The Inner Chief

"It's really important to keep a sense of humour, especially if you're in a stressful environment. Show people that you're human."

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 Linda Carroll, Chief People Officer, G8 Education.

Her full episode is titled Driving business success through the development of your people.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/369 👂

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE REAL IMPACT OF OVERLOAD? Learn how to stay focused, optimise your effort and prioritise what's really important. chiefmaker.com/focus

As an experienced People and Culture Leader, Linda Carroll joined G8 Education in June 2024.

With more than a decade of executive experience in the early childhood education and care sector, Linda has honed her skills in building and managing high-performing teams across diverse networks.

Her expertise lies in people and culture transformation, talent acquisition, capability development, and employee and industrial relations.

Linda's accolades include the HR Director of the Year award at the Australian HR Awards in 2019 and she has also obtained an MBA in Human Resource Management from Griffith University.

In the full Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ The significance of developing people within an organisation through continuous learning.

✅ Hiring for attitude and creating a loyal culture through recognition and embracing humour

✅ Overcoming the crisis of confidence upon returning to work post-maternity leave, and

✅ The evolving role of HR and its strategic importance in driving business success via the power of human capital.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Linda via LinkedIn.

Books and resources

• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - by Stephen R. Covey

• Emotional Intelligence - by Daniel Goldman

• 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

• Fiona Crawford, CHRO of Creditor Watch, on Doing extra, celebrating success, and enabling the 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

"HR is such a diverse role. At any given time we see people at their worst, and people at their best. We're expected to be lawyers and are constantly making commercial decisions."

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Kate Newey, HR Chief of Adaptalift Group, on The secret life of HR professionals, having it all and AI in the workplace.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/370 👂

IS YOUR PROGRESS BLOCKED BY DIFFICULT STAKEHOLDERS? Download this step-by-step guide to build trust, get buy-in and turn difficult stakeholders into ambassadors: 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 this 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

"HR has shifted towards partnering with the business as a trusted advisor to the executive team, as people have started to realise the value of human capital."

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Linda Carroll, Chief People Officer of G8 Education, on driving business success through the development of your people.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/369 👂

FEELING OVERLOADED? Constant emails and meeting requests flooding in? Too much to do and not enough time? Learn how to prioritise your time with this strategic focus tool. chiefmaker.com/focus

As an experienced People and Culture Leader, Linda Carroll joined G8 Education in June 2024.

With more than a decade of executive experience in the early childhood education and care sector, Linda has honed her skills in building and managing high-performing teams across diverse networks.

Her expertise lies in people and culture transformation, talent acquisition, capability development, and employee and industrial relations.

Linda's accolades include the HR Director of the Year award at the Australian HR Awards in 2019 and she has also obtained an MBA in Human Resource Management from Griffith University.

In this Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ The significance of developing people within an organisation through continuous learning.

✅ Hiring for attitude and creating a loyal culture through recognition and embracing humour

✅ Overcoming the crisis of confidence upon returning to work post-maternity leave, and

✅ The evolving role of HR and its strategic importance in driving business success via the power of human capital.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Linda via LinkedIn.

Books and resources

• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - by Stephen R. Covey

• Emotional Intelligence - by Daniel Goldman

• 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

• Fiona Crawford, CHRO of Creditor Watch, on Doing extra, celebrating success, and enabling the 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

"There's work guilt because you worry that you're not delivering 100%. There's guilt that you're not being the best mum possible. So, it really is guilt on all fronts if you're not careful."

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 Nicolette Rubinsztein AM, Professional Board member and author.

Her full episode is titled Removing guilt, building female confidence, and overcoming busy-ness.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/367 👂

RIGHT PERSON, WRONG ROLE? Use this checklist of questions to determine the right future development plan for your leaders: chiefmaker.com/performance

Nicolette is a qualified actuary and is currently the Chair of Greenpeace Australia Pacific and CBHS Health Fund, and a Non-Executive Director at Zurich Australia.

She has previously been a Director at UniSuper and OnePath Insurance, and was the President of the Actuaries Institute for 4 years after an extensive career in senior management roles as an actuary.

Nicolette received a Member of the Order of Australia in the King's Birthday 2024 Honours List for her significant service to the finance and commerce sectors.

She is also the author of "Not Guilty", a powerful book providing strategies for successful career mums.

In the full Best of Series Masterclass we talk about:

✅ The resilience learnt from losing her job twice due to overnight industry changes

✅ How to balance work with motherhood without feeling guilty or putting your career on hold

✅ Why lower confidence in females has led to a lower uptake of STEM careers, and

✅ Overcoming busy-ness as parents and the concept of "career mum staff".

Stay epic,

Greg

You can reach Nicolette via LinkedIn or on her website.

• Homo Deus and Sapiens - by Yuval Harari

• The Confidence Code - by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman

• Alison Mirams, CEO of Roberts Co, on Transforming an industry and leaving a legacy by putting workers and their families at the heart of your business.

• Grainne O'Loughlin, CEO of Karitane, on Parenting for executives and the first 2000 days of a child's development, and the inspiring legacy she is building.

• Dr Bronwyn Evans AM, CEO of Engineers Australia, on Theory vs practice, empathetic performance management, and advancing society through great engineering

📝 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 you develop all three traits, you become bulletproof. You create momentum, confidence, and long-term impact."

Chief, today we dive into what I consider to be a core framework that I've observed after working with hundreds of top-tier executives and CEOs through the podcast and our day job at Chief Maker over a number of years.

These three traits keep showing up, without fail, in every high-performing leader I meet. If you don't have these in your toolkit, I can almost guarantee you'll struggle to hit your definition of success.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/368 👂

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

In this episode, I talk about:

✅ The 3 key traits that every great leader has in spades ✅ A brilliant little tool to diagnose where you need to create some real momentum shifts ✅ What will happen if you don't act now

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

"You've got to get yourself in a position to exit, and then give yourself the time to exit properly. The biggest advice I give sellers is to not be in a rush to sell."

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 Dean Salakas, Former CEO of The Party People.

His full episode is titled Being sale-ready, Forecasting like a CFO, and Selling confidently on your terms.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/366 👂

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

Dean is a retail advisor, keynote speaker, and former CEO of The Party People, Australia's largest party store, which sold in late 2024.

With three successful business exits and a track record of retail innovation, Dean now helps businesses grow through strategic advice and execution support and also as a fractional Head of Growth at Party Hire Group.

This is the second time we have had Dean on the show; during episode 234 we covered how he saw change as an opportunity, coping with growth, and evolving as a leader.

In the full Evolved CEO Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ The art of the sale - how to create buyer FOMO, go public with your sale, and drive up valuation.

✅ Why staying 'match-fit' with reporting and forecasting is key to a successful exit.

✅ The power of understanding your customer beyond product, and why this matters when selling, and

✅ What BATNA is and why deal structure matters more than just the multiple on offer.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Dean via LinkedIn.

Books and resources

• The One Minute Manager - by Kenneth Blanchard Ph.D. &, Spencer Johnson M.D.

• Roland Frasier, CEO of All Channels Media, on Creative business deals, modelling and masterminding

• Julie Mathers, Founder of Flora & Fauna and now CEO of Snuggle Hunny, on Bootstrapping a business from start to $30M exit

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

📝 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

"There's work guilt because you worry that you're not delivering 100%. There's guilt that you're not being the best mum possible. So, it really is guilt on all fronts if you're not careful."

In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat we had in 2019 with Nicolette Rubinsztein AM, Professional Board member and author, on removing guilt, building female confidence, and overcoming busy-ness.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/367 👂

RIGHT PERSON, WRONG ROLE? Use this checklist of questions to determine the right future development plan for your leaders: chiefmaker.com/performance

Nicolette is a qualified actuary and is currently the Chair of Greenpeace Australia Pacific and CBHS Health Fund, and a Non-Executive Director at Zurich Australia.

She has previously been a Director at UniSuper and OnePath Insurance, and was the President of the Actuaries Institute for 4 years after an extensive career in senior management roles as an actuary.

Nicolette received a Member of the Order of Australia in the King's Birthday 2024 Honours List for her significant service to the finance and commerce sectors. She is also the author of "Not Guilty", a powerful book providing strategies for successful career mums.

In this Best of Series Masterclass we talk about:

✅ The resilience learnt from losing her job twice due to overnight industry changes

✅ How to balance work with motherhood without feeling guilty or putting your career on hold

✅ Why lower confidence in females has led to a lower uptake of STEM careers, and

✅ Overcoming busy-ness as parents and the concept of "career mum staff".

You can reach Nicolette via LinkedIn or on her website.

• Homo Deus and Sapiens - by Yuval Harari

• The Confidence Code - by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman

• Alison Mirams, CEO of Roberts Co, on Transforming an industry and leaving a legacy by putting workers and their families at the heart of your business.

• Grainne O'Loughlin, CEO of Karitane, on Parenting for executives and the first 2000 days of a child's development, and the inspiring legacy she is building.

• Dr Bronwyn Evans AM, CEO of Engineers Australia, on Theory vs practice, empathetic performance management, and advancing society through great engineering

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

👍 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

"You've got to get yourself into a position to exit and then put time on your side. Don't be in a rush to sell, but when you are ready, put a deadline in place for buyers to make an offer."

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Dean Salakas, former Party People CEO, on Being sale-ready, forecasting like a CFO, and selling confidently on your terms.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/366 👂

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

Dean is a retail advisor, keynote speaker, and former CEO of The Party People, Australia's largest party store, which sold in late 2024.

With three successful business exits and a track record of retail innovation, Dean now helps businesses grow through strategic advice and execution support and also as a fractional Head of Growth at Party Hire Group.

This is the second time we have had Dean on the show; during episode 234 we covered how he saw change as an opportunity, coping with growth, and evolving as a leader.

In this Evolved CEO Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ The art of the sale - how to create buyer FOMO, go public with your sale, and drive up valuation.

✅ Why staying 'match-fit' with reporting and forecasting is key to a successful exit.

✅ The power of understanding your customer beyond product, and why this matters when selling, and

✅ What BATNA is and why deal structure matters more than just the multiple on offer.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Dean via LinkedIn

Books and resources

• The One Minute Manager - Kenneth Blanchard Ph.D. &, Spencer Johnson M.D.

Similar Episodes on Selling a business

• Roland Frasier, CEO of All Channels Media, on Creative business deals, modelling and masterminding

• Julie Mathers, Founder of Flora & Fauna and now CEO of Snuggle Hunny, on Bootstrapping a business from start to $30M exit

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

📝 Get my 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

"Imagine any city with 50% job losses, it's a completely different place. I don't see governments getting things ready. It's going to take time."

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 Professor Joel Pearson, Director of Future Minds Lab.

His full episode is titled Leading in uncertainty, Future-proofing for the AI Revolution, and De-risking innovation.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/364 👂

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

Joel is a psychologist, neuroscientist, author and Director of the Future Minds Lab, and an ARC Future Fellow at the University of New South Wales. He initially studied art and filmmaking at the College of Fine Arts before turning to the scientific mysteries of human consciousness and the complexities of the brain. He is now a prolific public speaker, writer, and world expert in Intuition, the psychology of AI, mental imagery, and Aphantasia, which is the inability to picture things visually.

His debut book, The Intuition Toolkit: The New Science of Knowing What, Without Knowing Why, came out in 2024 and he is now helping companies like Pixar, Google, KPMG, Macquarie Group, Lexus and Toyota prepare for the disruptive change of the AI revolution.

Joel hosted the popular ABC Sydney radio show "The Brain Box," blowing people's minds about their minds.

In the full AI Masterclass, we talk about:

✅ How he is at the forefront of accelerating innovation through agile science, rapid experimentation and minimum viable experiments

✅ Some practical tools and mental models to build resilience in an uncertain and rapidly changing AI-driven world

✅ Preparing humans and not just systems for exponential change from Artificial Intelligence, and

✅ Mind-wandering and cognitive recovery as competitive advantages for modern executives.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Joel via LinkedIn and his website.

• The Intuition Toolkit - by Professor Joel Pearson

• Future Minds Newsletters on Substack

• Brad Krauskopf, Founder & CEO of Hub Australia, on Designing inspiring flexible workspaces for the future

• 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

📝 Subscribe to the 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 to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"We need to get better, better, better at core. Not newer, bigger, different."

Chief, today we cover something that is absolutely dominating everyone's thoughts in a hyper-distracted world, and that is cutting out the noise and getting back to strategic intent and focus.

Executive teams are under relentless pressure; from technological change, shifting workforce expectations, and increasing compliance, to the ever-present noise of geopolitics and market urgency, it's easy to get pulled in a hundred directions and lose sight of what actually drives value. When leadership spreads itself too thin, focus disappears, risk increases, and performance suffers.

Chief, getting back to your core business is more important now than ever. I share the framework I use with Chiefs and boards across the globe to help them identify their true strategic priorities, cut through distraction, and optimise their systems to deliver real impact. Because when leaders waste energy on the wrong things, the business pays the price: in culture, in profit, and in reputation.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/365 👂

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

In this episode, I talk about:

✅ The 5 forces overwhelming executive teams and driving strategic distraction

✅ A practical model to define and refocus on your core business

✅ The cost of non-core work and how to reset strategic priorities for impact.

Stay epic,

Greg

📝 Subscribe to the 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 to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker