The Partnership Playbook: Lead with Clarity, Partner for 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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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.<...
160. How “great deals” quietly destroy growth (and what GTM leaders can do differently)
<p>What if the deals your team celebrates most are quietly undermining your growth and leadership credibility?</p><p>Most GTM leaders are trained to optimize for speed, logos, and booked revenue. But when pricing decisions ignore margin durability and capacity strain, “great” deals can quietly erode unit economics, exhaust teams, and distort future negotiations. This episode reframes how strong leaders evaluate deals—without becoming blockers or sounding negative.</p>Learn how pricing, margin, and capacity trade-offs actually work—and why ignoring any one of them damages growthUnderstand how incentives and “strategic” discounts distort deal structure and become permanent over timeGain pra...
159. You want to lead a basketball team (not a golf team)
<p>Are you leading talented people who work hard but don’t really move together?</p><p>Most leadership teams don’t struggle with effort. They struggle with coordination. As companies grow, it’s easy to drift into a model where everyone performs individually, yet progress feels heavy, slow and overly dependent on the CEO.</p><p>In this episode, Phil breaks down a simple but powerful distinction that reshapes how CEOs think about leadership, growth, and team performance.</p>Learn how to diagnose whether your company is operating like a golf team or a basketball teamUnderstand why individual excellence can qu...
158. How to go from sales to strategic partner in complex markets with CEO Hamid Ghanadan
<p>What if the fastest path to growth wasn’t selling harder but partnering deeper?</p><p>If you’re scaling in healthcare, biotech or B2B you already know this: the complexity is compounding. Partners are either a liability or your greatest growth accelerant.</p><p>In this episode with CEO Hamid Ghanadan, we explore:</p>How empathy + clarity unlock high-trust partnershipsWhat most CEOs get wrong about change readiness and executionA leadership framework for growth when data is unclear<br/><p>Learn how to position your product and your people for growth through partnerships.</p><p>🎧 Listen now and rewire...
157. How GTM leaders can forecast growth without pretending certainty
<p>What happens when leaders ask you for certainty—but the market refuses to cooperate?</p><p>As a GTM leader, forecasting today isn’t just about numbers. It’s about trust, credibility, and leadership in motion. You’re expected to be decisive in a world defined by unknowns. The pressure to sound certain is real, but it often makes forecasts brittle and trust fragile.</p><p>In this episode, Phil reframes forecasting as a leadership skill and shows how the strongest GTM leaders earn confidence by naming risk, structuring uncertainty, and leading with judgment instead of theater.</p>Learn how to f...
156. How CEOs create leadership leverage without becoming the bottleneck
<p>Are you building a leadership team that actually creates leverage — or are you still carrying more weight than you should?</p><p>In this episode of The Partnership Playbook, Phil breaks down a clear approach to leadership that drives growth and strengthens leadership without sacrificing performance.</p><p>You’ll learn how to:</p>Create clarity and ownership with direct reports without micromanagingCollaborate as a thought partner without becoming the decision-makerBuild a leadership system that hits the numbers and develops champion leaders<br/><p>If you’re a CEO focused on growth and leadership leverage, this episode will give you a...
155. How GTM leaders can handle tough partner conversations without burning bridges
<p>What’s the real risk of avoiding a difficult partner conversation?</p><p>In this episode of The Partnership Playbook, Phil Hayes-St Clair breaks down how to plan, approach, and execute difficult partner conversations with clarity, confidence, and leadership presence—so both sides leave with more respect, even if the partnership needs to end.</p><p>What you’ll gain from listening:</p>How to structure difficult partner conversations that protect trust and accelerate growthA repeatable framework to handle conflict without damaging leadership credibilityHow to end misaligned partnerships cleanly while preserving long-term relationships<br/><p>If partnership growth and leader...
154. How to create time to think and accelerate growth as a CEO
<p>When was the last time you had real time to think as a CEO?</p><p>In this episode of The Partnership Playbook, Phil Hayes-St Clair breaks down how CEOs can reclaim time to think and, more importantly, how to use that time to create clarity, momentum, and calm across the business.</p>Learn the simple disciplines that create real thinking time without sacrificing executionDiscover how better thinking improves decision quality, team alignment, and leadership energyBuild a repeatable rhythm that supports long-term growth and confident leadership<br/><p>If you want fewer misfires, clearer teams, and leadership that feels...
153. RE-RELEASE: Colonel Kim 'KC' Campbell on leadership in high-stakes environments
<p>Meet former US Air Force fighter pilot, Colonel Kim 'Killer Chick' Campbell. </p><p>This is her story including a harrowing experience during a mission in Baghdad, where her aircraft was critically damaged and she had to rely on emergency backup systems to get home safely. </p><p>Learn how partnerships, trust, and debriefing play a critical leadership role in high-stakes environments.</p><p>Connect with Kim:</p>Get Flying in the Face of Fear by Kim 'KC' CampbellVisit Kim's websiteConnect with Kim on LinkedIn<br/><p>New episodes Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.</p><p>More from Phil Hayes-St...
