The best person to facilitate a company’s planning session is often the one who knows the business least. Because their job is to challenge assumptions, surface disagreement and create genuine alignment. A plan only becomes powerful when the people responsible for executing it have helped build it.

I’m joined by my fellow Evolution Partners coaches Andres Zylberberg, Richard Peake and Sue Turk, to discuss the role of the facilitator in creating a planning process where everyone has a voice, ideas are challenged and the team genuinely commits to the outcome.

We explore why AI can support strategic planning but shouldn’t replace human debate, how the “power of the pen” can create unconscious compliance, and why an external facilitator can uncover blind spots, encourage psychological safety and challenge the thinking inside the room.

Takeaways

• A good plan creates commitment when the people involved build it.
• AI can support planning, but it cannot manufacture genuine team commitment.
• External facilitators challenge assumptions that internal leaders may unconsciously overlook.
• The team that builds the plan is less likely resisting.
• Leaders cannot effectively facilitate while simultaneously participating in strategic planning discussions.
• Psychological safety allows teams to surface disagreements, concerns and alternative perspectives.
• Great facilitators create tension that leads to better strategic decisions.
• The cost of executing a weak plan far exceeds facilitation fees.

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process.
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster.
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life)

Follow me:
on https://au.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles
on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth

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You can't out-hack evolution, says cognitive performance specialist Clint Rahe. Business leaders who try to operate at peak intensity all year are setting themselves up for burnout instead of sustainable results.

A former Royal Air Force physical training instructor, Clint has since worked with business leaders, teams and elite athletes on preparing for high-stakes moments without running at full throttle year-round.

Clint explains why leaders should treat their calendar as a performance tool, how to train for high-pressure moments the way athletes and military operators do, and why recovery doesn't require a week in Bali. Sometimes it's just the gap between two meetings. He also unpacks how AI is quietly increasing cognitive load, and why after-action reviews deserve a place in business as much as they have in sport and the military.

Takeaways

• Elite athletes and soldiers train hard, then deliberately recover fully.
• Business leaders rarely rehearse the high-pressure moments that matter most.
• Cognitive periodisation structures your year, quarter, month, week, and day.
• Treat your calendar as a genuine performance tool, not clutter.
• Schedule preparation and decompression time around your hardest meetings daily.
• Recovery can simply be the gap between two back-to-back meetings.
• After-action reviews turn experience into lessons instead of repeated mistakes.
• AI creates spare capacity, and leaders instantly refill it again.

Follow Clint Rahe
The Cognitive Athlete
https://thecognitiveathlete.com.au/

Clint’s book
The Cognitive Athlete: Sustainable Peak Performance for Leaders, Thinkers and Doers https://link.amazon/B0hA2t6el

Books recommended
Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet https://link.amazon/B04xHQKaH

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process.
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster.
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life)

Follow me:
on https://au.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles
on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth

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The right business operating system isn’t the one with the best software or the most passionate followers. It’s the one that helps your people consistently execute, adapt and achieve what the business needs at its current stage.

I’m joined by Evolution Partners leadership coaches Andreas Zylberberg, Sue Turk and Richard Peake to explore what happens when a business outgrows its operating system — and whether the real problem is the system at all.

We discuss why habits, discipline and execution matter more than methodology, how a business’s needs change as it grows, and the difference between an implementer, advisor and coach. We also explore why the quality of the coach can matter more than the tool, and why the best coaches meet businesses where they are rather than forcing them into a one-size-fits-all framework.

Takeaways

• The right operating system adapts as your business evolves.
• Software cannot compensate for poor habits, discipline and inconsistent execution.
• Your business needs change as complexity, people and markets evolve.
• The best coach adapts frameworks to your business’s specific circumstances.
• Don’t choose a system because everyone else says it works.
• The quality of coaching matters more than the software itself.
• Great coaches identify blind spots and strengthen leadership team capability.
• Choose what helps your business achieve its desired outcomes.

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process.
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster.
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life)

Follow me:
on https://au.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles
on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth

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Lawrence Lam has spent his career studying why founder-led companies consistently outperform, and his answer comes down to three traits: bold judgment, aligned incentives, and public influence. Founders with real skin in the game make decisions salaried executives rarely can.

Lawrence is Founder and Managing Director of Luminary Investment Management, which runs the Luminary Global Founders Fund, investing in listed companies where founders retain meaningful ownership and influence.

Lawrence unpacks findings from Luminary's global study of thousands of listed companies, explains why founder DNA often outlasts the founder, and shares lessons from Steve Jobs, Jensen Huang, and Chemist Warehouse's Jack Gantz. He also explores psychological ownership, the risks of "professionalising" too fast, and why long-term incentive design matters more than most boards realise.

Takeaways

• Founder-led companies outperform through bold judgment, alignment, and public influence.
• Long-term thinking matters more than any single founder's personal presence.
• Aligned incentives mean leaders share both the upside and downside risk.
• Adding too many decision-makers slows companies and breeds conservative, cautious thinking.
• Intrinsic motivation builds longer-lasting commitment than bonuses or external financial rewards.
• Psychological ownership can exist in leaders who never actually founded anything.
• Investors should look beyond reports by talking directly to frontline employees.
• Founder-led companies are growing fast across every industry and global region.

Follow Lawrence Lam
https://lumenaryinvest.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrence-lam-354b84bb/

Lawrence’s book
The Founder Effect: Three Pillars of Success in Founder-Led Companies https://link.amazon/B0bLEzEQ6

Books recommended
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight https://link.amazon/B04Ccoaeu

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process.
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster.
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life)

Follow me:
on https://au.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles
on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth

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Working longer hours doesn't necessarily lead to better results. According to accountant and author John Briggs, the key to higher productivity is working in focused blocks, taking genuine recovery breaks, and measuring outcomes instead of time at a desk.

A CPA with a master's degree in tax, John built Insight Tax from a solo practice into a multi-million-dollar firm with almost 300 employees. After implementing his 3.3 Rule, the business grew 492% while averaging just 42-hour work weeks during tax season.

John explains the science behind cognitive load, why scrolling your phone isn't a real break at all, and how restorative pauses can improve focus, profitability and wellbeing. He also shares practical advice for leaders wanting to shift their teams from measuring hours worked to measuring meaningful results.

Takeaways

• Working smarter beats working longer when results matter most every day.
• Recovery breaks improve focus, productivity, wellbeing, and long-term business performance consistently.
• Measure employee outcomes instead of hours spent sitting behind desks daily.
• Scrolling your phone rarely provides the restorative break your brain actually needs.
• The best recovery break often starts with an unplugged walk outside alone.
• Focus deeply, recover intentionally, then return with renewed clarity and energy.
• Redefining personal success creates happier leaders and stronger, more sustainable businesses together.
• Productivity rises when leaders trust people instead of monitoring every hour.

Follow John Briggs

https://therealjohnbriggs.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/therealjohnbriggs/

John’s book
Author’s book Take Breaks, Work Better: Measure Impact, Not Hours, and Transform Your Profitability https://link.amazon/B0bpQgyXA or https://takebreaksworkbetter.com/

Books recommended
Rich Relationships: Create a Million-Dollar Network for Your Business https://link.amazon/B0a82yqB4

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process.
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster.
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life)

Follow me:
on https://au.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles
on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The biggest obstacle to growing your business may not be your strategy, your market or your team. It could be your own ego. In this roundtable discussion, the Evolution Partners coaching team explores how founders and CEOs can unknowingly become the bottleneck by shutting down ideas, limiting autonomy and creating cultures where people stop speaking up.

Brad Giles is joined by leadership coaches Andres Zylberberg, Richard Peake & Sue Turk, who collectively work with business owners and executive teams across Australia to help them build stronger leaders, healthier cultures and more valuable businesses.

Together they unpack the subtle ways ego shows up in leadership, why blind spots are impossible to see alone, and how curiosity, feedback and great coaching can unlock better decisions, stronger teams and sustainable business growth.

Takeaways

• Your biggest business bottleneck might be the leader staring back at you.
• Great leaders stay curious, especially when their instincts tell them otherwise.
• Your team cannot outperform the limits created by your own ego.
• Blind spots become dangerous when leaders stop inviting honest, challenging feedback.
• Empowered teams make faster, better decisions than founder-dependent organisations every day.
• Ego builds businesses but unchecked ego eventually limits their future growth.
• The best founders create problem-solvers instead of becoming every problem's solution.
• Growth begins when leaders question themselves before questioning everyone else.

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process.
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster.
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life)

Follow me:
on https://au.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles
on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth

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Support the show: https://www.facebook.com/evolutionpartnersperth

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The biggest threat to your team's focus isn't distraction from outside the business. It could be you. Shawn Vanderhoven, partner at the Wiseman Group, says driven leaders often unintentionally create the very chaos their teams are trying to escape.

Shawn helped grow his family software company 30-fold before moving into leadership development, later collaborating with Liz Wiseman on the second edition of her best-selling book, Multipliers.

Drawing on research into hundreds of leaders and employees, Shawn explains why personal productivity habits collapse under team pressure, and what leaders can do instead. He unpacks digital distraction archetypes, why "turning out your pockets" reveals hidden workload, and how tapping the brakes creates space for teams to do their best, most focused work.

Takeaways

• Driven leaders often create the very distractions their teams struggle with.
• Productivity is a social problem, not just a personal discipline issue.
• Turning out your pockets reveals hidden workload before setting new priorities.
• Jump-in delegation disrupts focus; tuning in respects existing priorities first.
• Digital distractors like novelists and arsonists quietly sabotage team focus.
• Naming your digital wake helps leaders build healthier communication habits.
• Facing the pain of saying no protects space for real priorities.
• Labelling ideas as soft or hard opinions prevents unintended instructions.

Follow Shawn Vanderhoven
https://www.pausebook.co/

Shawn’s book
PAUSE: How to Lead Brilliant Work in a Busy World with Shawn Vanderhoven https://link.amazon/B0eMnTLXx

Books recommended
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall B. B. Rosenberg https://link.amazon/B0cdlcC0g

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life)

Follow me:
on https://au.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles
on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth

Enjoying the show? Leave a review

Support the show: https://www.facebook.com/evolutionpartnersperth

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Under pressure, capable people don't lose their skills — they lose access to them, as fear shuts down the brain's decision-making centre. That's according to leadership advisor and psychotherapist Errol Amerasakara, owner of Bluestone Edge, who has spent almost two decades working with executive teams and elite sporting organisations on trust and performance.

Errol unpacks his concept of "adaptive safety", explaining how teams stay honest, connected and capable of learning when stakes are high, and why psychological safety is too often confused with comfort. He shares the micro-behaviours that build or erode trust in thirty seconds, how leaders should read silence in a room, and why the best teams debrief weekly rather than waiting for the next offsite.

Takeaways

• Fear physiologically shuts down the brain's skills and decision-making centre.
• Teams unconsciously mirror each other's stress through nervous system contagion.
• Psychological safety means willingness to speak up, not mere comfort.
• Adaptive safety must be built continuously through small daily behaviours.
• Micro-behaviours in any given moment build or erode team trust.
• Debriefing weekly builds a team's muscle for honest self-reflection.
• Leaders should stay curious about silence rather than rushing decisions.
• Shorter gaps between insight and action signal stronger team safety.

Follow Errol Amerasekera
https://errolamerasekera.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/errol-amerasekera-a254154/

Errol’s book
From Fear to Flow: The Adaptive Safety Revolution https://link.amazon/B0aNthDCI

Books recommended
The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World by Ronald A. Heifetz https://link.amazon/B0gKTELR5

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEvolutionPartners

Newsletter – each week I share interesting insights, articles and ideas you can use. Join other leaders and subscribe to The Evolution Partners newsletter https://evolutionpartners.com.au/subscribe/

Books – Learn more about our books https://evolutionpartners.com.au/books/
Made to Thrive: The practical, prescriptive guide on how to be a great CEO
Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the points where they are more effective faster. A business case for leaders on why you should commit to an effective onboarded process.
Onboarded for Managers: Helping managers bring new hires to the point where they are more effective faster.
Bigger isn’t Better, Better is Better: Avoiding the pressure of endless growth to build a better business (and better life)

Follow me:
on https://au.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles
on https://twitter.com/Evolution_Perth

Enjoying the show? Leave a review

Support the show: https://www.facebook.com/evolutionpartnersperth

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.