The Inner Chief

In this episode I countdown the top 5 lessons from the first year.   When I chat to listeners they all tell me they've got a favourite guest from the show and every chief has been mentioned. It just goes to show that there is NO single way to be a chief.   In putting this list together I studied the transcripts of 28 episodes and found the most common themes and I've included one quote from each o...

This week's episode welcomes Jame Whittaker. James has interviewed more than 100 of the world's most revered business leaders, cultural icons and athletes to unlock their secrets to success. People like Oprah Winfrey, Lewis Howes, Bob Proctor, Barbara Corcoran...in all 100 legends of our time. Today, the bestselling author, speaker, entrepreneur and film producer draws on his unique experience to...

In this episode we dive deep into Meticulous Preparation. Most of you have heard me wax lyrical about systemising high performance by using a High Performance Lifecycle like Prepare, Perform, Recover, Review. This is a powerful model and really comes to live when every step is respected and completed like a pro. 10 years ago I went off the grid and spent 3 months living in the remove mountains of...

In this episode we here from Mitch Matthews, keynote speaker, success coach, and best selling author. He speaks to student, corporate, non-profit, and association audiences around the world on the power of dream, think, do. In 2006, Mitch started the big dream gathering. Originally it was supposed to be something his friends and family could do for a few hours to get clear on their dreams. But thi...

Presence and gravitas. Such a holy grail. When I think of people that have truly had presence they are have such charisma, they're enigmatic...there is something in the ether, their spirit seems different to everyone else...like it expands to fill the room. People that master true presence are magnetic and in demand...others line up to spend time with them and their cut-through to find key insight...

In this episode we hear from Keith Wootton, founder and CEO of AV1. Keith tells his remarkable story from growing up in Ireland, moving to Australia and how he almost accidentally became the CEO of a business that produces over 1,000 events per year. We talk about how he finds inspiration from unusual and different fields and how he crafts the culture that attracts the best people to his team.

It's time for a heart to heart. Chief to chief. About YOUR FEARS. Fears can be big. They can be small. But they are insidious. Subtle creatures that sabotage our success. And they will eat away at your performance. And while they are powerful motivators, as Yoda so eloquently put it,  "fear leads to the darkside". Do not be sweet-talked by the power of fear. It only breeds negative attitudes and b...

In this episode we talk about the vital skill of written communications. Leaders spend from 2 to 6 hours per day writing and yet very few have had any formal training in writing skills outside of university. Most top executives receive 100 - 300 emails per day so if you want your message to get through you'd better have a system and a method for getting cut through.  The way to get cut-through is...

  In this episode I cover a strategy for assessing and building your own powerful senior executive network both inside and outside your current business.  In the busy-ness of modern corporate life it can be so easy to let yourself get isolated from not only external trusted advisors but also high quality senior executives within your own organisation. The truth is most of us underestimate just how...

In this episode we hear from Mal Bundey, CEO & MD of Pact Group Holdings Limited.  Malcolm Bundey is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Pact. Prior to joining Pact, Malcolm held several senior executive leadership positions for the Graeme Hart owned Rank Group. He  relocated to the United States with Rank in 2007 where he was President & CEO of Evergreen Packaging a US$1.6bn pape...

In this episode we talk about one of my favourite Albert Einstein quotes: "Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value."  This quote has now been mentioned by so many countless successful business people that I've lost count. When you're focusing on your own success and climbing the ladder it repels other people.  They see you as a competitor and resist and so...

In this episode we meet international bestselling author, finance and investment expert, radio broadcaster, newspaper columnist and public speaker, Noel Whittaker, one of the world's foremost authorities on personal finance. Noel reaches over seven million readers each week through his columns and broadcasts on over 50 radio stations. He is one of Australia's most successful authors, with 20 bests...

In this episode we talk about the importance of reputation. Every single action you take, every single day or the weeks adds or subtracts to your reputation and it is perhaps the most important element to rapidly accelerating up the corporate ladder and for attracting opportunities. It is made up of stories and labels people carry for you and in essence is, "what people say about you when you're n...

In this episode we meet Read to Lead CHIEF Jeff Brown. He is the founder of the  Read to Lead   podcast and community Before beginning Read to Lead, he spent 26-years in radio and co-hosted an award-winning and nationally syndicated morning show from 2002 to 2008 with over a million daily listeners. The Read to Lead Podcast began in 2013. Since then he's been fortunate to interview a number of New...

In this episode, Part 2 on confidence, I talk about confidence 'boosters' and how they can help take your game to a whole new level. The 7 boosters we focus on are: Mindset Reframing Fear Getting in flow Putting on your game face Rehearsal and scenario modelling Building a game plan Decision making frameworks If you've got a confidence issue or just want to lift your game then this will definitely...

In this episode we hear from Golf Coaching legend Peter Knight on mastering your craft. Peter Knight is one of only four master golf professionals in Australia. He is the author of Iron Golf Mind and has over 25 of years successfully coaching at State and National level as well as driving golf programmes for the Australian Institute of Sport, Golf Australia, Taiwan Golf, Golf Victoria, NSW Golf an...

In this episode I talk about confidence and the critical role it plays in performance and career progression. The topics is huge and I've split it out of over two minisodes. In this episode we'll focus on 7 big blockers that most of us can take practical action to turnaround if pay close attention to our performance. 

In this episode we hear from Kate Erickson, chief implementer at Entrepreneurs on Fire. I met Kate about a year ago and hear her speak on systems, efficiency and automation and she honestly stopped me in my tracks. The energy and focus was mesmerising.   Kate is an absolute GURU in personal effectiveness. Everything is personally tested on a daily basis and while they focus on entrepreneurs the le...

Take 3 deep breaths before you listen to this episode. Centre the soul. The 'busy-ness' syndrome is in plague proportions and is driving so many managers towards burn-out, low quality work, strained relationships and disconnecting from their purpose and meaning.  Recovery is our great weapon in bringing our true spirit and greatest performances to the table. Without effective recovery we can not p...

Marcus Aurelius said that he was indebted to his grandfather for teaching him that "on an education one should spend liberally". In this episode we cover the importance of learning from the gurus in your field and I give you two challenges. To reach the top, we stand on the shoulders of giants—the undisputed masters of their fields. The powerful and influential may appear to be entirely self-made,...

A lot of leaders do not make use of 1:1s and yet they are one of the greatest opportunities to inspire your people and lift their performance. In addition, your people's careers and lives are in your hands and you have a responsibility as a leader to coach, develop and support your people. Many people complain about the performance of some of their team members and yet they either don't do 1:1s or...

Every now and then you'll get a serial low performer that is a toxic presence in your team. They can be incredibly stubborn and many leaders find dealing with these people the hardest part of their work. In these cases it is unhealthy for both them, yourself and likely several other people in the team if they don't seriously change their ways or move on. I cover a three step process for removing t...

In this episode we take an entirely new angle. I've been wanting to bring in some gurus on particular topics and it brings me great pleasure to start with our spiritual guru Damien Price on Spiritualism and how it fits in the corporate world.    Damien Price is a Christian Brother and has taught for over thirty years in schools throughout Australia and New Zealand. Over the past twenty years Damie...

In this episode we cover the power of high performance lifecycles and how to use them to automate the pursuit of excellence.    The pursuit of excellence lies at the heart of all great performers. It means mastering your craft and continually working to improve yourself. It also means leading your team to work collectively to improve itself. The long term benefits have an incredible compound effec...

In this episode we hear from John Lee Dumas, Founder of Entrepreneurs on Fire.  John is the founder and host of Entrepreneurs ON FIRE, an award winning Podcast where he interviews today's most successful Entrepreneurs 7-days a week. JLD has grown  EOFire.com  into a 7-figure business with over 2000 interviews and 1.5 million monthly listens.  Some of the questions I ask John:  • What was the most...