The Inner Chief

"Bake integration into the term sheet negotiations right up front when you're presenting to the acquirers. The better you can crystallise that for them, the more you can take risk out of the process, the more likely they are to pay."

This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode.

This Mini Chief episode features Natasha Mandie, Founder & CEO of EM Advisory.

Her full episode is titled: The 4 Rs of M&A transactions, guiding high-stakes negotiations, and post-deal integration success.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/395 👂

INFLUENCE DIFFICULT STAKEHOLDERS USING THIS STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE: chiefmaker.com/stakeholders

Natasha is the CEO of EM Advisory, an independent corporate advisory firm working with Founders, CEOs and Boards at critical moments of capital, succession, growth and transaction decision-making.

With almost 30 years' experience across capital markets, governance, M&A and strategic growth, she has advised on more than 250 transactions spanning growth capital, strategic partnerships and founder exits across Australia and New Zealand.

Her work typically sits in the $20 million to $200 million transaction range, where leaders need more than a process; they need judgement, structure, narrative, negotiation support and the confidence to make hard calls.

Natasha is known for her clear, evidence-based advice and for telling clients when to raise, sell, hold, restructure, walk away or change the story before value is lost.

In the full M&A Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ How the Four Rs can guide better M&A deal making and reduce transaction risk.

✅ Why guardrails, rapport and the power of saying no matter in high-stakes negotiations.

✅ How people, culture and incentives can determine whether post-deal integration succeeds or fails, and

✅ Why founders and corporate executives experience M&A differently, and how that shapes negotiation behaviour.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Natasha via LinkedIn.

• Getting Naked - by Patrick Lencioni

• James Schofield, Founder of Insight Investor Relations, on Pitching your business, raising capital and winning investor trust

• Ant Moorhouse, Co-Founder and CEO of EarthTech, on Purpose-driven leadership, and changing the planet by harnessing technology and capitalism

• Ben Simon, Partner at Rose Partners, on Diffusing heated negotiations, identifying red flags during a deal, and managing founders

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"Understand there's no zero-risk option in a transaction, but there is a lot of upside, particularly if you can get everyone aligned."

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Natasha Mandie, Founder & CEO of EM Advisory, on the 4 Rs of M&A transactions, guiding high-stakes negotiations, and post-deal integration success.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/395 👂

INFLUENCE DIFFICULT STAKEHOLDERS USING THIS STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE: chiefmaker.com/stakeholders

Natasha is the CEO of EM Advisory, an independent corporate advisory firm working with Founders, CEOs and Boards at critical moments of capital, succession, growth and transaction decision-making.

With almost 30 years' experience across capital markets, governance, M&A and strategic growth, she has advised on more than 250 transactions spanning growth capital, strategic partnerships and founder exits across Australia and New Zealand.

Her work typically sits in the $20 million to $200 million transaction range, where leaders need more than a process; they need judgement, structure, narrative, negotiation support and the confidence to make hard calls.

Natasha is known for her clear, evidence-based advice and for telling clients when to raise, sell, hold, restructure, walk away or change the story before value is lost.

In this M&A Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ How the Four Rs can guide better M&A deal making and reduce transaction risk.

✅ Why guardrails, rapport and the power of saying no matter in high-stakes negotiations.

✅ How people, culture and incentives can determine whether post-deal integration succeeds or fails, and

✅ Why founders and corporate executives experience M&A differently, and how that shapes negotiation behaviour.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Natasha via LinkedIn.

• Getting Naked - by Patrick Lencioni

• James Schofield, Founder of Insight Investor Relations, on Pitching your business, raising capital and winning investor trust

• Ant Moorhouse, Co-Founder and CEO of EarthTech, on Purpose-driven leadership, and changing the planet by harnessing technology and capitalism

• Ben Simon, Partner at Rose Partners, on Diffusing heated negotiations, identifying red flags during a deal, and managing founders

📝 Get my Finish Strong monthly newsletter with insanely valuable career tips

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📃 Grab one of the many FREE Leadership Resources

📈 Join the waitlist for the Chief Maker MiniMBA

🎓 Take one of the Chief Maker Academy courses

🍏 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe for free to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

" Simplicity scales, complexity fails."

Chief, in today's Minisode I walk you through strategic focus for maximum performance impact, and why you should align your team to go in search of your 'gold'.

There are times in business when the sheer number of things you could do becomes the biggest barrier to doing what actually matters. Projects multiply. Priorities compete. Every department has initiatives that seem important.

Before long, an organisation can be incredibly busy while making very little progress on the outcome that matters most.

That is where GTFG comes in.

It is a mindset I first developed while working on a turnaround at an African gold mine in 2013. But the lesson applies to almost any executive team, business or organisation.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/394 👂

ARE YOU PRIORITISING CORE BUSINESS? Or are you wasting time and effort on non-core activities? Identify where your team should be spending all their time. chiefmaker.com/focus

In this Minisode, I'll break down for you:

✅ How to define your gold and align the team around one shared outcome

✅ Why simplicity, ruthless prioritisation and removing distraction improve execution, and

✅ How ownership, collaboration and the right people create high-performance teams.

Stay epic,

Greg

📝 Get my Finish Strong monthly newsletter with insanely valuable career tips

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📃 Grab one of the many FREE Leadership Resources

📈 Join the waitlist for the Chief Maker MiniMBA

🎓 Take one of the Chief Maker Academy courses

🍏 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe for free to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"To be highly effective and be a true Chief, you actually have to work at three levels: your level, the level below you and the level above you."

Chief, in today's Minisode I walk you through the concept of leading at the right level, and why it's so crucial to building a track record that will supercharge your career progression.

One of the conversations I have regularly with Heads of Talent, Heads of HR and CEOs is whether someone is really operating at the level their role requires.

Understanding these levels will also help you build high-performance teams because you can become much clearer about what level of leader a particular role - and therefore the business - actually needs.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/393 👂

JOIN THE WAITLIST FOR THE MOST PRACTICAL LEADERSHIP & EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ON THE MARKET (NPS: 91): chiefmaker.com/minimba

In this Minisode, I'll break down for you:

✅ How the 6 Levels of Leadership change your work, accountability and time horizon

✅ Why high-value leaders operate at their level, plus the levels above and below, and

✅ How to stop working in the weeds and build evidence of your leadership track record.

Stay epic,

Greg

📝 Get my Finish Strong monthly newsletter with insanely valuable career tips

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📃 Grab one of the many FREE Leadership Resources

📈 Join the waitlist for the Chief Maker MiniMBA

🎓 Take one of the Chief Maker Academy courses

🍏 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe for free to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"The important thing about 360 feedback is to sit down with the people who gave you the feedback and be brave and transparent about what you learnt and what you'll do with it."

This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode.

This Mini Chief episode features Tracey Burton, Executive Director of Uniting.

Her full episode is titled Experiential learning, 360 degree feedback and the future of the health industry.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/391 👂

DISCOVER HOW THE CHIEF MAKER MINI MBA WILL DRIVE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IN REAL-TIME. JOIN THE WAITLIST: chiefmaker.com/minimba

Tracey has been the Executive Director of Uniting NSW/ACT since April 2018.

She has more than 35 years' experience in the Australian health and community services sector including leadership roles at St John of God Health Care, Ramsay Healthcare and St Vincent's Health Australia.

In addition to her executive management roles, she has also served as a Board Director for aged care services, disability services in New Zealand and for a medical research foundation.

Tracey holds a Bachelor of Health Administration, an MBA, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has done an Executive program in Negotiation at Columbia University in New York.

In the full Best of Series Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ Why being the smartest person in the room won't help you lead

✅ How to supplement formal education with experiential continuous learning

✅ The do's and don'ts of 360 feedback and why it is so powerful; and

✅ The future of the healthcare industry and how these now measure up 7 years after our initial interview.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Tracey via LinkedIn.

• Your Leadership Diamond - by Paul Mitchell

• The Untethered Soul - by Michael Singer

• Paula Martin, Executive Director, Regional NSW and Visitor Economy at Business NSW, on Learning from everyone, adapting to shorter strategy cycles, and genuinely receiving feedback

• Neil Craig, Former AFL Head Coach on High performance environments, your North Star and decision-making under pressure

• Chief Maker Minisode Series on How to Give Feedback

📝 Get my Finish Strong monthly newsletter with insanely valuable career tips

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📃 Grab one of the many FREE Leadership Resources

📈 Join the waitlist for the Chief Maker MiniMBA

🎓 Take one of the Chief Maker Academy courses

🍏 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe for free to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

" Value is not always profit; it's the outcome the organisation is designed, funded, trusted or judged to produce. And if your track record aligns to that, the more valuable you become."

Chief, in today's Minisode I run you through the various ways organisations create value for their various stakeholders.

In today's world, I believe that many have become distracted from the actual core role of being a Chief, which is to create value and to protect value, depending on the kind of organisation you work for.

Today, I walk you through the above and why understanding it is so important for your career momentum - whether as an owner, founder, leader, board member or shareholder.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/392 👂

EQUIP YOUR MIDDLE MANAGERS AND SENIOR LEADERS WITH THE TOOLS TO DRIVE CHANGE AND RESULTS. JOIN THE WAITLIST: chiefmaker.com/minimba

In this Minisode, I'll break down for you:

✅ The key differences between Value Creation and Value Protection.

✅ The various types of value that a company creates and protects.

✅ Value drivers and measures in each organisation type, and how you can build your personal track record.

Stay epic,

Greg

📝 Get my Finish Strong monthly newsletter with insanely valuable career tips

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📃 Grab one of the many FREE Leadership Resources

📈 Join the waitlist for the Chief Maker MiniMBA

🎓 Take one of the Chief Maker Academy courses

🍏 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe for free to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"I was attempting to be the smartest person in the room, trying to add value to somebody else's work. It was not facilitating others' greatest contributions. In fact, it shuts people down."

In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat I had in 2019 with Tracey Burton, Executive Director of Uniting, on experiential learning, 360 degree feedback and the future of the health industry.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/391 👂

DISCOVER HOW THE CHIEF MAKER MINI MBA WILL DRIVE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IN REAL-TIME. JOIN THE WAITLIST: chiefmaker.com/minimba

Tracey has been the Executive Director of Uniting NSW/ACT since April 2018.

She has more than 35 years' experience in the Australian health and community services sector including leadership roles at St John of God Health Care, Ramsay Healthcare and St Vincent's Health Australia.

In addition to her executive management roles, she has also served as a Board Director for aged care services, disability services in New Zealand and for a medical research foundation.

Tracey holds a Bachelor of Health Administration, an MBA, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has done an Executive program in Negotiation at Columbia University in New York.

In this Best of Series Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ Why being the smartest person in the room won't help you lead

✅ How to supplement formal education with experiential continuous learning

✅ The do's and don'ts of 360 feedback and why it is so powerful; and

✅ The future of the healthcare industry and how these now measure up 7 years after our initial interview.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Tracey via LinkedIn.

• Your Leadership Diamond - by Paul Mitchell

• The Untethered Soul - by Michael Singer

• Paula Martin, Executive Director, Regional NSW and Visitor Economy at Business NSW, on Learning from everyone, adapting to shorter strategy cycles, and genuinely receiving feedback

• Neil Craig, Former AFL Head Coach on High performance environments, your North Star and decision-making under pressure

• Chief Maker Minisode Series on How to Give Feedback

📝 Get my Finish Strong monthly newsletter with insanely valuable career tips

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📃 Grab one of the many FREE Leadership Resources

📈 Join the waitlist for the Chief Maker MiniMBA

🎓 Take one of the Chief Maker Academy courses

🍏 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe for free to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"When we sleep, a spinal fluid washes over our brain and gets rid of a peptide called beta-amyloid which is implicated in the Alzheimer dementia process. So if we're not getting enough sleep on a regular basis, we really do suffer the consequences later on."

This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode.

This Mini Chief episode features Dr Carmel Harrington, an Executive Sleep Guru and Managing Director of Sleep for Health.

Her full episode is titled The myths and factors of sleep that drive optimal health, joy and performance.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/389 👂

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK. Make sure you assess all your leaders using the same systemised approach with this performance assessment tool: chiefmaker.com/performance

Carmel is an internationally recognised sleep expert, having worked in the world of sleep for more than 20 years. She is the Managing Director of Sleep for Health and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Children's Hospital Westmead.

Following a career as a lawyer and educator, she obtained a PHD in Sleep Medicine from Sydney University and consults with companies and educational institutions both here and overseas on sleep health.

Amazed at the seemingly little importance given to sleep, she dove head-first into the emerging research that clearly demonstrated that sleeping well was a key component of optimal performance and health.

Carmel has also written two books, "The Sleep Diet" and "The complete guide to a good night's sleep".

In the full Sleep Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ The crazy myths we carry about sleep and how short-circuiting this vital human function does far more than just make us tired.

✅ The different kinds of sleep and the optimal number of hours we need each night.

✅ Polyphasic sleep, caffeine, alcohol, diet, and

✅ What to do when you can't sleep!

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Carmel via her website, sleepforhealth.com.au

• The Sleep Diet - by Dr Carmel Harrington

• The complete guide to a good night's sleep - by Dr Carmel Harrington

• The 4-Hour Body - by Tim Ferriss

• The Sleep Doctor, Dr Michael Breus, on How to fix your sleep, achieving maximum performance outcomes, and the four chronotypes

• Chief Maker Minisode on How elite Chiefs do recovery properly

• Chief Maker Minisode on Top 3 tips for beating overwhelm and burnout

📝 Get my Finish Strong monthly newsletter with insanely valuable career tips

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📃 Grab one of the many FREE Leadership Resources

📈 Join the waitlist for the Chief Maker MiniMBA

🎓 Take one of the Chief Maker Academy courses

🍏 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe for free to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"The best annual performance reviews are built all year long."

Chief, in today's Minisode I run you through how to run Annual Performance Reviews really well, so much so that they are enjoyable, collaborative and result in your people giving sustained extra effort and kicking goals for the company.

I know for many of you, these meetings and processes can be stressful and you might not like delivering them. And if that's the case, you might find that the person you're reviewing will definitely not like experiencing them!

Today, I walk you through the exact frameworks I use for his process and how you can lead with distinction and be the leader to your people that you always wanted to be.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/390 👂

HAVING SOMEONE'S CAREER PROGRESSION IN YOUR HANDS IS A PRIVILEGE. Are you taking this responsibility seriously? Find out how with our Performance Review guide: chiefmaker.com/performancereviews

In this Minisode, I'll break down for you:

✅ Your mindset and role as a leader and coach in annual performance reviews.

✅ Preparation and context to ensure you're ready for the meeting.

✅ The CLEAR framework that provides a strong meeting agenda for maximum impact.

Stay epic,

Greg

📝 Get my Finish Strong monthly newsletter with insanely valuable career tips

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📃 Grab one of the many FREE Leadership Resources

📈 Join the waitlist for the Chief Maker MiniMBA

🎓 Take one of the Chief Maker Academy courses

🍏 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe for free to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"Sales and marketing just seems to be like a lost skill so you have to learn to be the differentiator as the human bridge."

This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode.

This Mini Chief episode features Nick Lissette, Founder & CEO of Blackpearl Group.

His full episode is titled Driving data into dollars, building human bridges in an AI world, and his "win or die" attitude.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/388 👂

JOIN THE WAITLIST FOR THE MOST PRACTICAL LEADERSHIP & EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ON THE MARKET (NPS: 91): chiefmaker.com/minimba

Nick is the Founder and CEO of Blackpearl Group, a global data and AI technology company based in Wellington, New Zealand.

With over 20 years in software, data and AI, he has built a career developing intelligent technology that drives measurable business growth.

Under Nick's leadership, Blackpearl has grown from a founder-funded startup to a publicly listed global company providing purpose-built AI-powered tools to small to medium enterprises, helping them find and convert customers without expensive ad dependence.

Nick is something of a serial entrepreneur, having founded an anti-spam SaaS service called Silver Cloud Mail in 2006, which he sold in 2012.

In the full AI Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ Why AI speed only matters when it drives customer revenue outcomes.

✅ How to defend your business when code is no longer an obstacle.

✅ Why sales, marketing and human bridges still remain critical competitive advantages, and

✅ How executives can become AI-ready before AI takes their job.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Nick via LinkedIn.

• Creating Sustainable Advantage - by Jaynie Smith

• Pitch Anything - by Oren Klaff

• Joel Pearson, Director of the Future Minds Lab, on Leading in uncertainty, Future-proofing for the AI revolution, and De-risking innovation

• Angus Stevens, Co-Founder & CEO of Start Beyond, on Putting guardrails on innovation and creating useful technology for tangible real-world problems

• Kath Blackham, CEO of The VERSA Group, on Extracting huge value from diversity and inclusion, the 4-day work week, and using tech for good

📝 Get my Finish Strong monthly newsletter with insanely valuable career tips

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📃 Grab one of the many FREE Leadership Resources

📈 Join the waitlist for the Chief Maker MiniMBA

🎓 Take one of the Chief Maker Academy courses

🍏 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe for free to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker