Most CEOs are not stuck because they are bad operators.
They are stuck because they are chasing bigger instead of better.

This conversation is about the moment when growth stops working, and what replaces it.

If you are scaling fast but losing people, clarity, or energy, this episode is for you.

00:00:00 — When growth starts as excitement and turns into strain
00:03:07 — From operator to advisor and why entrepreneurship cuts both ways
00:07:02 — Recognizing the doom loop only after you have lived it
00:09:05 — Fast growth, ego, and the quiet damage it creates
00:11:00 — Why bigger is often a proxy for unresolved leadership decisions
00:14:20 — Compounding versus chasing numbers
00:16:34 — The 15 15 15 lens for controlled growth
00:18:00 — How impatience and lack of discipline fuel the doom loop
00:25:00 — Life by design and the real reason CEOs start companies
00:28:10 — The four flywheels that replace chaos with momentum
00:29:12 — The team doom loop versus building a soulful organization
00:41:15 — Customers, offerings, and why focus beats expansion
00:49:00 — Financial discipline and avoiding shiny object decisions
00:54:12 — Three practices to stay out of the CEO doom loop
00:58:12 — Why entrepreneurship does not have to cost you everything

Brad Giles is a serial entrepreneur, leadership coach, and founder of Evolution Partners. He has built and exited fast growth companies and spent more than a decade advising CEOs across Australia and internationally.

Brad is the author of Made to Thrive, Onboarded, and Bigger Isn’t Better, Better Is Better. His work focuses on strategy discipline, leadership maturity, and building businesses that compound without destroying quality of life.

If this conversation surfaced patterns you recognize in your own role, the CEO Playbook is a practical companion.

It outlines how CEOs step out of the doom loop and lead with clarity, structure, and intention, without chasing scale for its own sake.

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