Explore every episode of the podcast The Partnership Playbook: Lead with Clarity, Create Leverage & Reclaim Time

This episode is brought to you by the CEO Room.

Six weeks, six CEOs, working through the confidential decisions that keep you up at night. Each week pairs a private session with Phil and a class session where one CEO brings their hardest problem to the group. When the six weeks end, your class keeps meeting monthly as part of the alumni membership, with access to Phil between calls and priority invitations to the annual CEO retreat.

Applications for the next class are open now. Visit listentophil.com to book a call.

Who is the senior leader you've known needs to leave for three months — and what's really stopping you?

For many CEOs, the hardest part of a senior executive departure isn't the conversation — it's the operational gap they expect to open the next morning.

In this episode, Phil Hayes-St Clair explores:

• Why CEOs can carry an unresolved leadership decision for months while quietly compensating for the performance gap.
• How to use a practical 90-day bridge — Stabilise, Transfer, Rebuild — to protect decisions, customer relationships and executive capacity.
• How planning for continuity creates the confidence to lead a difficult transition fairly and deliberately.

Listen to learn how to design the 90 days after a senior exit so the uncertainty about what follows no longer prevents you from acting.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

This episode is brought to you by the CEO Room.

Six weeks, six CEOs, working through the confidential decisions that keep you up at night. Each week pairs a private session with Phil and a class session where one CEO brings their hardest problem to the group. When the six weeks end, your class keeps meeting monthly as part of the alumni membership, with access to Phil between calls and priority invitations to the annual CEO retreat.

Applications for the next class are open now. Visit listentophil.com to book a call.

When you ask about the revenue gap on Monday, does your team leave with a clear action — or another explanation?

When revenue targets look out of reach, CEOs can unintentionally turn accountability into a conversation about defending the number rather than improving the inputs that drive it.

In this episode of The Partnership Playbook, Phil Hayes-St Clair explores how to:

• Separate the revenue result from the inputs your team can actually control.
• Use the Friday Test to identify the real constraint and agree on one actionable commitment.
• Rebuild GTM strategy, incentives and pipeline discipline around what the evidence says will move revenue.

Listen before your next leadership meeting and discover how one better question can turn revenue pressure into meaningful progress.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

This episode is brought to you by the CEO Room.

Six weeks, six CEOs, working through the confidential decisions that keep you up at night. Each week pairs a private session with Phil and a class session where one CEO brings their hardest problem to the group. When the six weeks end, your class keeps meeting monthly as part of the alumni membership, with access to Phil between calls and priority invitations to the annual CEO retreat.

Applications for the next class are open now. Visit listentophil.com to book a call.

What if the strongest leaders aren’t the loudest but the ones who make trying feel safe?

Wallaroos and Waratahs leader Emily Chancellor has spent her career performing in environments where standards are high, pressure is real and trust matters.

Her philosophy offers a powerful lesson for anyone responsible for people, partnership and growth: belonging isn’t about lowering expectations. It’s about building an environment where people are willing to stretch toward them.

In this conversation, discover how to:

1. Build high-performance cultures without sacrificing humanity or belonging.
2. Use vulnerability, consistency and small acts of connection to strengthen trust.
3. Create growth by making ambition, experimentation and “trying” socially safe.

Listen to discover why your environment may be one of the biggest growth levers you control.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

This episode is brought to you by the CEO Room.

Six weeks, six CEOs, working through the confidential decisions that keep you up at night. Each week pairs a private session with Phil and a class session where one CEO brings their hardest problem to the group. When the six weeks end, your class keeps meeting monthly as part of the alumni membership, with access to Phil between calls and priority invitations to the annual CEO retreat.

Applications for the next class are open now. Visit listentophil.com to book a call.

What if your team isn’t slow — what if they’re waiting for you?

When a business can’t move at market speed, the problem may not be urgency or capability; it may be that too many decisions are queuing for the CEO.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to spot where decisions are really waiting — and why the queue often leads back to the CEO’s calendar.
• Why delegation without clear boundaries transfers uncertainty instead of creating speed.
• How to use the Find, Frame, Free model to distribute authority without losing confidence or control.

Look at the last ten working days, find one recurring decision that didn’t genuinely need you, and redesign it so it never has to wait for you again.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What happens when high-performing leaders suddenly stop feeling like themselves?

This conversation with Dr Ginni Mansberg explores an under-discussed leadership challenge: midlife health can affect confidence, productivity, career decisions and the ability of experienced women to remain in senior roles.

1. Understand why retaining midlife women is both a leadership issue and an economic growth opportunity.
2. Learn how colleagues and partners can support rather than inadvertently take control.
3. Discover how stronger workplace partnership can protect talent, institutional knowledge and team performance.

Listen for a practical conversation about leadership, health and creating the conditions for people and organisations to sustain growth.

Learn more about:

• The Women's Longevity Handbook
• Saving Your Brain

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

When was the last time you were short with someone at work, and who else was in the room?

Culture isn't set in the values session, it's set in the worst week of the quarter, in the moment you weren't planning to be watched. This episode breaks down why the repair costs less than the drift it prevents, and how to make it before it quietly becomes how things are done.

• Why a single sharp moment can outweigh a year of offsites and values statements
• The difference between a private apology and a public repair that actually resets the standard
• A two-week practice for leaders who can't yet see their own pattern under pressure

Listen now, then go find the person who saw it.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

How many of the people who work for you have been there less than twelve months?

A fast hiring period buys you speed, and it borrows against your culture to pay for it. The repayment arrives about eighteen months later as slower decisions, softer standards and good people quietly inventing their own way of working.

• The one ratio that tells you how much culture debt you're carrying, and the threshold where proximity stops teaching your standards
• Why decision speed is the first thing to go, and why your calendar fills with arbitration
• What to do on Monday, including the agenda change most leaders resist in a growth year

Work out your ratio before your next leadership meeting, then decide whether standards go ahead of strategy.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What if this year’s partnership growth doesn’t come from doing more but from choosing better?

Most GTM leaders are pushing harder on partners in a market that’s already tight on trust, attention, and momentum. The result? Activity without progress. Deals that drift. Partnerships that quietly stall. In this episode:

1. Learn how to open deeper, more transparent partner conversations that drive growth instead of friction
2. Discover how IDEAL+™ helps you decide which partnerships deserve focus, and which don’t
3. Build leadership confidence by designing partnerships around intent, trust, and long-term momentum

If you’re responsible for partnership-led growth and want to lead with clarity instead of pressure, this episode will change how you approach every partner conversation.

Learn more about the IDEAL Framework here: https://philhsc.com/ideal

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

Are you leading talented people who work hard but don’t really move together?

Most leadership teams don’t struggle with effort. They struggle with coordination. As companies grow, it’s easy to drift into a model where everyone performs individually, yet progress feels heavy, slow and overly dependent on the CEO.

In this episode, Phil breaks down a simple but powerful distinction that reshapes how CEOs think about leadership, growth, and team performance.

1. Learn how to diagnose whether your company is operating like a golf team or a basketball team
2. Understand why individual excellence can quietly stall company-wide growth
3. Discover practical leadership moves that shift teams from effort-driven to intent-driven performance

If you want to lead a team that creates real momentum (not just activity) this episode will give you a clearer way to see, think and act as a CEO.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

This episode of The Partnership Playbook explores the untapped potential of partnership data with Bob Moore, CEO and co-founder of Crossbeam. Learn how data can reveal your best potential partners, optimize collaboration, and drive growth.

Key Takeaways:

1. The Role of Data in Partnerships: How organizations can utilize data to identify and connect with the right partners.
2. Data Gaps in Collaboration: The history and common mistakes of underutilizing partnership data.
3. Maximizing Potential: Practical steps to unlock the power of the data you already have.

Connect:

• LinkedIn
• Website

—----------------

Thanks for being here!

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

Ever hired a CFO, a CTO, or a general counsel and quietly hoped rapport and a good reference would be enough? This episode makes the case that you can't assess craft you don't have, and shows what to do instead. Phil argues that the fix isn't a better interview technique but a borrowed one: pulling in someone who's actually run the function, one size ahead of where your business is headed, and using them to test judgment rather than knowledge.

• Why references confirm likeability, not competence, and why that gap gets expensive fast
• How to define the outcome you need before you write the job spec, so you're hiring against a result instead of a resume
• Why testing decision-making under real constraints catches what a knowledge-based interview never will

Name the two people you'd ask to sit in on your next technical assessment, then call one of them this week.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

Have you actually told your newest executive hire, in concrete terms, what winning looks like at day ninety?

Most CEOs leave decision rights, sponsorship, and success measures for a new hire's first quarter loosely implied rather than clearly said. In this episode, Phil unpacks why a hire you're privately doubting is more often a design problem than a judgement error, and how to fix it inside a single week.

• Why the first six weeks of a new executive's tenure often quietly shape the rest of it
• The three things that tend to go undefined at the start, and how to close each one in under twenty minutes
• How to tell whether your doubt about a hire is about them, or about what you never told them

Listen now, then sit down before Friday and write two or three concrete measures of what day-ninety success looks like for your newest hire.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What changes when there is nobody above you to make the final decision?

For Art Collins, becoming CEO of Medtronic brought a sudden realisation: tens of thousands of employees, patients and investors were depending on decisions for which the responsibility ultimately stopped with him.

His response wasn’t to become more invincible. It was to listen harder, get closer to the front line and surround himself with exceptional people.

Those same principles shaped his approach to leadership, partnership and long-term growth.

1. Learn why saying yes is always an implicit decision to say no somewhere else.
2. See how leaders create conditions where bad news reaches them before it becomes a crisis.
3. Use Art’s simple partnership test to find capabilities that can accelerate growth rather than merely add complexity.

Listen for lessons earned across the Navy, Medtronic boardroom and global business community and apply them to the decisions already sitting on your desk.

Learn More about The Adventures of Archibald & Jockabeb

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

Which part of your revenue would take the whole quarter down if it stopped on Monday?

Most revenue engines look healthier than they are, because growth quietly concentrates the number onto one channel, one segment, or one person without anyone deciding it on purpose. This episode gives you a way to find your single point of failure before the market finds it for you.

• Why the channel carrying your growth is the one most able to end it, and how concentration accumulates one sensible decision at a time
• The difference between fragility that's already showing and fragility that's invisible because everything is working
• A branch you can act on this week, whether your risk is a channel or a person

Name your single point of failure out loud to one person on your team, and turn a private worry into a decision the business has to make.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What if your 90-day plan isn't failing because it's ambitious—but because it was never designed to survive reality?

Most quarterly plans don't collapse because the strategy is wrong. They collapse because they're brittle.

• Discover the three hidden failure modes that quietly derail execution by week two.
• Learn a practical stress-test you can apply to any strategic plan in under fifteen minutes.
• Build plans that increase confidence, improve execution, and reduce unnecessary board pressure.

Listen now, then stress-test your current 90-day plan before reality does it for you.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

In this episode, Phil dives deep into the art of storytelling with Neal Foard, a seasoned advertising veteran and storytelling expert. From creating compelling narratives in business to fostering trust through authenticity, Neal reveals the essential elements of a great story and why they matter. Whether you're a CEO, marketer, or partnership strategist, this episode provides actionable wisdom on building narratives that inspire collaboration and drive results.

• The Three Pillars of a Compelling Story: A hero you care about, a gripping conflict, and a moral that leaves an impression.
• Authenticity is Key: Trust is built through consistent values and genuine connection—stories must reflect your unwavering principles.
• The Power of Metaphors: A well-chosen metaphor can simplify complex ideas, making them relatable and impactful.

Connect

Linkedin

Website

--------------------

Thanks for being here!

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What if your best leader isn't underperforming but carrying something you can't see?

When a previously high-performing leader starts to fade, most CEOs instinctively focus on performance. The wiser move is to understand the person before trying to fix the problem.

• Learn the CARE framework for having difficult conversations without creating defensiveness.
• Discover why declining contribution is often the final symptom not the root cause.
• Understand why helping someone rediscover their motivation or leave with dignity can both be outstanding leadership outcomes.

If this episode resonated, share it with another CEO who's leading through people, not just performance.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What if the next six weeks became the most important six weeks of your year?

Most CEOs don't have an effort problem, they have a concentration problem. In this episode, Phil walks you through a practical coaching exercise to design a six-week reset that creates meaningful change instead of simply maintaining momentum.

• Learn how to establish an honest baseline by identifying where you're the bottleneck and what your business is really telling you.
• Discover how to define a single outcome and identify the highest-leverage move that creates disproportionate impact.
• Stress-test your plan so it survives the inevitable pressure, distractions and competing priorities that come with leadership.

Before tomorrow's inbox takes over, spend 30 uninterrupted minutes building your own Six-Week Reset using the four coaching questions from this episode.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

Have you ever wondered why leaders with a deep sense of purpose drive lasting change in their organisations?

In today's episode, Jeremy Fewtrell shares what decades leading Fire and Rescue NSW have taught him about leadership under pressure, resilient culture, and why the future belongs to organizations that embrace meaningful partnership rather than working alone.

You'll discover:

1. How leadership decisions made today prevent tomorrow's crises.
2. Why partnership is the real driver of sustainable organizational growth.
3. The practical habits leaders use to stay calm, adaptable and trusted during uncertainty.

If you're serious about improving leadership, building stronger partnerships and creating sustainable growth, this episode will challenge how you think about leading people and solving complex problems.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

Can you enter a market without owning the audience?

Most go-to-market teams assume growth comes from spending more—more outbound, more advertising, more events, more content. But when the real constraint is trust or access, partnerships can create leverage that money alone can't buy.

In this episode, Phil explores how to use partnerships as a market-entry strategy by borrowing three commercial assets instead of trying to build them from scratch.

You'll learn:

• Why the real assets to borrow are reach, trust, and access—and how each solves a different commercial problem.
• The Market Opener Framework: Market → Barrier → Bridge → Benefit.
• How to identify the one partner who can unlock a market instead of chasing dozens of partnership conversations.

If you're planning to enter a new market, start by identifying the partner who's already trusted there.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What if the reason you've resisted coaching is the very reason it becomes valuable?

Most CEOs don't reject coaching because they don't care about growth. They reject it because they assume it's about fixing weaknesses, giving advice, or admitting they need help. This episode explores what coaching actually changes through the objections CEOs commonly have before they experience it.

You'll hear:

• Why "I don't have time" often becomes "that was the most valuable hour of my week."
• The difference between having people to talk to and having a genuine thinking partner.
• How coaching improves the quality of your thinking rather than simply helping you make better decisions.

If you're leading a business and wondering whether a coach would genuinely add value, this episode offers a different way to think about the question.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What if your biggest growth opportunity isn't another customer—but a better partnership?

The best leaders don't chase more activity.They create more alignment.

In this episode, Civica Managing Director Chris Smith shares lessons from leading multinational teams, integrating acquisitions, building culture, and creating partnerships that actually drive long-term growth.

You'll discover:

1. How to evaluate every partnership using "Where to Play" and "How to Win."
2. Why leadership clarity creates faster decisions and stronger organisational growth.
3. The framework Chris uses to align thousands of people around one mission.

If you're building a company, leading a team, or creating strategic partnerships, this conversation will change how you think about leadership and growth.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What if the biggest forecasting mistake isn't being wrong, it's pretending to be more certain than you really are?

In volatile markets, leadership doesn't need false precision. They need a forecast that honestly reflects uncertainty while still supporting confident decisions.

In this episode:

• Learn why a forecast should communicate confidence, not certainty.
• Discover a simple framework using ranges, confidence levels, and key drivers instead of a single fragile number.
• Build greater credibility with executives by separating execution issues from market volatility.

Listen now and rethink how you communicate forecasts that leadership can genuinely trust.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

Are you solving a capacity problem—or a clarity problem?

Before adding headcount, the biggest opportunity for growth often lies in how you're using the people already on your team. In this episode, Phil explores why structure creates leverage, how clarity unlocks performance, and the three conversations every CEO should have before approving the next hire.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why "we need more people" is often a symptom rather than the real problem.
• How unclear priorities, shared ownership, and decision bottlenecks quietly reduce output.
• A simple three-conversation framework—Remove, Refocus, Redistribute—to increase performance without increasing payroll.

Before you write the next job description, redesign how the work is being led.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What if leadership growth had less to do with authority and everything to do with curiosity?

The most effective leaders don't rely on one leadership style. They evolve through new experiences, difficult decisions, and meaningful partnerships that expand their perspective.

In this conversation, CEO Ian Whitehead shares how working across industries and cultures reshaped his approach to leadership and why purpose has become the driving force behind his career.

You'll discover:

1. How adapting your leadership style accelerates growth.
2. Why partnerships create stronger organisations and better outcomes.
3. The mindset shifts every leader needs to build a lasting legacy.

If you're looking to grow as a leader while creating greater impact through partnership and purpose, this episode is packed with practical insights worth applying immediately.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

Have you ever celebrated a deal that looked like a huge win—only to discover months later it was quietly making your business weaker?

Revenue is visible immediately. The real economics of a deal reveal themselves over time.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why some marquee customers quietly erode your unit economics despite impressive contract values.
• The hidden costs that don't appear in the sales forecast but shape long-term profitability.
• A simple framework to test whether a deal strengthens your business or simply helps you hit this quarter's number

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What decision have you been carrying around for weeks that should have taken ten minutes—and what decision did you make in ten minutes that really deserved a week?

Most CEOs don't struggle because they make bad decisions. They struggle because they apply the wrong speed to the wrong type of decision.

• Discover why reversibility, not importance, is the best guide to decision speed.
• Learn a simple four-question framework to separate decisions that need momentum from those that deserve reflection.
• Leave with a practical way to sort this week's decisions into two piles: Fast and Slow.

Listen to this episode, then spend ten minutes dividing every major decision on your desk into the Fast or Slow pile before your next leadership meeting.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What if the biggest barrier to growth isn't strategy but deeply inclusive leadership?

The strongest organisations don't grow because they have the smartest people. They grow because they create cultures where diverse perspectives are heard, partnerships are built, and better decisions become possible.

In this episode, Lisa Annese AM, CEO at Chief Executive Women, shares decades of experience helping transform leadership across Australia through research, advocacy and action that support women in leadership.

You'll discover:

1. How the often invisible but sustained work of thoughtful advocacy drives change and how it often starts with a small group of dedicated people
2. Why psychological safety produces stronger leadership decisions.
3. How inclusive leadership is a competitive advantage not simply a social responsibility.

If you're serious about leadership, partnership and long-term growth, this conversation offers practical ideas that will reshape how you lead.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

If your pipeline keeps growing, why is your close rate getting worse?

A full pipeline can create the illusion of growth while deals quietly stop progressing through the buying journey.

• Learn why pipeline volume and pipeline health are two very different metrics.
• Discover how to diagnose exactly where opportunities are stalling before they become forecast misses.
• Use Phil's Quiet Stall Review to improve coaching, forecasting and commercial conversations without chasing more leads.

Listen now and learn how to find the hidden friction that's quietly reducing your win rate.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What if the biggest threat to your business isn't the crisis itself—but what wasn't built before it arrived?

Most leaders think about crisis management when disruption appears. The stronger approach is to build the organisational capabilities that allow your company to absorb disruption without losing direction.

In this episode, Phil explores why resilience is less about reacting well and more about designing a business that remains dependable under pressure.

You'll learn:

• Why decision clarity, leadership alignment, information discipline, relationships and organisational learning determine how well a company responds to disruption.
• Why crises rarely create weaknesses—they expose the ones that already existed.
• The READY framework: five practical questions every leadership team should ask before the next market shock, competitor move or internal rupture.

If this episode prompts you to look differently at your leadership team, don't wait for the next crisis. Start strengthening the system while conditions are still calm.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What happens when you treat GTM partnerships like internal rituals not just external deals?

In this episode, JobAdder CEO Martin Herbst shares how to lead with trust, simplify strategy, and build partnerships that actually scale.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

1. Why internal partnerships must come before external ones
2. How to avoid complexity and accelerate value in partner deals
3. The discipline of saying “no” to grow the right way

Martin and Phil break down actionable frameworks, partnership psychology, and growth tactics that work in the real world.

🎧 Listen to unlock how partnership becomes your best bet for sustainable growth.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

What happens to your GTM motion when budgets freeze and buying cycles suddenly stretch?

The strongest commercial teams don't wait for the market to improve—they reinforce the parts of their GTM motion that keep revenue moving regardless of conditions.

• Discover why downturns expose weaknesses in commercial systems, not just sales execution.
• Learn the two parts of your GTM motion that deserve reinforcement before market conditions deteriorate.
• Leave with a practical framework to refocus your team's effort on activities that create qualified conversations and consistently move deals forward.

Listen now, then review every commercial initiative against one question: does it strengthen pipeline creation or deal progression?

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

What if the greatest risk to your strategy isn't being wrong—but being too certain?

In a world shaped by tariffs, supply chain disruption, geopolitical conflict and constant volatility, the CEO's job isn't to predict the next shock—it's to build a business that can absorb it.

In this episode you'll discover:

• Why resilient strategy is fundamentally different from accurate forecasting.
• A simple five-question Pressure Test to expose hidden assumptions before they become vulnerabilities.
• How to build confidence with your board, leadership team and investors without pretending you can predict an unpredictable world.

Listen now and pressure-test your strategy against volatility—rather than trying to forecast it away.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

What if growth isn’t about better ideas—but better choices?

Most leaders chase shortcuts—faster growth, easier wins, predictable playbooks. But real growth, especially through partnership, doesn’t work like that.

In this episode, Georgie Holt, CEO at Flightstory, home of the second largest podcast in the world, Diary of the CEO, breaks down what actually separates good from exceptional—and why most people quit before it compounds.

You’ll learn:

1. How consistent decision-making drives long-term partnership growth
2. Why obsession—not balance—is often the real differentiator
3. How to build a culture that sustains high-performance growth

If you’re serious about building meaningful partnerships and sustainable growth, this episode will challenge how you think and act.

👉 Listen now to rethink how growth really happens.

Connect with Georgie on LinkedIn

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the Partnership Kickstart: In less that 30 minutes learn how to identify your best partnership opportunity, start the right conversations, and close deals.

Visit philhsc.com/close-better-deals

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Can this AI tool genuinely improve how we sell, or are we just being shown a very impressive demo?

AI sales tools are arriving faster than most GTM teams can properly evaluate them, making it harder than ever to distinguish real leverage from expensive novelty.

• Learn the three questions that reveal whether an AI tool will actually change commercial outcomes.
• Discover why behaviour change matters more than product capability.
• Use the Leverage Filter to evaluate AI investments with greater confidence and discipline.

Listen now and strengthen your buying filter before your next AI vendor demo.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

When someone says, "We need an AI strategy," are they talking about a tool decision or a business design decision?

Many leadership teams are treating those as the same conversation—and that's creating expensive mistakes.

In this episode, Phil explores:

• Why AI adoption and business transformation are fundamentally different leadership decisions
• How to tell whether AI is improving your operations or changing where your company creates value
• A simple framework—Tool, Process, Model—to identify which challenge you're actually facing

Before your next AI discussion, ask: Does AI change where this business creates value? The answer will tell you whether you're optimising the company you have or redesigning the company you need.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

What separates organizations that thrive through disruption from those that struggle to adapt?

In this conversation, Wellington Free Ambulance CEO Dan Pallister-Coward shares hard-earned lessons from emergency services leadership, Christchurch earthquake recovery, health sector transformation, and community reintegration programs.

1. How great leaders drive growth by helping people understand the "why" behind change.
2. Why partnership is the bridge between good intentions and meaningful outcomes.
3. The leadership habits that build trust, resilience, and long-term organizational growth.

If you're leading a team, building a business, or navigating change, this episode offers practical wisdom you can apply immediately.

Listen to discover how leadership, partnership, and growth combine to create lasting impact.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the Partnership Kickstart: In less that 30 minutes learn how to identify your best partnership opportunity, start the right conversations, and close deals.

Visit philhsc.com/close-better-deals

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

If AI can now do so much of what salespeople used to do, where does human value actually come from?

In this episode, Phil explores what has genuinely changed in sales, where AI creates leverage, and why trust, judgment, and insight are becoming more valuable rather than less.

• Why the biggest AI shift isn't persuasion — it's preparation
• The new commercial advantage created by judgment when information becomes abundant
• A simple framework for deciding what to automate and what to protect

Listen now and redraw the line between task execution and trust creation in your sales process.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

What's the one thing that would grow your business fastest right now — and are you absolutely certain you're working on it?

Most CEOs aren't short of growth ideas. They're short of concentration.

• Why growth is usually constrained by a single bottleneck, not a lack of effort
• The reason leadership teams spread attention across five initiatives instead of pulling one lever hard
• A practical framework to identify the highest-leverage revenue move available right now

Listen to discover your growth constraint, identify your highest-leverage revenue lever, and take the first step to test it this week.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

What if resilience isn't something you're born with, but something you can deliberately build?

Most leaders are trying to navigate growth while balancing uncertainty, pressure, team dynamics, family responsibilities, and constant change. The challenge isn't avoiding adversity—it's learning how to perform through it.

In this conversation, Tim Curtis shares lessons from special operations, crisis leadership, resilience research, and decades of operating where there truly was no margin for error.

You'll Discover:

1. How to build resilience using a practical framework that works for individuals, teams, and families.
2. Why the best leaders create environments where disagreement, learning, and adaptation are encouraged.
3. How partnership, trust, and contribution become competitive advantages during periods of rapid growth.

If you're building a business, leading a team, or trying to create stronger partnerships in uncertain times, this episode will give you practical tools you can use immediately.

No Margin For Error - Video Trailer

Building Resilient Kids - Book

The Resilience Shield - Book

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the Partnership Kickstart: In less that 30 minutes learn how to identify your best partnership opportunity, start the right conversations, and close deals.

Visit philhsc.com/close-better-deals

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

Why does your CEO keep asking questions about your revenue plan that you thought you'd already answered?

The answer is usually not in the plan itself, it's in how the plan is being framed. In this episode:

• Learn the difference between presenting a revenue strategy and helping a CEO make a confident decision.
• Understand the five questions CEOs naturally use to evaluate growth investments.
• Discover how to translate GTM initiatives into the business outcomes and economics executive teams care about.

Listen to this episode and use the CEO Growth Conversation framework before your next growth planning discussion.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

How do you make confident AI decisions without pretending to know more than you do?

In a world full of confident AI predictions, the leaders who make the best decisions aren’t the most certain—they have the best filters.

• Learn the three questions that separate signal from hype.
• Avoid making strategic decisions based on confidence rather than evidence.
• Build a practical framework you can apply to any AI claim before it reaches a strategy document.

Listen now and start using the CED Filter to evaluate AI opportunities with greater clarity and confidence.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

What does it take to lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher?

From commanding warships and joint-agency taskforces to advising some of Australia’s most innovative defence, aerospace, and technology companies, Lee Goddard CSC has spent his career operating in environments where leadership, trust, and decision-making truly matter.

In this episode, Lee joins Phil to share lessons about:

• What leadership looks like under pressure
• The challenge of building and sustaining organisational culture
• Why trust remains the foundation of high-performing teams
• The growing importance of partnerships and strategic ecosystems
• How leaders can navigate disruption, uncertainty, and change

This is a conversation about leadership in its most authentic form—service, accountability, adaptability, and mission.

Listen now to hear Lee Goddard CSC’s perspective on leadership, resilience, culture, and strategic partnerships.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the Partnership Kickstart: In less that 30 minutes learn how to identify your best partnership opportunity, start the right conversations, and close deals.

Visit philhsc.com/close-better-deals

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

What if the GTM motion you're most confident leading is the very thing limiting your future growth?

Many GTM leaders plateau not because they lack ability, but because they keep applying a playbook that no longer matches what the business needs next.

• Why success in one GTM environment can create blind spots in another.
• How growth stages change the capabilities leadership teams need.
• A simple framework to identify where your relevance gap is forming before it becomes a career problem.

Listen to this episode and identify one capability you'll need in the next 12 months that you don't have today—and one person you can learn it from directly.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

What do you do when your organisation breaks trust with a client or partner?

In this episode, Phil Hayes-St Clair shares the EARN framework — a practical leadership approach for recovering damaged relationships with integrity, structure and long-term trust.

• Why most leaders move into solutions too quickly — and how that weakens confidence
• The four-step EARN framework: Expose, Ask, Rebuild, Name Them
• How strong recoveries can deepen trust instead of simply restoring competence

Listen now to learn how mature leaders handle pressure moments when relationships are genuinely on the line.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

In this episode, you'll hear:

Insight 1 — How to create time to think Most CEOs are too close to the work to think clearly about it. This insight gives you a practical way to create the conditions that accelerate both your thinking and your growth.

Insight 2 — How CEOs create leadership leverage without becoming the bottleneck The higher you go, the more your team waits on you. Learn how to scale your impact without becoming the constraint.

Insight 3 — You want to lead a basketball team, not a golf team One of the most powerful distinctions in leadership. This reframe will change how you think about team contribution, interdependence, and what great performance actually looks like.

Insight 4 — How to train your team to get you the right information at the right time Radical transparency without fear. Learn how to build a culture where your team delivers the data, insight, and implications you need — when you need them.

Insight 5 — How to communicate commitment to work without damaging your family, your leadership, or your growth The most important insight in this episode. Practical language and a clear framework for holding your work and your home with clarity, empathy, and emotional security.

Bookmark this episode and come back to it as often as you need.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the Partnership Kickstart: In less that 30 minutes learn how to identify your best partnership opportunity, start the right conversations, and close deals.

Visit philhsc.com/close-better-deals

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

What actually keeps a GTM engine moving when the market slows down?

When budgets tighten and buying cycles lengthen, most GTM teams increase activity instead of increasing precision, and that’s usually where performance starts breaking down.

• Why downturns expose the difference between broad-market positioning and real buyer urgency
• The 3-part filter for identifying the buyer profile most likely to close in difficult markets
• How messaging, channel mix, and partnerships need to shift when trust and certainty matter more than expansion narratives

Identify the narrowest buyer profile in your current ICP with urgent pain, available budget, and a short approval path, then redirect 70% of your GTM effort toward them for the next 60 days.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

What actually allows a CEO to lead well for ten years without slowly eroding underneath the pressure?

This episode explores why long-term resilience at the CEO level is not about burnout prevention or recovery; it’s about building the psychological and physical architecture capable of sustaining leadership over a decade.

• The four pillars that determine sustainable CEO performance: physical baseline, thinking environment, relational anchors, and purpose beyond the business
• Why most resilience advice fails under pressure because it focuses on habits instead of structure
• How leadership quality quietly deteriorates when cognitive overload, isolation, and identity fusion go unmanaged

Audit your four pillars and make one structural change this month that will still hold during your hardest season—not a habit, but a structure.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role.

Visit listentophil.com

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

What if the biggest opportunity in AI isn’t automation… but making your people more human?

In this conversation, Jake George of Agentic Brain breaks down what’s actually happening inside modern businesses and why the future of growth belongs to leaders who combine AI with stronger partnership, coaching, and human connection.

Inside this episode, you’ll learn:

1. How AI can remove repetitive work while improving sales and partnership performance
2. Why relationship-building becomes MORE valuable in an AI-driven economy
3. The practical ways leaders can use AI to coach teams, improve growth, and create better customer experiences

If you want a practical, human-first perspective on AI, leadership, partnership, and business growth, this conversation is essential listening.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

Get the Partnership Kickstart: In less that 30 minutes learn how to identify your best partnership opportunity, start the right conversations, and close deals.

Visit philhsc.com/close-better-deals

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

How do you know your sales culture has become toxic before the numbers tell you?

Pressure cultures in GTM teams rarely arrive dramatically — they emerge gradually through what leaders celebrate, tolerate, and protect.

• Why high-performing sales teams can still be quietly losing trust underneath the surface
• The three early warning signs leaders miss before attrition and customer damage appear
• How culture drift spreads socially through top performers, tolerated behaviour, and pressure systems

Review the last 90 days of your organisation and ask: what got celebrated, what was tolerated, and what behaviour others started copying.

The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts.

PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.