The Inner Chief

"It's now obvious to me that it's harder to maintain that sense of community unless you've got things like parkrun that are driving that connection."

In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat we had in 2019 with Tim Oberg, Former CEO of parkrun Australia on escaping the rat race, building a vibrant community and managing anxiety.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/377 👂

WANT TO ACCELERATE YOUR NEXT PROMOTION? COMPLETE YOUR FREE CAREER SCORECARD: www.chiefmaker.com/score-card

Tim has a background in teaching and travel, having set up his own tour business in London in the early 2000s. He stumbled upon the parkrun concept in the UK in 2010 and pitched to the owner to be the one to take it to Australia, thereafter leading the regional business for nearly 12 years.

Tim is now the Founder of Next Stars Sports Academy and the Healthy Kids Project, as he uses his vast experience in health and wellbeing to tackle some of the biggest challenges amongst the younger generations.

He is also a Board member at Little Athletics Queensland and lives in Airlie Beach with his wife and 4 kids (congrats to them as they recently welcomed a little baby girl!).

In this Best of Series Masterclass we talk about:

✅ His epic back story that got him to where he is today - you'll really love this as it's one of the most in-depth, interesting and crazy ones we've ever had on the Inner Chief podcast!

✅ The courage he showed in repeatedly escaping the rat race to start his own businesses.

✅ Growing the parkrun Australia community from nothing to the biggest of its kind in the country, and

✅ How he has survived and thrived despite living with and managing anxiety.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can reach Tim via LinkedIn.

• Headspace app

• Beating Anxiety - SBS Insight TV show that Tim appeared on

• parkrun, anxiety and me - article posted by Tim after his recovery

• Dare - by Barry McDonagh

• Juliette Wright OAM, Founder of GIVIT, on Revolutionising misguided charitable giving, having a million conversations, and leaning into anxiety

• Daniel Penny, MD of Mustard Creative, on Going beyond the brief and understanding your influence

• Mike Smith, Founder and CEO of Zero Co, on Building a tribe of loyal customers, and creating a better world through business

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

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📈 Join the waitlist for the Chief Maker MiniMBA

🎓 Take one of the Chief Maker Academy courses

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🎬 Subscribe for free to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"The best founders are constantly pitching – for customers, recruits, suppliers and capital."

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to James Schofield, Founder of Insight Investor Relations, on Pitching your business, raising capital and winning investor trust.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/376 👂

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

James speaks the language of investors - over a 25-year career in capital markets, he's advised from both sides of the table: first as a top-rated equity analyst with Merrill Lynch, UBS, and Deutsche Bank, and now as the founder of Insight Investor Relations.

Since launching IIR in 2018, James has worked with NZX-listed CEOs and CFOs across companies valued between $300 million and $3 billion.

His team is trusted to design and execute investor relations strategies at pivotal points in a company's growth story, with their clients' aggregate market value more than doubling to $10.8 billion over the past 12 months.

James and his team have also helped founders raise between $2-$15 million in growth capital through leveraging investor-side language and insights.

In this Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ The right time to pitch and raise capital, and when not to.

✅ How to position your business to attract investors through clarity, credibility and consistent messaging.

✅ Why founders should treat investors like customers by understanding their needs and motivations, and

✅ The five Ps of pitching for investor success: purpose, product, proof, playbook, and promise.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with James via LinkedIn.

Books and resources

• Essentialism - by Greg McEwen

• Ben Lipschitz, Co-Founder and CEO of FoodByUs, on Being data-driven, starting and exiting a business, and successfully securing funding

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

• Jack Delosa, Founder and Chairman of The Entourage, on Frameworks for success, building customer connection, and raising capital from an investor's viewpoint

📝 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

"You can't make good choices from a cluttered mind."

Chief, today I'm going to introduce you to one of the most powerful tools in leadership: The Decision Clarity Matrix.

Every part of your life and career is shaped by the quality of your decisions. From relationships to investments, to how you respond in tough moments, your reputation and legacy all come down to one thing. Decision-making.

Yet, no one really teaches us how to make good decisions. Until today, that is!

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/375 👂

ONE THING IS CERTAIN, TO BE A TRUE CHIEF, COGNITIVE CLARITY IS CRITICAL. WHERE DO YOU SIT ON THE CHIEF MAKER DECISION CLARITY MATRIX? chiefmaker.com/decisionmaking

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

✅ The Decision Clarity Matrix - how clear thinking drives high-impact decision making ✅ Managing your state to shift from cluttered thinking to clarity before key decisions, and ✅ The four decision zones: Breakthrough Territory, Danger Zone, Delegation, and the Vortex.

You can follow along and download the full resource: chiefmaker.com/decisionmaking.

Stay epic,

Greg

📝 Get my free Finish Strong monthly newsletter and podcast drops

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn

📈 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

"Your values and philosophy about why you do things are your North Star; without them your decisions will be wishy-washy."

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 CEO guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode.

This Mini Chief episode features Neil Craig, Former AFL Coach and England Rugby High Performance Manager.

His full episode is titled High performance environments, your North Star and decision-making under pressure.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/373 👂

GET THE FREE CHIEF MAKER TOP 30 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: chiefmaker.com/interview

Neil was best known as being a former Australian rules footballer and as the Head Coach of the Adelaide Crows Football Club.

His other stints in the AFL have included being the fitness adviser at the Crows, and having various coaching roles at the Melbourne Demons, Essendon Bombers, Carlton Blues and Gold Coast Suns.

Between 2017 and 2022, he was England Rugby's High Performance Manager under head coach Eddie Jones.

In the full Best of Series Masterclass we talk about:

✅ What a high performance environment is and how to create one

✅ Why knowing your North Star - your purpose and values - is critical to success

✅ How to make complex decisions under pressure, and

✅ Why leadership is not about you, but all about you.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can reach Neil via LinkedIn.

• Legacy - by James Kerr

• Chief Maker Minisodes on Coaching Principles and Power Coaching Questions

• Conrad Tracey, Addiction Coaching Specialist, on Breaking points, dealing with resistance in others, and self-acceptance

• Golf Master Coach, Steve Bann, on Coaching the world's best golfers, turning practice into confidence, and the improvement lifecycle

📝 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

"Chiefs who take a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership will ALWAYS end up failing."

Chief, today I'm diving into one of the most powerful models in business performance and leadership: the Fix, Reset, Grow, Change the Game journey map.

This is the framework I use with almost every executive or organisation I coach.

It gives you clarity, confidence and direction as a leader by showing you exactly where your business is, where it's heading, and what to do next.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/374 👂

DOWNLOAD THE CHIEF MAKER SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP GUIDE AND IMPLEMENT THE LEADERSHIP STYLE YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS RIGHT NOW: chiefmaker.com/fixresetgrow

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

✅ Why the model and the business performance journey map matter ✅ The 4 stages fully explained and how to self-assess where you are, and ✅ Putting in place the appropriate steps in order to adapt your leadership style and get you into the most exhilarating stage - changing the game.

You can follow along and download the full resource: chiefmaker.com/fixresetgrow.

Stay epic,

Greg

📝 Get my free Finish Strong monthly newsletter and podcast drops

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn

📈 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

"It's not about you, but it's all about you. If you're able to think that way, you'll get feedback when you need it without asking for it and you'll be amazed how many problems just go away."

It's AFL grand final week so we're bringing you a Best of Series episode from 2019 with Neil Craig, former AFL Head Coach, on high performance environments, your North Star and decision-making under pressure.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/373 👂

GET THE FREE CHIEF MAKER TOP 30 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: chiefmaker.com/interview

Neil was best known as being a former Australian rules footballer and as the Head Coach of the Adelaide Crows Football Club.

His other stints in the AFL have included being the fitness adviser at the Crows, and having various coaching roles at the Melbourne Demons, Essendon Bombers, Carlton Blues and Gold Coast Suns.

Between 2017 and 2022, he was England Rugby's High Performance Manager under head coach Eddie Jones.

In this Best of Series Masterclass we talk about:

✅ What a high performance environment is and how to create one

✅ Why knowing your North Star - your purpose and values - is critical to success

✅ How to make complex decisions under pressure, and

✅ Why leadership is not about you, but all about you.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can reach Neil via LinkedIn.

• Legacy - by James Kerr

• Chief Maker Minisodes on Coaching Principles and Power Coaching Questions

• Conrad Tracey, Addiction Coaching Specialist, on Breaking points, dealing with resistance in others, and self-acceptance

• Golf Master Coach, Steve Bann, on Coaching the world's best golfers, turning practice into confidence, and the improvement lifecycle

📝 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

"Building an operating rhythm and sticking to it requires energy and fortitude."

Chief, today I'm going to talk about three important tips to help you bring your operating rhythm to life and to ensure that it is high impact and drives results consistently.

I'm also going to talk through three of the most classic problems that executives face when trying to implement a new one or refine an existing operating rhythm.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/372 👂

DOWNLOAD THE CHIEF MAKER OPERATING RHYTHM HOW TO GUIDE AND PUT YOUR VISION AND MISSION INTO ACTION FAST: chiefmaker.com/operatingrhythm

In this episode, I talk about:

✅ The Chief Maker Performance Lifecycle: P2R2 ✅ Owning the plan and embedding it culturally in your organisation, and ✅ Ensuring it is always impactful and doesn't become stale.

You can also find out more about what an operating rhythm is by checking out some previous episodes:

Building a personal operating rhythm

High Performance Teams Series - Operating Rhythm

Stay epic,

Greg

📝 Get my free Finish Strong monthly newsletter and podcast drops

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn

📈 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 win your people's hearts and minds, you have to have a compelling vision or proposition to offer them."

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 CEO guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode.

This Mini Chief episode features George Hunt, Former CIO of the Year.

His full episode is titled Winning hearts and minds, technology as a strategy, and the little things of leadership.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/371 👂

WONDERING WHAT CAREER MOVE TO MAKE NEXT? GET THE CHIEF MAKER BOOK AND BE GUIDED BY THE GREAT METHOD FOR CAREER ACCELERATION: chiefmaker.com/book

At the time of the recording, George was the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Sydney Water. He is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of Smart Energy Water in the UK, a role he has held since November 2020.

George is a recognised technology leader within the global utility sector, with a successful track record in implementing technology infrastructure to support increasing customer expectations, challenging regulatory outcomes and corporate business goals.

He has also held roles as a Global Consulting Partner at Wipro Digital in the UK and CIO for Wessex Water.

George has a Bachelor of Engineering from Birmingham University and a Master of Information Systems from Kingston University in London, and was awarded CIO Australia's CIO of the Year in 2018.

In the full Best of Series Masterclass we talk about:

✅ How to win the hearts and minds of your people and aligning to achieve a vision

✅ Why Technology has evolved to become a key strategy for most organisations

✅ Some great analogies for leading a business through rapid change, and

✅ The Little Things of Leadership like the power of goodwill.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can reach George via LinkedIn.

• Be Like Amazon - by Jeffrey Eisenberg, Bryan Eisenberg, Roy H Williams

• The Advantage - by Patrick Lencioni

• Who Moved My Cheese - by Dr Spencer Johnson

• Leading on the Edge - by Rachael Robertson

• Be The Business: CIOs in the New Era of IT - by Martha Heller

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

• Greg Steele, Global President of Arcadis Mobility, on The importance of broad experience, bringing people with you and dealing with difficult issues

• Angus Stevens, Co-Founder & CEO of StartBeyond, on Taking learning by experience to new frontiers, putting guardrails on innovation, and creating useful technology for tangible real-world problems

📝 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

"If you think your people aren't using AI, you would be in denial."

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 Kate Newey, HR Chief of Adaptalift Group.

Her full episode is titled The secret life of HR professionals, having it all and AI in the workplace.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/370 👂

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

Kate is a highly experienced HR leader and has held various roles at Adaptalift Group since 2012, currently overseeing 650 staff in her role as HR Chief.

She is a champion of flexible executive roles, balancing part-time leadership and parenting, something that became almost non-negotiable during the COVID pandemic.

In the full Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ The secret life of HR professionals…the real, messy and rewarding reality in the current business environment.

✅ How leading from the middle builds influence, trust and a seat at the strategic table.

✅ Navigating burnout, boundaries and part-time leadership through parenting and a modern lifestyle, and

✅ HR's growing leadership in AI strategy and how this links to company strategy and and what "buy, borrow, build, bot" means for HR.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Kate via LinkedIn.

Books and resources

• Mindful High Performer - by Chelsea Pottenger

• Linda Carroll, Chief People Officer of G8 Education on Driving business success through the development of your people

• Zaklina Craig, Chief People Officer of Business NSW, on Optimising role design for peak performance, managing differences in confidence between men and women, and navigating the decision to fire someone

• Angela Tsoukatos, CEO and 20 years executive team member, on Pivotal career moments, how to focus on core business, and the most effective ways the Board and C-Suite can work together

📝 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

"The one analogy I use for technology change programs is that we're trying to upgrade an aircraft whilst it's in flight. This allows people to understand the risk profile."

In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat we had in 2019 with George Hunt, former CIO of the Year, on winning hearts and minds, technology as a strategy, and the little things of leadership.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/371 👂

WONDERING WHAT CAREER MOVE TO MAKE NEXT? GET THE CHIEF MAKER BOOK AND BE GUIDED BY THE GREAT METHOD FOR CAREER ACCELERATION: chiefmaker.com/book

At the time of the recording, George was the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Sydney Water. He is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of Smart Energy Water in the UK, a role he has held since November 2020.

George is a recognised technology leader within the global utility sector, with a successful track record in implementing technology infrastructure to support increasing customer expectations, challenging regulatory outcomes and corporate business goals.

He has also held roles as a Global Consulting Partner at Wipro Digital in the UK and CIO for Wessex Water.

George has a Bachelor of Engineering from Birmingham University and a Master of Information Systems from Kingston University in London, and was awarded CIO Australia's CIO of the Year in 2018.

In this Best of Series Masterclass we talk about:

✅ How to win the hearts and minds of your people and aligning to achieve a vision

✅ Why Technology has evolved to become a key strategy for most organisations

✅ Some great analogies for leading a business through rapid change, and

✅ The Little Things of Leadership like the power of goodwill.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can reach George via LinkedIn.

• Be Like Amazon - by Jeffrey Eisenberg, Bryan Eisenberg, Roy H Williams

• The Advantage - by Patrick Lencioni

• Who Moved My Cheese - by Dr Spencer Johnson

• Leading on the Edge - by Rachael Robertson

• Be The Business: CIOs in the New Era of IT - by Martha Heller

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

• Greg Steele, Global President of Arcadis Mobility, on The importance of broad experience, bringing people with you and dealing with difficult issues

• Angus Stevens, Co-Founder & CEO of StartBeyond, on Taking learning by experience to new frontiers, putting guardrails on innovation, and creating useful technology for tangible real-world problems

📝 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