"Good character is essential because talent isn't enough to navigate through a messy 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 Zaklina Craig, Executive Director - People, Culture & Workplace of Business NSW.

Her full episode is titled Optimising role design for peak performance, managing differences in confidence between men and women, and navigating the decision to fire someone.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/348 👂

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

Zak is an experienced people, culture and change leader with over 20 years of experience working with businesses in every aspect of their employee lifecycle.

She has led large teams in enabling core business functions delivering systemic and sustainable change. Her niche expertise is integrating strategy, systems, culture and leadership.

Zak commenced her career as a lawyer in private practice and is also degree-qualified in human resources management and industrial relations. She also holds several leadership and coaching qualifications and is one of few practitioners in Australia accredited in Requisite Organisation and Stratified Systems Theory.

She has also held senior roles with Sydney Water and the Australian Retailers Association, and has been the Chief People Officer of Business NSW since February 2022.

In the full episode we talk about:

✅ How to optimise role design, complexity and clarity for higher performance

✅ Overcoming the natural tension between operations, support and commercial teams

✅ The mindset shifts that HR leaders need to have in order to get a seat at the executive table

✅ Moving past confidence barriers for both men and women, and

✅ Hiring and firing people and having difficult coaching conversations.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Zaklina via LinkedIn.

• Dancing with the Divine - by Julie Vance

• Carolyn Creswell, Founder and MD of Carman's Kitchen, on How to fire people, doing what you love, understanding menopause and having genuine work-life balance

• Mike Schneider, Managing Director of Bunnings Group, on Career diversity, genuine empathy, and the 4Hs of authenticity

• Cliff Gale, former MD of Lite N' Easy for22 years, on Leading with passion, respect for your people and keeping the soul alive in your business.

📝 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

🍏 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"Your brand or your reputation is what people say about you when you're not in the room."

Chief, today we are going to guide you through the process of mastering the art of influencing stakeholders and partners, such that it catapults you forward (and upwards!) in your career.

Stakeholders have a huge impact - negatively and positively - on your career and your personal life whether you like it or not. These people can be your corporate peers, suppliers, customers, board members, executive team members, your boss, the community, media, anyone out there who's got a key stake in what you do.

As such, getting buy-in from difficult stakeholders is one of the most important tasks and skills of all senior executives and leaders.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/349 👂

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

In this episode, I talk about:

✅ Sharing a few personal success stories of why strong stakeholder management works

✅ The 4 most powerful tips for building key stakeholder relationships, and

✅ A free downloadable we've created for you to develop plans and strategies, and then to be able to execute them with confidence.

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

🍏 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"For me, the four H's were a very simple way of outlining what I stood for as a leader."

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 Mike Schneider, Managing Director of Bunnings Group.

His full episode is titled Career diversity, genuine empathy, and the 4Hs of authenticity.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/347 👂

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

Before being appointed to the top role, Mike was the Managing Director of Bunnings Australia & New Zealand and had also led the store operations teams, having joined Bunnings in 2005.

His career has seen him hold a range of senior operational, commercial and human resource roles, both in retail and financial services, most notably at Target, Westpac and The Warehouse Group.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of NSW and has completed the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD, and the Advanced Strategic Management Program at IMD.

In the full episode we talk about:

✅ How having a diverse career path has been to his benefit

✅ Why genuine empathy and being a consistent, not predictable, leader is vital to success

✅ What he means by an integrated life as opposed to work-life balance, and

✅ His 4Hs Framework that allows him to lead an authentic life.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can reach Mike on LinkedIn.

• World's Best by Ric Charlesworth

• On Violence by Natasha Stott Despoja

• Carolyn Creswell, Founder and Managing Director of Carman's Kitchen, on Running a multinational business, loving what you do and having a genuine work-life balance

• Cass Spies, food industry innovator, founder & CEO of Twisted Healthy treats, on Being nimble, promoting from within, and winning globally

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

📝 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

🍏 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"You're a business leader first, and a HR professional second."

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Zaklina Craig 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.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/348 👂

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

Zak is an experienced people, culture and change leader with over 20 years of experience working with businesses in every aspect of their employee lifecycle.

She has led large teams in enabling core business functions delivering systemic and sustainable change. Her niche expertise is integrating strategy, systems, culture and leadership.

Zak commenced her career as a lawyer in private practice and is also degree-qualified in human resources management and industrial relations. She also holds several leadership and coaching qualifications and is one of few practitioners in Australia accredited in Requisite Organisation and Stratified Systems Theory.

She has also held senior roles with Sydney Water and the Australian Retailers Association, and has been the Executive Director - People, Culture & Workplace of Business NSW since February 2022.

In this episode we talk about:

✅ How to optimise role design, complexity and clarity for higher performance

✅ Overcoming the natural tension between operations, support and commercial teams

✅ The mindset shifts that HR leaders need to have in order to get a seat at the executive table

✅ Moving past confidence barriers for both men and women, and

✅ Hiring and firing people and having difficult coaching conversations.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Zaklina via LinkedIn.

• Dancing with the Divine - by Julie Vance

• Carolyn Creswell, Founder and MD of Carman's Kitchen, on How to fire people, doing what you love, understanding menopause and having genuine work-life balance

• Mike Schneider, Managing Director of Bunnings Group, on Career diversity, genuine empathy, and the 4Hs of authenticity

• Cliff Gale, former MD of Lite N' Easy for22 years, on Leading with passion, respect for your people and keeping the soul alive in your business.

📝 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

🍏 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"The biggest thing a leader can bring to the business is the responsibility to put the right people on the bus. And when it's time for someone to hop off the bus, to have the bravery to say that there's a reason that they need to hop off the bus."

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 Carolyn Creswell, Founder and MD of Carman's Kitchen.

Her full episode is titled Hiring and firing people, doing what you love, understanding menopause and having genuine work-life balance.

You can find the full audio and show notes here:

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/346 👂

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

In 1992, as an 18-year-old university student, Carolyn founded Carman's when she bought the small muesli business she was working at, for $1,000.

More than 30 years later, Carman's Kitchen is now Australia's favourite muesli brand, alongside being a market leader in deliciously good for you snacks.

Carolyn's determination and focus on producing quality products using whole foods, has seen Carman's grow internationally, exporting to more than 30 countries.

Carolyn won the 2007 Ernst & Young's Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and was named the 2012 Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year. She is also a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

In the full episode we talk about:

✅ Her philosophy on continuous improvement and evolution as a business leader.

✅ The mindset and process required for better hiring and firing; and

✅ Why menopause in the workplace is a critical issue, and how she is navigating this for her own wellbeing and those in her organisation.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Carolyn via LinkedIn. You can learn more about Carman's on their website.

• Jim Collins interview - Tim Ferriss show

• Cass Spies, food industry innovator, founder & CEO of Twisted Healthy treats, on Being nimble, promoting from within, and winning globally

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

• Vince Lebon, footwear brand trailblazer, CEO of Rollie Nation, on Streamlining Systems, scaling up and business rhythm

📝 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

🍏 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"The danger for CEOs is to allow yourself to be surrounded by people who tell you how good your ideas are. You actually need a balance of people who tell you when you've got something wrong or if you could have handled something in a different way."

In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat we had in 2019 with Mike Schneider, the Managing Director of the Bunnings Group, on career diversity, genuine empathy, and the 4Hs of authenticity.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/347 👂

BE MORE EFFECTIVE WITH YOUR TIME AND TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR CALENDAR: chiefmaker.com/saveanhour

Before being appointed to the top role, Mike was the Managing Director of Bunnings Australia & New Zealand and had also led the store operations teams, having joined Bunnings in 2005.

His career has seen him hold a range of senior operational, commercial and human resource roles, both in retail and financial services, most notably at Target, Westpac and The Warehouse Group.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of NSW and has completed the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD, and the Advanced Strategic Management Program at IMD.

In this episode we talk about:

✅ How having a diverse career path has been to his benefit

✅ Why genuine empathy and being a consistent, not predictable, leader is vital to success

✅ What he means by an integrated life as opposed to work-life balance, and

✅ His 4Hs Framework that allows him to lead an authentic life.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can reach Mike on LinkedIn.

• World's Best by Ric Charlesworth

• On Violence by Natasha Stott Despoja

• Carolyn Creswell, Founder and Managing Director of Carman's Kitchen, on Running a multinational business, loving what you do and having a genuine work-life balance

• Cass Spies, food industry innovator, founder & CEO of Twisted Healthy treats, on Being nimble, promoting from within, and winning globally

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

📝 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

🍏 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"The biggest thing a leader can bring to the business is the responsibility to put the right people on the bus. And to have the bravery to say that there's a reason that they need to hop off the bus."

In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Carolyn Creswell, Founder and MD of Carman's Kitchen, on how to fire people gracefully, doing what you love, understanding menopause and having genuine work-life balance.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/346 👂

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

In 1992, as an 18-year-old university student, Carolyn founded Carman's when she bought the small muesli business she was working at, for $1,000.

More than 30 years later, Carman's Kitchen is now Australia's favourite muesli brand, alongside being a market leader in deliciously good for you snacks.

Carolyn's determination and focus on producing quality products using whole foods, has seen Carman's grow internationally, exporting to more than 30 countries.

Carolyn won the 2007 Ernst & Young's Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and was named the 2012 Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year. She is also a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

In this episode we talk about:

✅ Her philosophy on continuous improvement and evolution as a business leader.

✅ The mindset and process required for better hiring and firing; and

✅ Why menopause in the workplace is a critical issue, and how she is navigating this for her own wellbeing and those in her organisation.

Stay epic,

Greg

You can connect with Carolyn via LinkedIn. You can learn more about Carman's on their website.

• Jim Collins interview - Tim Ferriss show

• Cass Spies, food industry innovator, founder & CEO of Twisted Healthy treats, on Being nimble, promoting from within, and winning globally

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

• Vince Lebon, footwear brand trailblazer, CEO of Rollie Nation, on Streamlining Systems, scaling up and business rhythm

📝 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

🍏 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"Your direct reports actually want you to provide a clear framework and guidance, and then get out of their way so they can do the job you're paying them to do."

Chief, today we complete our Think Like a CEO Series, and we're going to look at how great chiefs work on the business, not in the business.

As you move up the ranks, your role increasingly becomes about working on the business.

If you are in a senior or executive role, this is about stepping out of the day-to-day operational grind: the thousands of tasks, the endless emails, the back-to-back meetings, the constant demands of stakeholders.

That is what your employer actually employs you for. The best leaders I've ever met embrace this responsibility. They look beyond their immediate role and work to improve the entire organisation.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/345 👂

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:

✅ Being a person of value and having the courage to start letting go

✅ Building a tight operating rhythm to engage a high performing team, and

✅ Not going it alone and bringing in trusted advisors to help you on your journey.

Deal hope,

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

🍏 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"All the best leaders of change I've noticed, bring their people with them."

Chief, today we continue with Part 4 of our Think like a CEO Series, and we're going to cover how to overcome resistance to change.

This is one of the most difficult and stressful parts of running a business. Getting people on the train, keeping them inspired and creative, and not slowing momentum down can be an incredibly difficult journey.

I've been involved in a lot of transformations now, and I've seen every mistake under the sun. And what I've learned is that the CEOs and the senior leaders who successfully drive change happen to do a few things that others seem to skip.

So I want to share with you five things that I know that if you apply them properly, it will make an immediate, tangible difference to the momentum you are getting in leading change in your organisation.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/344 👂

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

In this episode, I talk about:

✅ Taking a step back and understanding your business and your people, and how they relate to the change curve

✅ Knowing your role and managing yourself to be able to perform at your peak, and

✅ A unique but hugely effective tactic around breaking fixed mindsets.

Deal hope,

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

🍏 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker

"Correctly diagnosing your people's performance issues will mean you enjoy the benefits of watching your people grow and thrive, and they will never forget that you did that for them."

Chief, today we continue with Part 3 of our How to think like a CEO Series, and we're going to look at how to build confidence in your people.

I believe that one of the biggest problems in both sport and business - and I have seen this over and over and over again - is misdiagnosis of performance issues.

Leaders will talk about their people not having the right capability, but they simply lack the skills. Luckily, misdiagnosis of performance issues is something we can fix, and I will take you through this process in this episode.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/343 👂

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

In this episode, I talk about:

✅ How leaders misdiagnose performance issues and why this hampers confidence

✅ How to correctly diagnose confidence blockers, and

✅ Overcoming confidence struggles properly and building confidence over time.

Deal hope,

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

🍏 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Give The Inner Chief podcast a 5-star rating on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect with the Chief Maker