Better Business, Better Life

Founder / Creative Director at Follis Inc John Follis:

"I began on Madison Ave with the top agencies in the US on accounts like VW, Pizza Hut and Coke. That led to the co-founding of my own agency, Follis&Verdi, which became one of the most awarded creative agencies in the country.

As the media and marketing landscape changed, so did my business. In '04, I created one of the first online consultancies, "Follis Marketing Therapy", which enabled business owners across the US to work with me directly on their marketing and creative issues.

In '06, I hosted and produced the first marketing podcast; "The Marketing Show with John Follis" which continued for 7 years.

In 2013, to meet the demand for the exploding digital video market, we added "Big Idea Video" which offers businesses a variety of high-impact web video content including animated "explainer videos". Currently, that work is featured on Vimeo, LinkedIn, and 4 YouTube Channels.

Additional career highlights include:

• Being selected one of "New York's 12 Best" by The New York Ad Club.
• Being honored at The White House for a national public service campaign that I spearheaded.
• Receiving the first ever United Nations Public Service Award at The UN.
• Being invited to speak at venues including The World Business Academy and Yale University.
• Winning over 3 dozen major ad awards including Clio Awards.
• Having my successful ad work featured in a Prentice-Hall marketing textbook.
• Having my successful ad work taught as a case study in The Harvard Business Review.
• Being invited to write for ADWEEK and Small Biz Trends.
• Being published in a pop-culture anthology with internationally known writers including Stephen King.
• Writing, directing and producing a film that won a Hollywood International Documentary Film award.
• Being listed on Wikipedia: https://en.everybodywiki.com/John_Follis"

HOST'S DETAILS:

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►Debra Chantry-Taylor is a Professional EOS Implementer | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Business Owner

►See how she can help you: https://businessaction.com.au/

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GUESTS DETAILS:

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►Website: https://www.follisinc.com/

In this episode of Better Business, Better Life, Debra Chantry-Taylor is joined by Guy Newton, an experienced EOS® practitioner and an EOS Implementer, to explore how the 1-3-1 Method can help teams make better decisions, build confidence & reduce leadership bottlenecks.
Guy shares his unconventional career journey from jackaroo work and mining into IT, leadership & business operations. After more than 20 years in IT and helping to build and run a building company, he discovered EOS and spent around eight years applying the tools inside businesses before becoming an EOS Implementer himself.
Throughout the conversation, Guy explains why EOS works best as an integrated system rather than a collection of individual tools. He highlights the Level 10 Meeting as one of the most powerful tools, showing how its consistent structure brings together the Accountability Chart, Scorecard, Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) & Issues List to turn discussion into action and keep teams moving forward.
A key focus is the 1-3-1 approach: identify one Issue, come up with three possible options & recommend one.
Guy explains how this simple method encourages people to think through problems themselves rather than immediately escalating every decision to their manager. Over time, it builds confidence, ownership & better decision-making throughout the organisation.
This episode is a practical look at how EOS can help businesses make faster decisions, strengthen accountability, reduce bottlenecks & develop teams that take genuine ownership of solving problems.
CONNECT WITH DEBRA:   
___________________________________________        
►Debra Chantry-Taylor is a Certified EOS Implementer® | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Business Owner
►Connect with Debra: [email protected]
►EOS Worldwide Website: Debra Chantry-Taylor | EOS Implementer | EOS Worldwide
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GUEST’S DETAILS:
► Guy Newton – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guy-newton
► Website – EOS® Implementer – https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/guy-newton/
Ep 294 Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction
00:37 – Guy Newton’s Background
06:25 – The Power of EOS Tools
09:13 – Integrator vs Implementer Roles
11:05 – Implementing Effective Leadership
22:27 – Managing Visionaries and Values
30:18 – Getting Started with EOS

In this episode of Better Business, Better Life, Debra Chantry-Taylor is joined by Sonya, a retired architect & experienced EOS Implementer®, to explore what it really takes to make EOS® work & create lasting change within an organisation.

Sonya shares her journey from a 46-year career in architecture to becoming an EOS Implementer. After being dismissed from a leadership role, she realised she was ready for a new direction. Discovering Traction & Get a Grip introduced her to EOS, & after attending boot camp, she went on to spend eight & a half years implementing EOS with more than 50 clients.

With her architectural background, Sonya has a particular passion for working with architects, engineers & contractors. She explains why these professionals can be excellent at delivering work for clients, but often struggle to step back & work on the business itself. EOS provides the structure & clarity needed to make that transition.

A major focus of the conversation is The Accountability Chart, which Sonya describes as her favourite EOS tool. She explains how it clarifies roles, responsibilities, expectations, hand-offs & cultural guardrails, while helping leadership teams make better decisions about people & structure. Debra & Sonya also explore how The Accountability Chart works alongside the V/TO, Core Values, People Analyzer, IDS & Rocks to create deeper organisational change.

This episode is a valuable listen for business owners & leadership teams who want to understand what it really takes to make EOS work. It is not simply about completing the tools. It is about mastering the system, changing behaviours, strengthening the culture & creating an organisation that can continue to grow with clarity & confidence.

In this episode of Better Business, Better Life, Debra Chantry-Taylor explores why business is a game and how the principles of Formula 1 can help leaders create greater clarity, accountability & consistent performance.

Debra compares running a business to competing in a Formula 1 championship, where everyone knows the rules, understands their role, knows the consequences & can see exactly what the scoreboard is measuring. She challenges leaders to look beyond individual wins, busy teams or one strong month and ask a more important question:

What championship is your business actually trying to win, and how do you know when you’re winning?

A major focus of the episode is the Scorecard. Debra explains why leaders need a small number of meaningful measures that show both what has happened & what is likely to happen next. Leading indicators such as quality sales conversations, appointments, proposals or demonstrations can provide an early warning when performance is heading off track, while revenue, profit & cash show the results.

The goal isn’t to punish people with numbers. It’s to use data to understand performance, spot problems earlier & make better decisions. The Formula 1 analogy also highlights the importance of clear roles & accountability. The leadership team acts like the pit wall, interpreting the information coming from across the business & giving the driver the right information at the right time. Clear ownership matters because when everyone owns a result, nobody truly does.

Debra also explores why this becomes particularly important in family businesses, where people can simultaneously hold family, ownership & employee roles. The episode looks at how businesses need to respond when conditions change, whether that’s a lost customer, changing interest rates, AI, regulation, tariffs or another unexpected disruption.

Like a racing team responding to a safety car or changing track conditions, strong businesses adapt without losing sight of the championship they’re trying to win.

This episode is a practical reminder that business is a game, but winning isn’t about one spectacular race. It’s about knowing what winning looks like, measuring what matters, making timely adjustments & consistently improving quarter after quarter.

CONNECT WITH DEBRA:    
___________________________________________          
►Debra Chantry-Taylor is a Certified EOS Implementer® | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Business Owner  
►Connect with Debra: [email protected] 
►EOS Worldwide Website: Debra Chantry-Taylor | EOS Implementer | EOS Worldwide 
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Ep 292 Chapters: 
 
00:00 – Introduction 
02:07 – The Importance of a Scorecard 
04:18 – Winning Races vs Championships 
09:18 – Building High-Performing Teams 
12:53 – Using Data to Improve Performance 
15:47 – Executing Through Pit Stops 
18:47 – Planning in 90-Day Cycles 
20:30 – Managing Roles and Boundaries 
22:14 – Defining Your Own Success

Rick Girard is the CEO of Stride Search & Intertru. in this episode, Rick shares his passion about helping founders win-win the strongest hires to fuel unprecedented company growth. Learn also how to eliminate bad hires by building value - interview process that produces concrete evidence to support each and every hiring decision.

Podcast guest Rick Girard CEO of Stride Search & Intertru:

"I help entrepreneurs eliminate bad hires by building value-driven interview process that produces concrete evidence to support each and every hiring decision.

Healing Career Wounds available: https://amzn.to/3tGbtre

Extremely passionate about helping founders win-win the strongest hires to fuel unprecedented company growth!

Created the Hiring Operating System, HireOS®. The solution for leaders to win-win the strongest people by blowing up "best practices" with a humanistic, evidence driven, non-biased and time efficient experience.

Author of "Healing Career Wounds" (May 2021) & Radio/podcast host of Hire Power Radio

Strong social media presence, podcast audience, public speaking, and mad street cred

When not running a school for Gifted Mutants as Professor X, I host the Hire Power Radio Show & Podcast, a weekly series on LinkedIn Live, which serves as a business leader’s resource to solve their most difficult hiring challenges.

I compete in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and have an affinity for any adrenaline-pumping activity such as surfing, snowboarding, rock climbing and running with scissors."

HOST'S DETAILS:

___________________________________________

►Debra Chantry-Taylor is a Professional EOS Implementer | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Business Owner

►See how she can help you: https://businessaction.com.au/

____________________________________________

GUESTS DETAILS:

____________________________________________

►LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-girard-07722/

►Email: [email protected]

In this episode of Better Business, Better Life, Debra Chantry-Taylor is joined by Megan Piper to explore how EOS® helped transform a technology business From $3M to $52M, while creating greater clarity, accountability, and trust across the leadership team.

Megan shares her journey from an unhappy French teacher to becoming an Integrator and fractional CFO, playing a key role in helping a technology business grow from $3 million to $52 million. Her experience demonstrates how the right operating system can bring structure and consistency to a rapidly growing organisation without creating unnecessary rigidity.

Throughout the conversation, Megan and Debra explore how EOS creates a common language for leadership teams, helping them move away from ad hoc follow-up and towards consistent quarterly execution. Rather than being a fixed structure or piece of software, EOSprovides a framework that can be adapted to the needs of each organisation.

With distributed teams becoming increasingly common, Megan and Debra also discuss the importance of intentional communication and how virtual environments can sometimes reduce hierarchy and give more people an opportunity to participate.

This episode offers an insightful look at what can happen when a growing business combines a clear operating system with strong leadership, accountability, and trust. From $3M to $52M is not simply a story about revenue growth, but about the people, systems, and leadership practices that helped make that growth possible.

CONNECT WITH DEBRA:   

___________________________________________        

►Debra Chantry-Taylor is a Certified EOS Implementer® | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Business Owner

►Connect with Debra: [email protected]

►EOS Worldwide Website: Debra Chantry-Taylor | EOS Implementer | EOS Worldwide

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GUEST’S DETAILS:

► Megan Piper – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganpiper/

► Website – EOS® Implementer – https://implementer.EOS®worldwide.com/megan-piper/

Ep 291 Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

00:36 – Megan Piper’s Professional Journey

03:39 – Defining Business Operating Systems

14:22 – Lessons from Scaling and Challenges

17:07 – The Visionary and Integrator Dynamic

21:59 – Key EOS Tools and Implementation

22:52 – Communication and Team Dynamics

In this episode of Better Business, Better Life, Debra Chantry-Taylor is joined by Keith, an executive coach and leadership development specialist, to explore how to stop trying to be right and start getting curious in our relationships, teams & organisations.

Keith shares insights from his background in clinical social work, family therapy, executive coaching & Conversational Intelligence, explaining how quickly our brains begin assessing whether an interaction feels safe or threatening. He explores how much of that assessment happens through non-verbal communication, including tone, body language, eye contact, attention & listening behaviours.

The conversation dives into why trust can be built through authentic curiosity & genuine listening, and how easily it can be damaged when leaders interrupt, become distracted, make assumptions or enter conversations already convinced they know the answer.

Keith encourages leaders to become more aware of the signals they are sending and to take responsibility for their own contribution to a relationship.

Debra & Keith also explore what happens when trust has already been damaged. Rebuilding it requires courage, empathy & a willingness to acknowledge that a relationship has become difficult. Rather than allowing negative assumptions to grow, leaders can create space to discuss what each person needs & make the invisible dynamics visible.

This episode is a valuable listen for leaders, entrepreneurs & family business owners who want to understand how everyday conversations can either build or break trust, and how becoming more intentional about communication can transform the way people work together.

CONNECT WITH DEBRA:   

___________________________________________        

►Debra Chantry-Taylor is a Certified EOS Implementer® | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Business Owner

►Connect with Debra: [email protected]

►See how she can help you: https://businessaction.co.nz/

►Claim Your Free E-Book: https://www.businessaction.co.nz/free-e-book/

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GUEST’S DETAILS:

► Keith Greer – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-greer-l-c-s-w-p-c-c-81256a130/

► Website – Keith Greer Coaching – https://www.keithgreercoaching.com/

Ep 290 Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

00:36 – Keith Grier’s Professional Journey

06:35 – The Science of Conversational Intelligence

12:52 – Building Trust Through Communication

17:18 – Navigating Difficult Conversations

21:27 – Dynamics in Family Businesses

32:47 – Implementing Trust and Safety Agreements

54:17 – Managing Personalities and Styles

54:57 – Key Takeaways for Effective Leadership

In this episode of Better Business, Better Life, Debra Chantry-Taylor explores why leaders flying blind can put an entire business at risk, and how the right data can give leadership teams the visibility they need to make better decisions.

Debra explains why businesses rarely fail without warning. Before major problems appear, there are usually subtle signals hiding in the numbers, from declining sales and increasing debtor days to changes in customer behaviour and operational performance. The challenge is knowing which numbers actually matter and using them early enough to do something about them.

A key focus of the episode is the difference between leading and lagging indicators. Revenue, profit & customer loss tell you what has already happened, while measures such as sales calls, proposals sent & other activity-based indicators can provide an early warning of what is likely to happen next. Debra explains how leaders can reverse engineer their desired outcomes to identify the activities that will influence future results.

Debra also explores why a Scorecard should work like a car dashboard. It does not need to tell you exactly what has gone wrong, but it should alert you to where you need to look before a small issue becomes a major problem. Keeping the leadership Scorecard to five to fifteen critical numbers makes it easier to spot trends without overwhelming the team with unnecessary data.

Ultimately, this episode is about replacing hope & hindsight with visibility and action. A strong Scorecard gives leaders the information they need to spot problems early, investigate what is really happening & make course corrections before issues become catastrophic.

If your leadership team is making decisions based on gut feel, outdated financial reports or numbers that tell you what happened rather than what is coming next, this episode will help you build a Scorecard that keeps you from flying blind.

CONNECT WITH DEBRA:   

___________________________________________        

►Debra Chantry-Taylor is a Certified EOS Implementer® | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Business Owner

►Connect with Debra: [email protected]

►EOS Worldwide Website: Debra Chantry-Taylor | EOS Implementer | EOS Worldwide

Ep 289 Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

00:47 – The Purpose of Data

07:58 – Leading and Lagging Indicators

13:40 – The Pitfalls of Bad Data

18:03 – Managing People with Numbers

23:25 – Common Scorecard Mistakes

27:00 – Building an Effective Scorecard

Brenden is the founder of MasterTalk, a coaching business he started to help ambitious executives & business owners become TOP 1% communicators in their industries so that they can accelerate their success in the workplace & companies.

He also hosts a successful YouTube channel by the same name with over 11,000 subscribers.

He has coached many executives from companies like Salesforce, Amazon, IBM, Morgan Stanley, Blue Cross, J. Walter Thompson, Deloitte, Verizon and the list goes on."

HOST'S DETAILS:

___________________________________________

►Debra Chantry-Taylor is a Professional EOS Implementer | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Business Owner

►See how she can help you: https://www.businessaction.com.au/

____________________________________________

GUESTS DETAILS:

____________________________________________

►Website: https://www.rockstarcommunicator.com/

In this episode of Better Business, Better Life, Debra Chantry-Taylor is joined by Bobby Rouse to explore the risks of picking and choosing EOS tools instead of embracing EOS® as a complete operating system.

Bobby shares his journey from growing up on a farm in Idaho to becoming a serial entrepreneur and Professional EOS Implementer®. His experiences across management, technology & business helped him recognise the value of EOS as a practical framework for creating clarity, discipline & stronger leadership teams.

A key theme throughout the conversation is that EOS works because the tools are designed to work together. Bobby explains that businesses do not change simply because they introduce a Level 10 Meeting® or a Scorecard. Real change happens when the people within the organisation change how they think, communicate, make decisions & hold one another accountable.

Debra & Bobby discuss why businesses that self-implement often fall into the trap of picking and choosing EOS tools. A leadership team might adopt Level 10 Meetings or create a Scorecard while overlooking foundational tools such as the Accountability Chart® and People Analyzer®. While this can create some improvement, it rarely delivers the full transformation EOS is designed to create.

Bobby & Debra also unpack the importance of keeping Scorecards simple. Using a scuba diving analogy, Bobby explains that leaders do not need hundreds of numbers to understand whether a business is healthy. They need the handful of critical numbers that tell them whether they are heading in the right direction.

The episode goes beyond business implementation too, with practical advice on staying in your designated seat, using your calendar to architect your life & taking regular Clarity Breaks when pressure and uncertainty increase. Bobby also shares the “Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it kind?” framework as a useful way to challenge the stories & communication patterns that can affect both teams and individuals.

CONNECT WITH DEBRA:   

___________________________________________        

►Debra Chantry-Taylor is a Certified EOS Implementer® | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Business Owner

►Connect with Debra: [email protected]

►EOS Worldwide Website: Debra Chantry-Taylor | EOS Implementer | EOS Worldwide

___________________________________________      

GUEST’S DETAILS:

► Bobby Rouse – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-rouse-2887613/

► Website – EOS Worldwide – Bobby Rouse | EOS Implementer | EOS Worldwide

Ep 288 Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

00:14 – The Impact of Traction

31:44 – Becoming an EOS Implementer

31:56 – Space Learning and Implementation Mastery

32:09 – Self-Implementation vs Professional Help

32:19 – Effective Data and Scorecards

41:26 – Essential Business Tips