The Partnership Playbook: Lead with Clarity, Create Leverage & Reclaim Time

Phil Hayes-St Clair
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Management
  • Updated Semiweekly

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 practical insight with leadership reflection you can actually apply. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, including: - A weekly partnership episode - A weekly leadership episode - A long-form CEO conversation If you’re looking to grow with intent, lead with confidence, and build something your team believes in—you’re in the right place. Start anywhere. Stay for the clarity. Learn more at philhsc.com Know a great future guest? Send them here: philhsc.com/expression-of-interest

  1. Oct 2

    251. Rugby Captain Emily Chancellor on talent, belonging and pursuing team excellence

    This episode is brought to you by the CEO Room. Six weeks, six CEOs, working through the confidential decisions that keep you up at night. Each week pairs a private session with Phil and a class session where one CEO brings their hardest problem to the group. When the six weeks end, your class keeps meeting monthly as part of the alumni membership, with access to Phil between calls and priority invitations to the annual CEO retreat. Applications for the next class are open now. Visit listentophil.com to book a call. What if the strongest leaders aren’t the loudest but the ones who make trying feel safe? Wallaroos and Waratahs leader Emily Chancellor has spent her career performing in environments where standards are high, pressure is real and trust matters. Her philosophy offers a powerful lesson for anyone responsible for people, partnership and growth: belonging isn’t about lowering expectations. It’s about building an environment where people are willing to stretch toward them. In this conversation, discover how to: Build high-performance cultures without sacrificing humanity or belonging.Use vulnerability, consistency and small acts of connection to strengthen trust.Create growth by making ambition, experimentation and “trying” socially safe. Listen to discover why your environment may be one of the biggest growth levers you control. The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts. PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

    251. Rugby Captain Emily Chancellor on talent, belonging and pursuing team excellence

  2. Sep 22

    250. Why capable teams still move too slowly

    This episode is brought to you by the CEO Room. Six weeks, six CEOs, working through the confidential decisions that keep you up at night. Each week pairs a private session with Phil and a class session where one CEO brings their hardest problem to the group. When the six weeks end, your class keeps meeting monthly as part of the alumni membership, with access to Phil between calls and priority invitations to the annual CEO retreat. Applications for the next class are open now. Visit listentophil.com to book a call. What if your team isn’t slow — what if they’re waiting for you? When a business can’t move at market speed, the problem may not be urgency or capability; it may be that too many decisions are queuing for the CEO. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to spot where decisions are really waiting — and why the queue often leads back to the CEO’s calendar.Why delegation without clear boundaries transfers uncertainty instead of creating speed.How to use the Find, Frame, Free model to distribute authority without losing confidence or control. Look at the last ten working days, find one recurring decision that didn’t genuinely need you, and redesign it so it never has to wait for you again. The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts. PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

    250. Why capable teams still move too slowly

  3. Sep 11

    249. Dr Ginni Mansberg on women's longevity, leadership and saving your brain

    Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role. Visit listentophil.com What happens when high-performing leaders suddenly stop feeling like themselves? This conversation with Dr Ginni Mansberg explores an under-discussed leadership challenge: midlife health can affect confidence, productivity, career decisions and the ability of experienced women to remain in senior roles. Understand why retaining midlife women is both a leadership issue and an economic growth opportunity.Learn how colleagues and partners can support rather than inadvertently take control.Discover how stronger workplace partnership can protect talent, institutional knowledge and team performance. Listen for a practical conversation about leadership, health and creating the conditions for people and organisations to sustain growth. Learn more about: The Women's Longevity HandbookSaving Your Brain The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts. PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

    249. Dr Ginni Mansberg on women's longevity, leadership and saving your brain

  4. Sep 9

    248. The standard you didn't mean to set (and how to resolve it)

    Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role. Visit listentophil.com When was the last time you were short with someone at work, and who else was in the room? Culture isn't set in the values session, it's set in the worst week of the quarter, in the moment you weren't planning to be watched. This episode breaks down why the repair costs less than the drift it prevents, and how to make it before it quietly becomes how things are done. Why a single sharp moment can outweigh a year of offsites and values statementsThe difference between a private apology and a public repair that actually resets the standardA two-week practice for leaders who can't yet see their own pattern under pressure Listen now, then go find the person who saw it. The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts. PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

    248. The standard you didn't mean to set (and how to resolve it)

  5. Sep 7

    247. The one ratio that explains why decisions in your business slow down

    Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role. Visit listentophil.com How many of the people who work for you have been there less than twelve months? A fast hiring period buys you speed, and it borrows against your culture to pay for it. The repayment arrives about eighteen months later as slower decisions, softer standards and good people quietly inventing their own way of working. The one ratio that tells you how much culture debt you're carrying, and the threshold where proximity stops teaching your standardsWhy decision speed is the first thing to go, and why your calendar fills with arbitrationWhat to do on Monday, including the agenda change most leaders resist in a growth year Work out your ratio before your next leadership meeting, then decide whether standards go ahead of strategy. The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts. PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

    247. The one ratio that explains why decisions in your business slow down

  6. Aug 26

    246. Most replayed episode: Why the best GTM partnerships this year start with 6 questions

    Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role. Visit listentophil.com What if this year’s partnership growth doesn’t come from doing more but from choosing better? Most GTM leaders are pushing harder on partners in a market that’s already tight on trust, attention, and momentum. The result? Activity without progress. Deals that drift. Partnerships that quietly stall. In this episode: Learn how to open deeper, more transparent partner conversations that drive growth instead of frictionDiscover how IDEAL+™ helps you decide which partnerships deserve focus, and which don’tBuild leadership confidence by designing partnerships around intent, trust, and long-term momentum If you’re responsible for partnership-led growth and want to lead with clarity instead of pressure, this episode will change how you approach every partner conversation. Learn more about the IDEAL Framework here: https://philhsc.com/ideal The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts. PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

    246. Most replayed episode: Why the best GTM partnerships this year start with 6 questions

  7. Aug 24

    245. Most replayed episode: As CEO do you lead a basketball team or a golf team?

    Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role. Visit listentophil.com Are you leading talented people who work hard but don’t really move together? 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. In this episode, Phil breaks down a simple but powerful distinction that reshapes how CEOs think about leadership, growth, and team performance. Learn how to diagnose whether your company is operating like a golf team or a basketball teamUnderstand why individual excellence can quietly stall company-wide growthDiscover practical leadership moves that shift teams from effort-driven to intent-driven performance If you want to lead a team that creates real momentum (not just activity) this episode will give you a clearer way to see, think and act as a CEO. The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts. PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

    245. Most replayed episode: As CEO do you lead a basketball team or a golf team?

  8. Aug 21

    244. RE-RELEASE: CEO Bob Moore on the human side of building and selling companies

    Get the CEO Leadership Collection: Five curated conversations in a private podcast, each under ten minutes, on the decisions and pressures that define the role. Visit listentophil.com This episode of The Partnership Playbook explores the untapped potential of partnership data with Bob Moore, CEO and co-founder of Crossbeam. Learn how data can reveal your best potential partners, optimize collaboration, and drive growth. Key Takeaways: The Role of Data in Partnerships: How organizations can utilize data to identify and connect with the right partners.Data Gaps in Collaboration: The history and common mistakes of underutilizing partnership data.Maximizing Potential: Practical steps to unlock the power of the data you already have. Connect: LinkedInWebsite —---------------- Thanks for being here! The Partnership Playbook is the podcast for leaders who want to grow with clarity, create leverage through partnerships, and lead their teams with meaning. Each episode gives you practical insights drawn from two decades of building and backing companies, coaching CEOs, and closing high-value partnerships across industries. You’ll learn how to scale yourself as a leader, choose partners that help you grow faster, and turn trust, alignment, and first wins into momentum that lasts. PS - Have a CEO guest recommendation for the show? Share this link with them.

    244. RE-RELEASE: CEO Bob Moore on the human side of building and selling companies
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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 practical insight with leadership reflection you can actually apply. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, including: - A weekly partnership episode - A weekly leadership episode - A long-form CEO conversation If you’re looking to grow with intent, lead with confidence, and build something your team believes in—you’re in the right place. Start anywhere. Stay for the clarity. Learn more at philhsc.com Know a great future guest? Send them here: philhsc.com/expression-of-interest

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