuels accountability and high performance. Key Takeaw...

Explicit Language Heads up: This episode contains explicit language. If swearing isn't your thing, this might not be the episode for you. Episode Summary Are you tired of wasting time and money on hires who look great on paper but fail to deliver? In this episode, Neda Farzad tears down the broken rituals of modern hiring. She argues that our obsession with résumés, rehearsed interview answers...

Too many leaders act like profit is just a happy accident—a bit of good fortune that lands in their lap, not something within their control. In this episode of CEO Soapbox, I’m calling out that myth and showing you what real leadership around profit looks like. If you’ve ever found yourself celebrating big revenue milestones in public but privately worrying about razor-thin margins—or you’re stuck...

Hey, it’s Neda here, and welcome to the very first episode of CEO Soapbox. Today I’m tackling one of those big leadership myths that just won’t die: the idea of the “Visionary Leader.” You know… that lone wolf genius with all the answers, making grand speeches while everyone else just scrambles to keep up. Honestly? That story’s a fast track to chaos, burnout, and way too much confusion. If you’ve...