Everyone wants the answer.

Very few build the discipline to find it.

In this episode, I sit down with Steve Sanduski, Founder of Belay Advisor and longtime Host of CEO Coaching International podcast. Steve has had 11 years of conversations with some of the most successful CEOs and entrepreneurs in the world.

We unpack what actually drives leadership at the highest level, from the pressure and loneliness of the role to the systems and disciplines that separate those who scale from those who stall. We also explore how the job of a CEO is evolving in real time and what the next decade will demand.

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Introduction

03:30 Leadership is more pressure than most expect

05:45 AI is increasing complexity and decision speed

08:12 Entry-level skill building is being disrupted

12:36 Coachability separates the best leaders

14:48 Great CEOs build teams, not dependence

22:20 Most growth problems are leadership problems

25:00 Culture acts as the operating system

29:38 Resilience defines breakthrough moments

45:37 The next decade will test leadership

Resources Mentioned:

Steve Sanduski

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevesanduski/

Belay Advisor

https://www.linkedin.com/company/belay-advisor/

CEO Coaching International | Website

https://ceocoachinginternational.com/

#CEOCoaching #ExecutiveLeadership #BusinessGrowth

In this episode, I sit down with Jaspar Weir to unpack what it really takes to build a billion-dollar company from scratch—and why most founders get the fundamentals wrong early on.

Jaspar Weir is the Co-Founder and President of TaskUs, a global outsourcing company that scaled to over a billion dollars in revenue.

Join us as we walk through the real journey behind the growth—from scrappy early days and failed ideas to defining moments that tested the business, shaped leadership, and built a culture that actually scales.

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Building a billion-dollar vision starts early.

03:38 Funding the first business through unconventional hustle.

04:30 Early failure in Argentina led to a global business insight.

08:53 Crisis moments reveal the strength of the team.

11:36 Frontline employees are the true product.

17:20 Continuous self-improvement drives long-term growth.

18:48 Setting bold goals creates alignment and momentum.

25:30 Hard people-decisions are necessary to scale.

27:35 Measuring culture makes it actionable and scalable.

Resources Mentioned:

Jaspar Weir

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasparweir/

TaskUs | LinkedIn

https://www.taskus.com/

TaskUs | Website

https://www.taskus.com/

ENPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) 

https://lattice.com/articles/what-is-employee-net-promoter-score-enps

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

https://fourhourworkweek.com/

Subscribe now and be ready when the conversations begin.



#CEOCoaching #ExecutiveLeadership #BusinessGrowth

Leadership looks decisive from the outside. Behind the scenes, it’s different. Growth stalls. Execution slips. The stakes rise, and every decision carries weight.

Listen to candid discussions with CEOs and founders about the moments that test leaders most. These are the turning points that shape companies and define leadership. If you’re building something meaningful, leading through uncertainty, or preparing for the CEO seat, these stories are for you.

Subscribe now and be ready when the conversations begin.

#CEOCoaching #ExecutiveLeadership #BusinessGrowth

Guest: Peter Platten, Chief Revenue Officer of Protos Security. Peter joined the company in 2020 and has helped lead its transformation from a $150 million organization to a $750 million revenue firm today.

Overview: Private equity doesn't reward incremental thinking. It rewards leaders who can scale under pressure, build systems that outperform, and push past what most teams believe is possible to Make BIG Happen. 

On today's show, Peter Platten explains his four-move framework to grow fast in a private equity environment. He also discusses how to build teams that overshoot goals instead of simply meeting them and why systems-thinking -- not siloed optimization -- is the real key to exponential success.

Guests: Jerry Vance, the Founder and Managing Partner of Preferred CFO, and Scott Crawford, a Partner at Preferred CFO focused on client prioritization and new business development.

Overview: A CEO who's led their company past the "I'll Do Everything" stage needs a true financial strategist at their side to stop surviving and start scaling. But the CEO also needs clarity on what kind of financial expertise their company truly needs at various stages of growth. Paying a full-time CFO to act like a glorified bookkeeper isn't going to accelerate your trajectory. And a "CF-No" who builds a moat around your cash might not share the CEO's bold vision for BIG. 

On today's show, Jerry Vance and Scott Crawford explore the state of the fractional CFO industry and why forecasting and five-year planning are strategic leadership tools, not just accounting exercises.

Guests: Tim Kreytak, CEO and Co-Founder of Ironside, one of North America's leading analytics and data consulting firms and a multiple Inc. 5000 honoree.

Jason Breazeale, Vice President of Technology at Burn Boot Camp, a rapidly growing fitness franchise with nearly 400 locations.

Overview: Yes, your company needs to be using AI. But before you start buying subscriptions and upgrading your tech stack, you need to understand what actually drives successful AI integrations: a bedrock of solid data. Without clean, accessible, and trusted data, even the most advanced AI tools will fail to deliver results.

On today's show, Tim Kreytak and Jason Breazeale discuss why you need BIG data mastery before AI can help your company Make BIG Happen.

Guest: Jose Vergara, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Jose is a seasoned CEO, president, and operator with deep experience leading organizations across public companies, private equity-backed businesses, family-owned firms, founder-led companies, and partner-owned enterprises.

Quick Background: If AI was just a technical problem, the solutions would be simple. Upgrade your tech stack. Hire the best AI experts. Buy more bandwidth.

But the true challenge of AI is how it challenges leadership. CEOs who feel the need to "do something" often sacrifice identity and trust for speed. And in their haste, they fail to communicate a clear vision that reduces employees' anxiety around AI and transforms the company's culture.

On today's show, Jose Vergara discusses how his 5-step AI roadmap for CEOs can help companies embrace AI, improve productivity, and Make BIG Happen.

Guest: Randy Wootton, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Randy is a seasoned executive, board member, and advisor with more than two decades of experience leading companies through strategic inflection points, turnarounds, and technology shifts. Randy served 8 years in the Navy before taking senior leadership roles at companies including Microsoft and Salesforce, and working as the CEO of public and private equity-backed companies including Rocket Fuel.

Quick Background: No one pauses your climb up the corporate ladder to teach you how to be a great CEO. And yet, once you do earn the BIG job, every decision carries weight, and every mistake gets more expensive. CEOs who accelerate through leadership growing pains often lean on experienced mentors, coaches, and peer groups for expertise that helps them avoid common mistakes and Make BIG Happen.

On today's show, Randy Wootton shares the hard-earned secrets of success he's gathered over a career that took him from the cockpit of a Navy jet to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley.

Guest: Dr. Jeff Graham, a physician and the Chief Medical Officer at Wild Health, where he works with high performers to help them extend not just their lifespan but their healthspan as well.

Overview: If you ran your business the way many CEOs manage their health, you'd have to call an emergency board meeting immediately. The same successful CEOs who lead with precise data and dashboards often rely on "gut feel" when it comes to their own biology. Or, worse, they brush aside stress, exhaustion, and that funny feeling in their chest as just part of the job. 

On today's show, Dr. Jeff Graham explains why CEOs who want to perform at a high level over decades need to treat their health as a measurable, optimizable operating system. He also discusses how "precision medicine," recovery, and adaptability can help leaders stay mentally sharp, improve their health, and keep Making BIG Happen.

Guest:  Trey Mauck, founder and CEO of Integrated Insurance Solutions, one of the top one hundred insurance agencies in the United States.

Overview: The BIGGEST danger to a company's enterprise value isn't bad strategy. It's unmanaged risk hiding in plain sight. CEOs who view insurance as a "Nice to Have" need to look beyond the line item and start integrating risk management into their long-term growth plans.

On today's show, Trey Mauck discusses how strategic risk management protects valuation, reduces disruption, and can become a competitive advantage on the way to Making BIG Happen.