The Inner Chief

"So many times we're waiting for someone to save us. We're not taking that ownership. No one's coming."

In today's episode we are going to turn the tables! That's right, our Head of Production, Rob Flude, is going to interview me.

Chiefs, we have recorded 272 episodes and it has been all me. I've either been the interviewer or the bloke giving you some short, concise advice in the form of minisodes.

So today, I'm jumping into the hot seat and you are going to hear from me about my background, and my journey towards founding and running Chief Maker and the Inner Chief podcast, as well as searching for a life beyond my wildest dreams. I'll also answer some of the regular Inner Chief CEO episode questions, and you'll get to hear my no bull advice I have for future generations of leaders and executives.

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Stay epic,

Greg

"Too much granular data can stifle creativity and innovation, and it can also make people feel like they're carrying the weight of the world around on their shoulders."

In this episode, we are launching a Chief Maker first! And that is a panel interview where we deep dive on a particular topic, which today is how these 3 Council of Chiefs members and former Inner Chief podcast guests go about using data, metrics and scoreboards to run their businesses.

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On the panel, we have:

• Kristen Podagiel, a former Managing Partner at McCullough Robertson, a leading independent Australian law firm. You can listen to Kristen's episode here.

• Ron Gauci, a leader and executive in the technology and sporting worlds and known as the Turnaround CEO. You can listen to Ron's episode here.

• Baden Stephenson, the CEO of the Melbourne Rebels rugby club. You can listen to Baden's episode here.

Today, the panel is going to cover:

✅ What data, metrics and scoreboards are used by these leaders in their respective industries and businesses

✅ How to get it right in setting inputs up correctly and removing any bias

✅ The pitfalls of data, and developing dashboards around human psychology, and

✅ Data they would love to be able to measure.

• Kristen Podagiel - LinkedIn

• Ron Gauci - LinkedIn

• Baden Stephenson - LinkedIn

"Often, CEOs get fixated on their competition. I think it's a really big mistake because you just end up impersonating them. Just look after your customers and give them a great product and service, such that you don't even have to be concerned about your competition."

In this Best of Series episode, we hear from Accidental CEO of AV1, Keith Wootton, on finding inspiration, daily disruption, and crafting a magnetic culture.

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I interviewed Keith for this podcast back in June 2018.

Keith is the Founder and Managing Director of AV1, a multi-award-winning business that produces over 1,000 events per year for some of the most important conferences, events and exhibitions around Australia and the world.

He is a self-labelled 'accidental CEO' but make no mistake, Keith is a true leader of a significant business.

Keith was born in Ireland and moved to Australia with his family when he was 11. After a brief stint back in Ireland working in the music industry, including working with U2, he has spent the last 3 decades in the events industry.

In this episode, you're going to hear Keith talk about:

✅ Using inspiration from different fields to lead your industry;

✅ Not getting fixated on your competition, or becoming a replica of them

✅ Making your intention to be better than you were yesterday through disruption, and

✅ Giving latitude to your people so that they thrive.

You can connect with Keith via LinkedIn.

"Do you want to work in a company where your values align or are you okay with the fact that they don't?"

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, we speak to Julie Mathers, Founder of Flora and Fauna and CEO of Snuggle Hunny, on being adventurous, bootstrapping a business, and first mover advantage.

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Julie and her husband Tom co-founded Flora & Fauna in 2014, an online store specialising in vegan and eco-friendly products, with a clear vision to be the most responsible retailer possible with the best customer service.

She sold the business in 2021 to an ASX-listed company and exited the business in February 2022. She is now the CEO and Owner of Snuggle Hunny, a fast-growing Australian baby brand.

Julie has over 30 years' experience in retail and has worked across medium and large retailers before starting her entrepreneurial journey.

In 2018 she won the Telstra New South Wales Small and Succeeding Business Award, and was named Number 1 in the 2019 and 2021 "Top 50 People in Australian eCommerce" - she also took out the Industry Person of the Year at the 2021 Online Retail Industry Awards and 2022 Retail Fest.

In this episode we talk about:

✅ Being adventurous and treading a different path to your peers

✅ The genesis of Flora & Fauna and her "A-ha" moment

✅ The harsh realities of working for yourself

✅ Scaling a business without taking on investment and moving first in a crowded industry.

You can connect with Julie via LinkedIn.

• Win Your Lottery - by Sharry Cramond

• When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing - by Daniel Pink

"As a Chief, working on the business is both defining what it is you need to do AND how the business performance is assessed, and then executing and doing this consistently."

In today's minisode, we are going to talk about how to work on the business, and in particular, the mindset that you can bring in order to absolutely nail your role as a senior executive.

Working on the business is the role of a Chief, but it took me a number of years to truly understand that the business is actually an asset. It's something that has a value, it's something that has an impact, something that plays a role.

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We're going to talk about:

✅ Shifting your mindset to view the business as an asset

✅ Setting out your systems and processes so as to determine the business value and success factors

✅ Executing a strategy via your operating rhythm

Stay epic,

Greg

"Let's approach these problems humbly and not try to tell the customer what we think, but rather how can we offer a service that is definitely wanted now and that can grow into a software solution over time."

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, we speak to Ben Lipschitz, Co-Founder and CEO of FoodByUs, on being data-driven, starting and exiting a business, and successfully securing funding.

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Born in South Africa, Ben graduated with a law degree before realising he wanted to pursue an entrepreneurial journey. At age 24, he started his first business, Flipsters, which was a brand of foldable women's shoes designed to fit in a standard clutch bag. After scaling and launching into 16 countries and selling to more than 300 Australian retailers, he sold Flipsters in 2014.

In 2016 Ben teamed up with Gary Munitz and Tim Chandler, both formerly of Menulog, combining their expertise in hospitality and technology to launch FoodByUs, the only online hospitality marketplace in Australia which allows venues to not only choose from a curated list of thousands of top suppliers, but offers an entire procurement solution.

In the past twelve months the company has more than doubled its headcount to 75 people, closed a $10M Series A funding round backed by global marketplace investor F J Labs and Macquarie Capital, and continues to smash existing revenue figures by as much as 40% MoM. As a result, Ben was recently awarded the 2022 Entrepreneur of the Year at the CEO Magazine's Executive of the Year Awards.

Ben is a volunteer Director on the Board of Redfern Legal Centre, and he is also a keen runner and triathlon participant.

In this episode we talk about:

✅ Lessons on starting, scaling and selling a business (and starting again!)

✅ Being humble and curious by using your customer data to keep nailing 'product-market fit'

✅ Finding the right partners in business and his three pillars for business success

✅ Successfully securing VC and private equity investors.

You can connect with Ben via LinkedIn.

• Shoe Dog - by Phil Knight
• Zero to One - Peter Thiel

"Don't let other people control your agenda or the dynamics of your diary. I don't have any qualms saying to people that I'm postponing meetings and focusing on five things that are going to move the dial."

In this Best of Series episode, we hear from former MD & CEO of The Pact Group, Mal Bundey, on making a difference and bringing your 'A Game'.

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I interviewed Mal for this podcast back in June 2018.

Between 2015 and 2019, Mal was the MD & CEO of Pact Group Holdings Limited, one of the primary businesses within the Pratt family empire, and is currently still the largest manufacturer in Australasia of rigid packaging with 133 factories across 16 countries and with over 6,000 employees.

Prior to joining Pact, Mal held several senior executive leadership positions for the Graeme Hart-owned Rank Group, including being President & CEO of Graham Packaging and Closure Systems International (CSI), both with a combined market cap of US$4.8bn back then.

Mal was previously a Partner at Deloitte in Corporate Restructuring and Management Consulting, spanning over 16 years from 1987 to 2003.

He is currently on the Board of Brickworks, an ASX Top 200 company in the building industry, and up until recently, was the CEO of a private equity firm.

In this episode, you're going to hear Mal talk about:

✅ Staying focused and learning to say "no" clearly and deliberately.

✅ Finding the right people for your executive team.

✅ The questions every leader should ask themselves every day, and

✅ Being relentless in striving for a result in business and in life.

You can connect with Mal via LinkedIn.

• The 3G Way - by Francisco de Mello

"There's 1.35 million tech-enabled impact-focused startups created every single year around the world. Entrepreneurs are spending 60% plus of their time trying to raise capital in a market that they don't understand because it's a dark art."

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Ant Moorhouse, Co-Founder and CEO of EarthTech, on purpose-driven leadership, and changing the planet by harnessing technology and capitalism.

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Before becoming the purpose-driven serial entrepreneur and leader that he is today, Ant was a Counter Terrorism Commander in the Australian Special Forces.

After a decade in the military, he started a crisis response and medical evacuation company with $19,000 on his kitchen table. 10 years later he sold his firm to a multi-national insurance company.

Ant spent 4 years inside the tech scene in Boulder Colorado, honing his craft, before returning home to Australia.

In 2019, he and business partner Brian Keayes co-founded EarthTech, a platform on a mission to help mobilise the global resources needed to positively impact 1 billion lives and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

In this episode we talk about:

✅ What he learnt about himself and others during his military career

✅ The pitfalls of transitioning from Special Forces to entrepreneurship

✅ Growing pains of a scaling business

✅ How EarthTech is harnessing the power of technology and capitalism to create positive change at scale.

You can connect with Ant via LinkedIn and check out the EarthTech website.

• The Rise of Superman - by Steven Kotler

"Make building a track record of success the core thing from now because you can't possibly say you've made a difference in your job unless it's measurable."

In today's first minisode for 2023, I wanted to give you a bit of guidance on how to focus on starting this year strong.

I want you to look through the lens of executive excellence such that you will turn up every day in your job in a way that magnetically attracts opportunities, brings about that motivation and energy, and gets results. I want you to feel that you make an impact, that you do something that actually makes a difference in this world.

Chief, starting strong is so important. So if you're feeling like the motivation isn't there anymore, or you're overwhelmed, you're not recognised for your efforts, you're not growing anymore or you feel like you can't lay down a track record, then this is for you!

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We're going to talk about:

✅ Looking ahead and looking back to benchmark your status

✅ Unlocking the GREAT method to plan out and stand out in your career

✅ Executing a strategy to bridge any gaps

Stay epic,

Greg

"If you think the relationships you have to build are just at your level, then there's a very good chance down the track you're going to run into some trouble."

In today's minisode, I wanted to bring to you five new lessons from the Chiefs from 2022, and we wanted to bring to you and share with you these lessons to help you finish out the year and then come out fighting even better next year.

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We're going to talk about:

✅ Hiring people smarter than you and letting them bring their magic

✅ Getting external support from your peers in roles similar to you

✅ Investing generously in your team

✅ Building strong relationships with the Chair and the Board

✅ Keeping things simple

Stay epic,

Greg