The Partnership Playbook: Lead with Clarity, Create Leverage & Reclaim Time
Helping leaders grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and bring real meaning to their teams. The Partnership Playbook is for CEOs, founders, and go-to-market leaders who want to grow without noise, scale without burnout, and build partnerships that actually matter. You’ll hear clear thinking on: - How to become a great CEO - How distribution, supply chain, and product partnerships create resilience - How leaders use partnerships to simplify strategy, not add more work Hosted by Phil Hayes-St Clair - CEO coach and partnerships advisor with 20+ years of experience across healthcare, biotech, aerospace, and eCommerce. Each episode blends pr...
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170. How CEOs train their teams to get you the right information at the right time
<p>Are you absolutely certain you’re getting the truth from your team at the exact moment you need it most?</p><p>In this episode, Phil Hayes-St Clair breaks down how CEOs can build radical transparency without creating fear — and how to train teams to “stick the landing” by delivering the right data, insight, and implications when it matters most.</p><p>You’ll learn how to:</p>Build a culture where truth travels faster than ego — without damaging trustInstall a simple reporting framework that saves time and sharpens decisionsCreate information rhythms that protect momentum and drive sustainable growth<br/><p>If yo...
169. How to manage a GTM strategy that’s stalled (and start winning in 60 days)
<p>What do you do when the GTM strategy that built your growth suddenly becomes the thing slowing it down?</p><p>In this episode of The Partnership Playbook, Phil lays out a practical framework to help you lead wholesale GTM change with clarity, conviction, and real leadership — not panic.</p><p>You’ll learn how to:</p>Evaluate alternative GTM paths without emotional bias or internal chaosMake a decisive strategy call using a structured scoring modelCreate measurable momentum and early wins within 60 days<br/><p>If you want a clear, steady playbook for navigating disruption and driving growth through focu...
168. How CEOs can communicate commitment to work without damaging family, leadership or growth
<p>How do you tell your family your work matters deeply… without making them feel like they matter less?</p><p>This episode gives you the language to communicate your commitment to work — while anchoring your leadership at home with clarity, empathy, and emotional security.</p><p>In this episode, you’ll learn how to:</p>Communicate your commitment to work without creating emotional competition at homeReplace guilt and defensiveness with clarity, rhythm, and grounded leadershipCreate a simple, repeatable framework that strengthens both family trust and long-term growth<br/><p>If you want to lead with conviction at work and confid...
167. CEO Michelle Lynch on scaling healthcare without losing culture
<p>What if the future of healthcare growth isn’t about scale—but about partnership?</p><p>Healthcare leaders today face burnout, commercial pressure, and rapidly shifting regulation. Many default to control. Fewer build ecosystems.</p><p>In this episode, Michelle Lynch shares what it takes to lead through transformation—without losing culture or care.</p><p>You’ll discover:</p>How partnership-driven growth creates resilience in complex marketsWhy simplicity—not scale—is the secret to successful partnershipsHow emotional intelligence and purpose protect performance during disruption<br/><p>If you’re serious about building sustainable growth through partnership—this conversation will change how...
166. How to assess the GTM strategy you inherited (without killing momentum)
<p>What do you really inherit when you step into a new GTM leadership role — a growth engine or hidden drag?</p><p>In this episode Phil walks through a repeatable framework to help GTM leaders objectively assess the GTM assets they inherited - including partnerships, sales, marketing, and product-led channels - and make confident decisions that fuel sustainable growth and leadership clarity.</p>Learn how to quickly assess which GTM assets truly fit your strategy and ICP todayDiscover a practical framework to identify leverage across partnerships and other channelsGain confidence to decide what to double down on, stabilize, or su...
165. How CEOs help their best leaders leave (and still win)
<p>What does it say about your leadership if your best people never outgrow their roles?</p><p>CEOs want loyalty and great companies require growth. And sometimes, those two forces collide. </p><p>In this episode Phil explores what it really means to lead when one of your best people is ready for their next play.</p>Learn how to spot the difference between healthy growth tension and silent disengagementUnderstand why helping leaders leave well often strengthens long-term growth and trustGain a practical CEO framework for expanding roles, planning succession, or leading strong exits<br/><p>If you want...
164. CEO Doug Taylor on why growth without partnership isn’t ambitious enough
<p>What if your growth ceiling isn’t capital, talent, or strategy… but your approach to partnership?</p><p>Too many leaders try to scale impact alone—only to discover complexity is outpacing capacity. In a world of digital exclusion, rising inequality, and fractured trust, sustainable growth demands something different: aligned partnerships built on shared value.</p><p>Meet Doug Taylor, CEO at The Smith Family, Australia’s largest children’s charities.</p><p>In this episode, you’ll discover:</p>How to assess whether a partnership will accelerate or dilute growthWhy shared value is the key to long-term, scalable partnership...
163. How to build redundancy into your GTM strategy (before growth stalls)
<p>What happens when a critical part of your go-to-market engine disappears overnight?</p><p>In this episode of The Partnership Playbook, Phil Hayes-St Clair breaks down why redundancy is mission critical and how GTM teams can design backup options that protect growth without creating complexity.</p>Learn how to identify hidden single points of failure in your GTM strategy before they breakDiscover a practical framework for building redundancy that protects revenue, partnerships, and growth velocityGain the confidence to lead calmly through disruption by designing optionality into your GTM system<br/><p>If you want to build durable growth and...
162. Why strong CEOs are always closer to the numbers than you think
<p>Are you leading with conviction or quietly hoping your numbers don’t get tested?</p><p>Most CEOs say they want clarity, confidence, and trust from their teams. But many unknowingly give away authority the moment they admit they’re “not close to the numbers.”</p><p>In this episode, you’ll learn how knowing the right numbers strengthens leadership and fuels sustainable growth.</p>Why knowing your numbers is a signal of strength that inspires followershipWhich metrics reveal true business health beyond sales and top-line costsHow numbers protect CEOs from being blindsided when making high-stakes decisions<br/><p>If you wan...
161. RE-RELEASE: Christiana Brenton and the growth of FlightStory Studio (Home of the Diary of a CEO)
<p>What if your revenue playbook was slowing your growth?</p><p>Most sales teams push harder. Christiana Brenton thinks differently, starting with curiosity, empathy, and humility. From scaling Flight Studio to rejecting a $100M offer, this conversation flips traditional thinking on partnerships and performance.</p><p>In this episode you’ll learn:</p>How curiosity and care outperform brute-force tactics in salesThe “first principles” mindset behind Flight Studio’s exponential growthWhy long-term trust beats short-term wins and how to build it<br/><p>Get a front-row seat to the mindset and strategy behind the world's most culturally relevant podcast brand.<...
