The first meeting can make or break a sale. Discovery-style meetings – where salespeople focus on gathering data – often fail to deliver meaningful value. Instead, Lee Salz introduces the consultation mindset, where sales professionals lead with insight, empathy, and emotion to create momentum from the very first conversation. 

Lee Salz is one of the world’s leading voices in sales differentiation. As founder of Sales Architects, he helps companies design sales strategies that win more deals at higher prices. Lee shares frameworks for empathetic expertise, consultation cliffhangers, and how to systemise a first-meeting process that transforms the sales experience and strengthens long-term relationships. 

Takeaways 

• The first meeting determines whether a deal gains traction or fades away completely. 
• Salespeople must shift from discovery to consultation to deliver real, meaningful value early. 
• A consultation mindset focuses on insight and leadership, not interrogation through endless questions. 
• Empathetic expertise creates emotional connection, helping buyers feel genuinely understood and supported. 
• Stories outperform features and benefits by engaging emotion and improving message retention. 
• Consultation cliffhangers build curiosity and momentum, ensuring buyers want a second meeting. 
• Recap emails written in the buyer’s language reinforce understanding and trust. 
• A strong sales process – not just strong salespeople – creates scalable, consistent success. 

Follow Lee Salz
https://salesarchitects.com/  
https://www.assessmysales.com/
https://www.facebook.com/LeeBSalz
https://x.com/salesarchitects
https://www.instagram.com/theleesalz/
https://www.youtube.com/@theleesalz/videos 

Lee’s books
The First Meeting Differentiator: Transforming Sales-Focused Discovery Into Client-Centric Consultations https://amzn.to/405ZtBn
Sales Differentiation: 19 Powerful Strategies to Win More Deals at the Prices You Want https://amzn.to/4ecBINZ
Sell Different!: All New Sales Differentiation Strategies to Outsmart, Outmaneuver, and Outsell the Competition https://amzn.to/4e0kGT4 

Books recommended
Selling From The Heart by Larry Levine https://amzn.asia/d/f83bQw6
Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners 

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/ 

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/

Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO 
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process.
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster. 
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life) 

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High-performing organisations aren’t built on strategy alone – they’re built on leadership teams that stay curious, connected and calm. That’s the core message from organisational psychologist, author and leadership expert Stephanie Bown, who has spent 20+ years helping founders, startups, scale-ups and market disruptors embed high-performance habits and culture.

Stephanie works with leaders to strengthen trust, alignment, and performance through science-backed behavioural systems like the LSI. Stephanie explains how strategy, culture, and leadership interlock to create enduring success, why developing mid-level leaders is critical for growth, and how silence in meetings can be the first warning sign that a culture is beginning to drift.

Takeaways 

• High-performing organisations thrive when leadership teams stay curious, connected and calm under pressure.
• Culture, strategy and leadership must operate as one interconnected system for real performance.
• Silence in meetings is often the first signal that trust is breaking down.
• Great leaders grow their people instead of doing the work themselves.
• A culture drifts when honesty is replaced by politeness or avoidance.
• Systems create habits, and habits determine whether performance endures or fades.
• High-performing teams are independent thinkers who build collective capacity together.
• Better businesses focus on sustainability, trust and alignment – not just growth for growth’s sake.

Follow Stephanie Bown
https://stephaniebown.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniebown1/ 
https://www.instagram.com/stephiefromthebay/# 

Books on this episode
Curious, Connected and Calm by Stephanie Bown https://amzn.asia/d/craeCTh
Purpose, Passion and Performance by Stephanie Bown https://amzn.asia/d/2nK6u2A
Fierce Conversations: Achieving success in work and in life, one conversation at a time by Susan Scott https://amzn.to/47ul0qu 

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners 

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter  https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/ 

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/

Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO 
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process. 
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster. 
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life) 

Follow me:
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on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth 

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The key to building a thriving business is surrounding yourself with what Danielle Mulvey calls “five-star employees” — the top 15% of talent who think and act like owners. Danielle has scaled multiple businesses generating over $50 million annually while working only around 10 hours a week, thanks to her proven hiring system. 

Drawing on 25 years of experience, Danielle reveals the five essential criteria for identifying five-star talent, how to design a hiring gauntlet that attracts the right people and repels the wrong ones, and why clear metrics and cultural alignment are non-negotiable. She also shares practical steps to upgrade an average team without disrupting what works — and how the right hires can be the catalyst for sustained growth and profitability. 

Takeaways 

• A clear hiring gauntlet helps attract high performers and repel low-quality candidates. 
• Core values alignment is the foundation for building a strong, cohesive team culture. 
• Testing skills before hiring prevents costly mistakes and ensures candidates can deliver results. 
• Clear success metrics empower employees to self-manage and drive consistent performance. 
• Toxic employees drain productivity and morale, making timely exits essential for growth. 
• Hiring for aptitude and cultural fit is more important than filling a vacancy quickly. 
• Great hires produce at least 3.5 times their salary in business value. 

Follow Danielle Mulvey
https://theallincompany.com/ 
https://daniellemulvey.com/ 

Books on this episode 

How great leaders build unstoppable teams with Michael Michalowicz https://amzn.to/4lPEtba
HR Magic by Danielle Mulvey will be released in October. Details: https://daniellemulvey.com/
You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned: John Wooden's Teaching Principles and Practices by Swen Nater https://amzn.to/4ofryRu 

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners 

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/
Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process. 
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster.

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Some companies keep climbing, while others plateau – and the difference often comes down to where leaders focus their time and energy. Kevin Lawrence is founder of Lawrence & Co, co-author of Scaling Up, and my co-host for 166 episodes of The Growth Whisperers. 

Kevin explains why growth only happens when CEOs stay in the cockpit, fix their eyes on opportunity, and summon the courage to push forward – especially when the business starts to feel comfortable. Improvement is necessary, but it’s not enough. Real growth requires being future-focused, externally engaged, and bold enough to make the tough calls. 

Takeaways 

• CEOs must stay in the cockpit, focused on opportunity, not internal distractions. 
• Improvement matters, but without growth initiatives, companies eventually lose momentum and stall. 
• Courage fuels growth—fear pulls leaders into safety, comfort, and missed opportunities. 
• Many strategic plans look impressive but fail to drive real customer expansion. 
• Earned growth comes from delivering value so exceptional that clients do the selling. 
• Loyalty to underperforming team members can quietly kill momentum and stall progress. 
• The best CEOs spend most of their time engaging directly with the market. 
• A strong team allows leaders to focus on long-term vision, not firefighting. 

Follow Kevin Lawrence
https://lawrenceandco.com/ 

The Growth Whisperers podcast
https://evolutionpartners.com.au/podcast-tgw/ 

Books on this episode
The Four Forces of Growth by Kevin Lawrence https://a.co/d/iNhnHlI
Your Oxygen Mask First by Kein Lawrence https://a.co/d/dyxsA4F
Better Simpler Strategy by Felix Oberholzer-Gee https://amzn.to/4qmPaoe 

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/ 

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/ 
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process.
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster. 

Follow me:
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on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth 

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A better life isn’t something that happens by accident — it’s designed, deliberately and with intent. In this last episode of our seven-part series on ‘Bigger isn’t Better’, Andres Zylberberg, Richard Peake and I explore what it truly means to live a life of purpose, balance, and fulfillment. 

We examine how true success comes from compounding progress across five foundations: health, wealth, wisdom, happiness, and family. From proactive health and intentional wealth to lifelong curiosity, joy through virtue, and building a family “cathedral,” this brings together everything learned across the series — reminding us that success isn’t about more, it’s about better. 

Takeaways 

• A better life is built with intention, not by chasing endless growth. 
• Health is the foundation, created through endurance, balance, and daily self-discipline. 
• Wealth is fuel for freedom, guided by clarity around what’s truly enough. 
• Wisdom grows when curiosity replaces ego and learning becomes a lifelong habit. 
• Happiness thrives at the intersection of purpose, moderation, and living with virtue. 
• Fulfillment comes from meaning, not momentary pleasure or the pursuit of more. 
• Strong families are cathedrals built over time through presence, rituals, and love. 
• A life by design compounds small, intentional choices into lasting freedom and joy. 

Details of my new book:
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life) https://evolutionpartners.com.au/bigger-isnt-better/ 

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners 

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter  https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/ 

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/ 

Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO 

Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process. 

Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster. 

Follow me:
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on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth 

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Most owner-led businesses don’t fail due to lack of growth – they fail because they lack financial discipline. In this penultimate episode of the ‘Bigger isn’t Better’ series, Richard Peake and Andres Zylberberg join me to examine how financials drift toward unprofitability when money is treated as a goal rather than a resource. 

Undisciplined spending in pursuit of growth creates a cycle of poor returns and reactive decisions. A better approach uses financial discipline, budgeting, and forecasting to drive intentional investment and compound returns. Sustainable success comes from managing money wisely, reinvesting with purpose, and prioritising profit over revenue to create long-term value and stability. 

Takeaways 

• Financials drift toward unprofitability when costs rise silently and prices stay fixed. 
• Treating money as a resource instead of a goal creates lasting business stability. 
• Undisciplined spending in pursuit of growth traps businesses in a destructive doom loop. 
• Financial discipline, budgeting and forecasting drive intentional investment and compounding returns. 
• Profit, not revenue, is the true measure of business success and sustainability. 
• Strategic reinvestment balances business growth, lifestyle funding and external asset building. 
• Clarity and discipline in money management protect against impulsive, reactive decisions. 
• Long-term value emerges when every dollar is required to deliver measurable returns. 

Details of my new book:
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life) https://evolutionpartners.com.au/bigger-isnt-better/ 

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners 

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter  https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/ 

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/ 

Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO 

Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process. 

Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster. 

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Offerings tend to drift toward mediocrity over time: adding products, chasing growth, and copying corporations dilute a company’s soul and distinctiveness. In this fifth ‘Bigger isn’t Better’ episode, we encourage owner-led businesses to resist the temptation of scale-for-scale’s-sake and instead focus on what they can truly be the best at. 

My fellow coaches Andres Zylberberg, Richard Peake and I explore the dangers of incremental mediocrity and the strategic importance of creating unique, evolving, hard-to-copy offerings. By aligning better offerings with better customers, businesses can build enduring value, restore leadership energy, and fall back in love with their company. 

Takeaways 

• Offerings drift toward mediocrity when businesses chase scale instead of mastery. 
• Distinctiveness and evolution are key to creating a hard-to-copy, high-value offering. 
• Copying corporate strategies leads owner-led businesses into complexity and diluted focus. 
• Good enough is not good enough for meaningful, lasting customer relationships. 
• Owner-led companies must invest only in what they can be the best at. 
• Mediocre offerings drain leadership energy and erode passion for the business. 
• Better offerings come from rejecting growth-for-growth’s sake and embracing purposeful simplicity. 
• Compounding differentiation creates momentum, loyalty, and long-term strategic advantage in competitive markets. 

Details of my new book:
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life) https://evolutionpartners.com.au/bigger-isnt-better/

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners 

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/ 

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process. 
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster. 

Follow me:
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on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth 

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Building customer advocacy – where trust and loyalty lead to customers fighting to stay with you – drives greater long-term profit and sustainability than endlessly chasing new growth. Better customers, not more customers, create compounding value. 

In part four of this series, Andres Zylberberg, Richard Peake challenge and I challenge the belief that growth for its own sake is valuable, contrasting transactional corporate relationships with the irreplaceability and advocacy owner-led businesses can build. 

We introduce a framework of customer types – advocates, sceptics, dealers, and buyers – and unpack how exceeding expectations creates loyalty and compounds profit. 

Takeaways 

• Better customers generate more value than constantly chasing new ones for growth. 
• Owner-led businesses thrive by building trust, loyalty, and advocacy with their customers. 
• Transactional relationships erode loyalty and make your business easy to replace. 
• Advocacy means customers trust you, stay longer, and refer others without prompting. 
• Focusing on lifetime value unlocks compounding returns and reduces marketing spend over time. 
• Exceeding expectations creates emotional loyalty that corporations struggle to replicate. 
• Building customer relationships is a strategic advantage, not just a sales function. 

Details of my new book:
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life) https://evolutionpartners.com.au/bigger-isnt-better/ 

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners 

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/ 

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/ 

Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO 

Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process. 

Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster. 

Follow me:
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on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth 

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Teams tend to drift toward dysfunction without intentional leadership, whilst prioritising rapid growth often leads to rushed hiring, misalignment, and toxic culture. I discuss a better approach in this third of a seven-part series with Andres Zylberberg and Richard Peake; that is, to build teams of “curious achievers” – people who are both responsible and inquisitive. 

These individuals elevate performance, strengthen cohesion, and create meaningful impact. When aligned around purpose and values, such teams generate compounding momentum. The foundation is soul: fostering pride in the product, the manager, the team, and the company to sustain long-term success. 

Takeaways 

• Growth-focused hiring leads to B and C players who lower overall team performance. 
• Curious achievers are both responsible and inquisitive – ideal for building high-performing, soulful teams. 
• Toxicity forms when teams lack clarity, cohesion, and a shared sense of purpose. 
• A-players thrive in environments that value impact, learning, and meaningful contribution. 
• Misaligned teams waste energy on low-impact work and interpersonal friction. 
• Pride in product, team, manager, and company is essential for retention. 
• A better team creates compounding results through trust, accountability, and aligned execution. 

Details of my new book:
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life) https://evolutionpartners.com.au/bigger-isnt-better/ 

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners 

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/ 

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process. 
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster.

Follow me:
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Chasing growth without clarity can quietly erode your business. In this second episode of a seven-part series, Andres Zylberberg, Richard Peake and I explore how the relentless pressure to get bigger – driven by psychology, DNA and societal cues – often leads entrepreneurs down the wrong path. 

Without intention, this pursuit of “bigger” causes drift – teams grow toxic, customers indifferent, offerings mediocre, and profits thin. By focusing on “better” over “bigger,” businesses can build stronger teams, deeper customer loyalty, and more refined offerings. With clarity, discipline, and intention, growth becomes the by-product of a better business – and a better life! – designed, not defaulted. 

Takeaways 

• Teams naturally drift toward toxicity without intentional leadership and cultural alignment over time. 
• Customers become indifferent when offerings lack consistency, innovation, and meaningful engagement. 
• Clarity, discipline, and design create lasting business and personal success. 
• Impulsive risk-taking often stems from unexamined psychological, genetic, and societal conditioning. 
• Many business goals are actually expenses mistakenly seen as markers of success. 
• Growth without strategy leads to erosion of profitability, purpose, and team cohesion. 
• Better businesses emerge from compounding small improvements across people, products, and profit. 
• A clear definition of “winning” prevents entrepreneurs from chasing the wrong goals. 

Details of my new book:
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life) https://evolutionpartners.com.au/bigger-isnt-better/ 

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners 

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/ 

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/ 

Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO 

Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process. 

Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster. 

Follow me:
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on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth 

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