The Inner Chief

"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."

In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat I had in 2019 with Executive Sleep Guru, Dr Carmel Harrington, on the myths and factors of sleep that drive optimal health, joy and performance.

🎧👉 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 this 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

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🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"Is your customer winning from using your product? Are they making or saving money from you? If so, how much and how is that measurable to your product?"

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Nick Lissette, Founder & CEO of Blackpearl Group, on Driving data into dollars, building human bridges in an AI world, and his "win or die" attitude.

🎧👉 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 this 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

"If you've got good relationships and you're building alliances around ideas and issues, you can get things done."

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 David Borger, Executive Director for Business Western Sydney and former NSW Politician.

His full episode is titled Building alliances with your enemies, finding your executive courage, and championing legacy projects.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/386 👂

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

David is the Executive Director of Business Western Sydney, where he champions the growth, infrastructure and innovation precincts shaping one of Australia's most important regions.

A former Lord Mayor of Parramatta (the youngest ever at just 30), David has also been the State Member for Granville and Minister for Roads and Housing, and has has spent his career bringing people together around big ideas and getting things done.

He has served on a range of Boards across government, business, transport, culture and urban development, including NRMA and the Powerhouse Museum.

David is still as passionate as ever about ensuring that all communities are great places to live, regardless of where they are located.

In the full Relationship-building Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ Building alliances around ideas, by communicating even with your enemies.

✅ Finding the courage to speak up when you first get elevated to a senior position.

✅ Advocating for large projects in small decision time windows, and

✅ Championing Western Sydney's infrastructure, innovation precincts and legacy projects.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with David via LinkedIn.

• Freedom's Forge - by Arthur Herman

• The New Geography of Jobs - by Enrico Moretti

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

• Paul Nicolaou, the Executive Director of Business Sydney, on The 3Ps of building an insanely valuable network, daring to be different, and making people happy

• Zaklina Craig, Executive Director – People, Culture & Workplace, on Optimising role design for peak performance, managing differences in confidence between men and women, and navigating the decision to fire someone

📝 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

"This framework is the core of what we do at Chief Maker. We join leaders' intuitive abilities with a framework and a process they can follow and repeat and really make it their own."

Chief, in today's Minisode I run you through the High Performance Teams framework that is behind the Chief Maker MiniMBA Program we run every quarter for executives and other aspiring senior leaders.

Recently, in Episode 385, I spoke about the I AM GREAT method, which I believe is crucial to implement if you desire to lead a high-performing team.

Today, I walk you through the 5 pillars of the HPT framework so that you get a clear understanding of what separates good teams from great ones.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/387 👂

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:

✅ How and why I developed the High Performance Teams framework ✅ The 5 pillars: Mission, People, Culture, Tools, Execution, and ✅ How leaders can unite their intuition with a framework for repeatable implementation.

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 remember being a young bloke as Lord Mayor and I was almost reticent to ask my small team to do the job. I felt guilty. Over time I realised that delegating is actually giving people opportunities."

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to David Borger, Executive Director for Business Western Sydney and former NSW Politician, on Building alliances with your enemies, finding your executive courage, and championing legacy projects.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/386 👂

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

David is the Executive Director of Business Western Sydney, where he champions the growth, infrastructure and innovation precincts shaping one of Australia's most important regions.

A former Lord Mayor of Parramatta (the youngest ever at just 30), David has also been the State Member for Granville and Minister for Roads and Housing, and has has spent his career bringing people together around big ideas and getting things done.

He has served on a range of Boards across government, business, transport, culture and urban development, including NRMA and the Powerhouse Museum.

David is still as passionate as ever about ensuring that all communities are great places to live, regardless of where they are located.

In this Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ Building alliances around ideas, by communicating even with your enemies.

✅ Finding the courage to speak up when you first get elevated to a senior position.

✅ Advocating for large projects in small decision time windows, and

✅ Championing Western Sydney's infrastructure, innovation precincts and legacy projects.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with David via LinkedIn.

• Freedom's Forge - by Arthur Herman

• The New Geography of Jobs - by Enrico Moretti

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

• Paul Nicolaou, the Executive Director of Business Sydney, on The 3Ps of building an insanely valuable network, daring to be different, and making people happy

• Zaklina Craig, Executive Director – People, Culture & Workplace, on Optimising role design for peak performance, managing differences in confidence between men and women, and navigating the decision to fire someone

📝 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

"What I noticed was that a lot of the self-help material out there really just didn't give you a sense of how to build the high performance system in order to achieve excellence and flow."

Chief, in today's Minisode I am going to give you the background on how I developed the I AM GREAT framework for executive mastery, and how I've evolved it over time.

As a leadership and executive coach for nearly 20 years, I have witnessed the extremes of performance: what makes teams succeed beyond their capacity, and what causes them to fail spectacularly.

Over time, I've developed and iterated a framework which I believe is crucial to implement if you desire to lead a high-performing team.

Today, I give you the step-by-step actions you need to take in order to rise above the pack, inspire your people, and leave a legacy.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/385 👂

WANT TO BE A SOUGHT AFTER, IN-DEMAND EXECUTIVE? DISCOVER THE NEXT STEPS YOU SHOULD TAKE TO BUILD TRUST, GAIN RESPECT AND ACCELERATE YOUR CAREER: chiefmaker.com/IAMGREAT

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

✅ Why I developed the GREAT Method for achieving excellence in your career ✅ The evolution to I AM GREAT and why this difference matters, and ✅ How this framework fits into building a High Performance Team.

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

"Consumers are rightly demanding more transparency from retailers on price, so we're using AI pricing tools and the results have been pretty instant in terms of uptick on where we're competitive ."

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 Jamie Kristow, CEO of Cotswold Outdoor Group.

His full episode is titled Optimising the retail value chain, adapting your pace of leadership, and championing AI innovation.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/384 👂

DOWNLOAD THE CHIEF MAKER GUIDE FOR SENIOR LEADERS ON HOW TO HAVE DIFFICULT PERFORMANCE CONVERSATIONS: chiefmaker.com/difficult

Jamie is the CEO of Cotswold Outdoor Group, a leading outdoor clothing and equipment retail group based in the UK.

His career has spanned more than 25 years globally and includes direct-to-consumer retail experience across Australia, UK, Canada and South Africa.

Jamie has led incredible merchandising transformations for big brands like Target, Myer, Woolworths, Hudson's Bay and Sussan Group, while championing innovation such as a retail media network.

He is just a wonderful operator with a brilliant track record of delivering results through data-driven decision-making, empowered teams and customer-first thinking.

In the full Retail Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ A wonderful explanation of the busy and complex retail value chain, and how to optimise for each component.

✅ Following the "rivers of money" and building product range through evolution not revolution.

✅ Why time in store and walking in a customer's shoes are vital to turnarounds, and

✅ How shifting search behaviour, retail media and AI pricing are reshaping retail growth.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Jamie via LinkedIn.

• Julie Mathers, Founder of Flora and Fauna and CEO of Snuggle Hunny, on Being adventurous, bootstrapping a business, and first mover advantage

• Angus McPherson, MD Australia of Diageo, on Creating momentum, difficult conversations, and simplifying your message

• Cliff Gale, former Managing Director of Lite n' Easy for over 20 years, on Leading with passion, respect for your people and keeping the soul alive in your business

📝 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

"Understanding how the customer journey is changing and how you adapt is going to radically change retail in the coming years."

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Jamie Kristow, CEO of Cotswold Outdoor Group, on optimising the retail value chain, adapting your pace of leadership, and championing AI innovation.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/384 👂

DOWNLOAD THE CHIEF MAKER GUIDE FOR SENIOR LEADERS ON HOW TO HAVE DIFFICULT PERFORMANCE CONVERSATIONS: chiefmaker.com/difficult

Jamie is the CEO of Cotswold Outdoor Group, a leading outdoor clothing and equipment retail group based in the UK.

His career has spanned more than 25 years globally and includes direct-to-consumer retail experience across Australia, UK, Canada and South Africa.

Jamie has led incredible merchandising transformations for big brands like Target, Myer, Woolworths, Hudson's Bay and Sussan Group, while championing innovation such as a retail media network.

He is just a wonderful operator with a brilliant track record of delivering results through data-driven decision-making, empowered teams and customer-first thinking.

In this Retail Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ A wonderful explanation of the busy and complex retail value chain, and how to optimise for each component.

✅ Following the "rivers of money" and building product range through evolution not revolution.

✅ Why time in store and walking in a customer's shoes are vital to turnarounds, and

✅ How shifting search behaviour, retail media and AI pricing are reshaping retail growth.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Jamie via LinkedIn.

• Julie Mathers, Founder of Flora and Fauna and CEO of Snuggle Hunny, on Being adventurous, bootstrapping a business, and first mover advantage

• Angus McPherson, MD Australia of Diageo, on Creating momentum, difficult conversations, and simplifying your message

• Cliff Gale, former Managing Director of Lite n' Easy for over 20 years, on Leading with passion, respect for your people and keeping the soul alive in your business

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

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📈 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 talk strategy, we mean let's get through the next 12 months. Have a three year outlook, but be prepared to change it in six months' time if we have to."

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 Paula Martin, the Executive Director, Regional NSW and Visitor Economy at Business NSW.

Her full episode is titled Learning from everyone, adapting to shorter strategy cycles, and genuinely receiving feedback.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/383 👂

ARE YOU GIVING THE RIGHT FEEDBACK? LEARN HOW TO EMBED EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK IN YOUR CULTURE: chiefmaker.com/feedback

Paula is the Executive Director, Regional NSW and Visitor Economy at Business NSW, where her focus is to champion growth through collaboration with government, industry and business.

She leads Business NSW's regional office network, shaping policy that reduces red tape and creates employment opportunities.

Paula also founded the award-winning Australian Business Consulting & Solutions, delivering innovation, commercialisation and programs for SMEs.

Under her leadership, Paula achieved many firsts including the set-up of an operation in Shanghai to help Australian SMEs find genuine, authentic buyers in China, as well as the design of leading HR Management System, HR Advance.

In the full Business Growth Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ Why "stable ground" matters to achieving operational excellence and sustainable business scaling.

✅ The one thing a mentor said to her that changed how she embraced continuous learning.

✅ How shorter strategy cycles are key to navigating an era of uncertainty and volatility, and

✅ Being truly present and vulnerable when absorbing feedback so as to unlock better decision-making.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Paula via LinkedIn.

• Minisode: The AAR Method of Strategic Planning

• Angela Tsoukatos, CEO and 20 years executive team member, on How to manage key priorities to ensure focus on core business

• David Knoff, Antarctic Expedition Leader, on Being adaptable around your mission

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

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📈 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 want people to walk away from any engagement they have with me saying that I'm not a bad bloke, that I was keen to listen, and that I wanted to help."

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 Paul Nicolaou, the Executive Director of Business Sydney.

His full episode is titled The 3Ps of building an insanely valuable network, daring to be different, and making people happy.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/382 👂

JOIN THE COUNCIL OF CHIEFS. Break the isolation and stretch your thinking with a network of like minded C-Suite executives and business owners: chiefmaker.com/councilofchiefs

Paul is a highly experienced executive leader and board member, having been Executive Director for Business Sydney since September 2021.

Prior to this, he was Director for the Business Leaders Council, Membership and Events for the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) for seven years.

He is a Board Member of the Estia Foundation, and Ambassador for both Vinnies CEO Sleepout and Start Up Australia.

Paul has held several senior roles in his distinguished career, such as at UNSW and UNSW Foundation, the CEO of the Australian Hotels Association of NSW, the NSW President of the Marketing Institute of Australia, and he served as Executive Chairman of the fundraising and business engagement arm of the Liberal Party in NSW.

In the full Networking Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ How he has built incredibly reliable and insanely valuable networks using the "3 Ps" model.

✅ Leading with energy and daring to be different.

✅ Why his daily KPI is making people happy, and

✅ Cutting through red tape to run a business without being superhuman.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Paul via LinkedIn.

• Minisode: How to Think Like a CEO: Leveraging your network

• Ted Prodromou, America's #1 LinkedIn Coach, on Perception, connecting properly with purpose, and standing out online

• Steve Sims, the Concierge to Billionaires, on How to gamify life and work, going for stupid and building priceless relationships

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

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📈 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