The Impact Multiplier CEO | Leadership and CEO Evolution for Scaling Businesses

https://xquadrant.com/reckoning7

📘 Download the companion workbook and watch the chapter video:

Explore more episodes and resources for founders and CEOs at:

The 10X Reckoning is Richard Medcalf's guide for founders and CEOs who believe their greatest contribution still lies ahead. Across this audiobook, Richard explores CEO leadership, CEO evolution, executive team ownership, leadership leverage, CEO transformation and the defining decisions that help successful founders and CEOs make the quantum leap to create their life's greatest work.

Richard Medcalf is founder of Xquadrant, CEO coach, and author of Making TIME For Strategy and The 10X Reckoning.

Am I the Only One Who Cares? (The 10X Reckoning, Audiobook, Chapter 6 on Executive Team Ownership)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0200

Have you ever looked around your leadership team and wondered why no one seems to care about the vision as much as you do?

In this chapter of The 10X Reckoning, Richard Medcalf explores one of the most frustrating experiences successful founders and CEOs face. You have a compelling vision, a capable team and a clear strategy, yet progress feels painfully slow. Rather than blaming the team, Richard argues that the real question is what your leadership is transmitting. Your people don't follow your plans. They follow your conviction.

You'll discover why truly magnetic leadership comes from combining an inspiring vision with uncompromising standards, how to create productive tension that moves people into action, and why accountability is one of the greatest expressions of belief in your mission. Richard also introduces a practical Accountability Charter that helps leadership teams translate ambition into everyday behaviour.

If you've ever felt like you're dragging your business forward on your own, this chapter will challenge you to stop managing compliance and start creating the kind of conviction that builds a movement.

Resources

📒 Get the book: The 10X Reckoning

https://xquadrant.com/reckoning6

📘 Download the companion workbook, watch the chapter video and get the Accountability Charter template:

Explore more episodes and resources for founders and CEOs at:

Richard Medcalf is founder of Xquadrant, CEO coach, and author of Making TIME For Strategy and The 10X Reckoning.

Is This Vision Just Too Big? (The 10X Reckoning Audiobook, Chapter 5 on strategic conviction)

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0200

What if the reason your vision feels impossible isn't because it's too ambitious, but because you're measuring it against the person you are today?

In this chapter of The 10X Reckoning, Richard Medcalf explores the moment every ambitious founder and CEO eventually faces. You catch sight of a vision that could define your career, then immediately wonder whether you're capable of bringing it to life. Rather than shrinking the vision, Richard argues that the real work is expanding your identity until the vision becomes inevitable.

You'll discover why the traditional "have, do, be" model keeps leaders trapped, and why lasting transformation starts by becoming the kind of leader who can create extraordinary outcomes before the evidence appears. Richard introduces the idea of your 10X Self, explores the difference between your current identity and the leader your future requires, and shares a practical way to make better decisions by stepping into that future version of yourself today.

If you've ever questioned whether your vision is too bold, too risky or simply beyond your reach, this chapter will challenge you to stop negotiating with your potential and start becoming the leader your greatest work demands.

Resources

📒 Get the book: The 10X Reckoning

https://xquadrant.com/reckoning5

📘 Download the companion workbook and watch the chapter video:

Explore more episodes and resources for founders and CEOs at:

Richard Medcalf is founder of Xquadrant, CEO coach, and author of Making TIME For Strategy and The 10X Reckoning.

Do I Have What It Takes? (The 10X Reckoning Audiobook, Chapter 4 on CEO transformation)

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0200

Every founder and CEO eventually reaches a moment where the question isn't "What's the strategy?" It's "Am I really capable of leading at that level?"

In this chapter of The 10X Reckoning, Richard Medcalf explores why self-doubt, not strategy, is often the greatest barrier to exponential growth. Through the story of an entrepreneur facing the opportunity of a lifetime, he shows how many successful leaders become trapped by waiting for confidence before taking bold action, when the truth is that confidence only comes after the first courageous step.

You'll discover the difference between your Default Future and your Preferred Future, why confidence is one of leadership's biggest traps, and a practical tool - your Certitude List - for replacing fear with grounded conviction. Richard also explores why redefining success around who you become, rather than what you achieve, creates the kind of leadership that inspires bold decisions and lasting impact.

If you've ever wondered whether you're ready for your next big move - or found yourself waiting until you feel "confident enough" - this chapter will challenge you to stop waiting and start becoming the leader your future demands.

Resources

📒 Get the book: The 10X Reckoning

https://xquadrant.com/reckoning4

📘 Download the companion workbook and watch the chapter video:

Explore more episodes and resources for founders and CEOs at:

The 10X Reckoning is Richard Medcalf's guide for founders and CEOs who believe their greatest contribution still lies ahead. Across this audiobook, Richard explores CEO leadership, CEO evolution, executive team ownership, leadership leverage and the defining decisions that help successful founders and CEOs make the quantum leap to create their life's greatest work.

Richard Medcalf is founder of Xquadrant, CEO coach, and author of Making TIME For Strategy and The 10X Reckoning.

10X Will Be Too Much Sacrifice (The 10X Reckoning, Audiobook, Chapter 3 on Playing Bigger)

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0200

What if your next breakthrough didn't require more sacrifice, but a completely different way of thinking about success?

In this chapter of The 10X Reckoning, Richard Medcalf challenges one of the most common beliefs among successful founders and CEOs: that achieving the next level of impact must come at the expense of your health, relationships or happiness. Instead, he argues that many leaders become trapped by outdated "survival games" that leave them either grinding relentlessly or playing it safe. Neither leads to your greatest work.

Through the stories of accomplished entrepreneurs and business leaders, Richard introduces a different approach: Play to Play. You'll discover why your next 10X isn't about working harder, but about creating a game that genuinely energises you. He explains how to reconnect with meaningful ambition, rediscover your Ignition Zone, and design a definition of success that multiplies both your impact and your enjoyment of the journey.

If you've started wondering whether your biggest achievements are behind you, or whether the next level simply isn't worth the cost, this chapter will help you imagine a future where extraordinary impact and genuine fulfilment can exist together.

Resources

📒 Get the book: The 10X Reckoning

https://xquadrant.com/reckoning3

📘 Download the companion workbook and watch the chapter video:

Explore more episodes and resources for founders and CEOs at:

The 10X Reckoning is Richard Medcalf's guide for founders and CEOs who believe their greatest contribution still lies ahead. Across this audiobook, Richard explores CEO leadership, CEO evolution, executive team ownership, leadership leverage and the defining decisions that help successful founders and CEOs make the quantum leap to create their life's greatest work.

Richard Medcalf is founder of Xquadrant, CEO coach, and author of Making TIME For Strategy and The 10X Reckoning.

Free Me from This Golden Prison (The 10X Reckoning, Audiobook, Chapter 2 on the CEO Bottleneck)

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0200

You've built a successful business. From the outside, it looks like freedom. But inside, you feel trapped by the very success you worked so hard to create.

In this chapter of The 10X Reckoning, Richard Medcalf explores why so many founders and CEOs become prisoners of their own success. As your business grows, it's easy to become the bottleneck—the person everyone depends on, the one who carries every important decision, and the one who can never truly step away. But the next level of growth doesn't come from working harder. It comes from learning to let go.

Through the stories of leaders who escaped their own "golden prison", Richard explains why the uncomfortable "Wobble" is a necessary stage of building a business that no longer depends on you. You'll discover why great CEOs shift from Operator to Architect, how to identify the few activities where you create unique value, and why building a business that thrives without you is one of the defining leadership moves you'll ever make.

If you've ever felt exhausted by being the centre of everything, this chapter will challenge you to stop protecting your current success and start designing the business - and the life - you really want.

Resources

📒 Get the book: The 10X Reckoning

https://xquadrant.com/reckoning2

📘 Download the companion workbook:

Explore more episodes and resources for founders and CEOs at:

The 10X Reckoning is Richard Medcalf's guide for founders and CEOs who believe their greatest contribution still lies ahead. Across this audiobook, Richard explores CEO leadership, CEO evolution, executive team ownership, leadership leverage and the defining decisions that help successful founders and CEOs make the quantum leap to create their life's greatest work.

Richard Medcalf is founder of Xquadrant, CEO coach, and author of Making TIME For Strategy and The 10X Reckoning.

I'm Successful. Am I Done? (The 10X Reckoning, Audiobook, Chapter 1 on CEO evolution)

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0200

You've built a successful business. People admire what you've achieved. Yet something inside you knows you're capable of far more.

This opening chapter introduces the idea of the 10X Reckoning—the defining moment every successful founder and CEO eventually faces. Will you continue expanding your impact, or slowly become trapped by the very success that got you here?

Richard Medcalf explores why many accomplished leaders eventually become limited by the habits, beliefs and leadership style that created their earlier success. Whether you're stuck in operations, playing too safe, or moving too slowly towards a bold vision, you'll discover why the next breakthrough isn't about finding a better strategy. It's about becoming a different kind of leader.

This chapter introduces the three patterns that repeatedly appear in ambitious leaders:

• Feeling stuck in the day-to-day

• Playing safe despite a bigger vision

• Moving too slowly towards work that truly matters

Most importantly, it asks a simple but confronting question:

If your greatest work is still ahead of you... what's stopping you?

Resources

📒 Get the book: The 10X Reckoning

https://xquadrant.com/reckoning1

📘 Download the 10X Reckoning Companion Workbook:

Explore more episodes and resources for founders and CEOs at:

The 10X Reckoning is Richard Medcalf's guide for founders and CEOs who believe their greatest contribution still lies ahead. Across this audiobook, Richard explores CEO leadership, CEO evolution, executive team ownership, leadership leverage and the defining decisions that help successful founders and CEOs make the quantum leap to create their life's greatest work.

Richard Medcalf is founder of Xquadrant, CEO coach, and author of Making TIME For Strategy and The 10X Reckoning.

Is This Book for You? (The 10X Reckoning, Audiobook, Introduction)

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0200

Success isn't the finish line. It's the moment many founders and CEOs unknowingly begin to plateau.

In this introduction to The 10X Reckoning, Richard Medcalf explains why this audiobook isn't about becoming successful—it's about what comes after success. If you've built an exceptional business but feel there's still a bigger contribution waiting to be made, this chapter introduces the leadership challenge that defines the rest of the book: your 10X Reckoning.

You'll discover why your greatest obstacle isn't a lack of strategy, resources or opportunity, but the hidden limits created by your own success. Richard shares the personal mission that drives his work with founders and CEOs around the world, explains what you'll learn throughout the audiobook, and challenges you to treat these chapters not simply as ideas, but as a turning point in your leadership journey.

By the end of this introduction, you'll understand who this audiobook is for, why your next breakthrough depends on becoming a different kind of leader, and why your greatest work may still lie ahead.

Resources

📒 Get the book: The 10X Reckoning

Explore more episodes and resources for founders and CEOs at:

The 10X Reckoning is Richard Medcalf's guide for founders and CEOs who believe their greatest contribution still lies ahead. Across this audiobook, Richard explores CEO leadership, CEO evolution, executive team ownership, leadership leverage and the defining decisions that help successful founders and CEOs make the quantum leap to create their life's greatest work.

Richard Medcalf is founder of Xquadrant, CEO coach, and author of Making TIME For Strategy and The 10X Reckoning.

The 10X Reckoning Audiobook – start here

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0200

What if your life's greatest work isn't behind you, but still waiting to be created?

Over the next few episodes, Richard Medcalf is releasing the complete audiobook of The 10X Reckoning, free on this podcast. Written for founders and CEOs who have already achieved extraordinary success, this audiobook explores the hidden CEO leadership challenges that emerge after you've "made it" and asks a simple but confronting question: are you truly done, or is your greatest contribution still ahead of you?

Across the series, you'll discover why so many successful leaders become trapped by their own success, how to escape the golden prison of day-to-day operations, build a leadership team that can scale without you, reignite your energy and conviction, and make the defining moves that multiply your impact without multiplying your stress. Each chapter combines real stories, practical coaching and powerful questions designed to help you confront your own 10X Reckoning and step into the leader your next chapter demands.

Whether you're feeling stuck in the weeds, playing too safe with your biggest vision, or simply know you're capable of much more, I hope these chapters challenge you, encourage you and help you create your life's greatest work.

Resources

📒 Get the book: The 10X Reckoning

Explore more episodes and resources for founders and CEOs at:

Richard Medcalf is founder of Xquadrant, CEO coach, and author of Making TIME For Strategy and The 10X Reckoning.

Leadership Leverage: why self-replicating systems beat founder-led impact | Etienne Salborn (SINA) - S14E19

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 07:00:00 +0200

What if your biggest impact is being limited by the fact that everything still depends on you?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Etienne Salborn, founder of SINA, the Social Innovation Academy, about how to build a self-replicating system of leadership and impact.

Etienne's work began with one practical problem: young people leaving school without a pathway to self-sufficiency. But over time, that challenge became a radically different model: communities where beneficiaries become the staff, local leaders become owners, and changemakers are trained to create more changemakers.

For founders and CEOs, this is a powerful lesson in Leadership Leverage. If your organisation can only grow through your direct control, your ambition will eventually hit the founder bottleneck. But when you build leaders who can build more leaders, the system can start to multiply without you managing every move.

You'll learn:

Why helping people is not the same as building a system that creates agency
How SINA uses "free responsibility" to turn ownership into a practical operating principle
Why self-replicating communities can scale further than founder-led expansion
What CEOs can learn from changemaker-makers about executive team ownership
How to think about organisational leverage when your vision is bigger than your personal capacity

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

You’ll learn from how they think and how they lead when the stakes rise. And you’ll discover the hidden sources of leadership leverage that take them to their next level, and will take you to yours.

CEO Transformation: what enterprise change teaches the CEO the hard way | Mike Ettling (former CEO, Unit4) - S14E18

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 07:00:00 +0200

What if your transformation is not stuck because the strategy is wrong, but because the organisation has not learned how to behave differently yet?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Mike Ettling, former CEO of Unit4, about what it really takes to lead enterprise transformation when the stakes are high and the scrutiny is intense.

Mike led Unit4 through a six-year shift from a federated, on-premise software business to a more unified, cloud-first organisation. But the deeper lesson is not about software. It is about the CEO work behind any serious transformation: changing behaviour, building the right team, holding investor pressure, and creating enough cadence and purpose for the business to move.

For founders and CEOs scaling a business, this is a sharp reminder that CEO Transformation is not just a personal development idea. When the business model changes, the operating model, leadership team, stakeholder rhythm, and CEO identity all have to change with it.

You'll learn:

Why the product shift is often easier than the behaviour shift
How to hire for hardship, failure and team dynamic, not just CV credentials
Why confidence and self-doubt can coexist when you are surrounded by brilliant people
How private-equity value creation becomes more powerful when it is wrapped in purpose
Why controlling the corporate cadence is one of the CEO's most practical sources of leverage

Guest links mentioned:

Unit4: https://www.unit4.com/
Mike Ettling on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeettling/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: how misunderstood founders build paradigm-shifting ventures | Benjamin Rubin - S14E17

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 07:00:00 +0200

What if your boldest vision is not wrong, just years ahead of what the market can currently imagine?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Benjamin Rubin, serial entrepreneur and founder of Sirenum and Insectika, about the CEO evolution required to build paradigm-shifting ventures before the world fully understands them.

Benjamin's story is a useful challenge for founders and CEOs scaling businesses around a conviction that others keep resisting. The leadership leverage is not blind persistence. It is the ability to listen to every objection as data, understand the problem more deeply than anyone else, and still refuse to let today's market imagination become tomorrow's ceiling.

You'll learn:

Why misunderstood founders need to listen deeply without outsourcing the roadmap
How to keep a team aligned when the full vision is too far ahead to land all at once
Why problem understanding can matter more than product brilliance
How belonging, meaning and satisfaction create loyalty when money is not enough
Why purpose-led capitalism still has to become profitable if the mission is going to endure

Resources mentioned:

Sirenum: https://sirenum.com/
Insectika Biotech: https://www.linkedin.com/company/insectika-biotechnologies-israel/
Benjamin says LinkedIn is the best place to follow his work and the progress of Insectika.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Team Development: how hidden talent can build an Inc 5000 business | Aditya Siripragada (Fountane) - S14E16

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 15:14:00 +0200

What if the talent your business needs most is being filtered out by the very signals everyone else is chasing?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Aditya Siripragada, founder of Fountane, about building an Inc 5000 business with people who had learned to live with failure, uncertainty and risk before the company ever asked them to innovate.

For founders and CEOs, this is a sharp team development episode. Aditya's point is not that credentials do not matter. It is that CEO leadership for scaling businesses often depends on spotting the hidden qualities that make people effective in uncertain conditions: ownership, resilience, risk tolerance and the willingness to build before the path is obvious.

You'll learn:

Why C-grade students can sometimes outperform polished high-achievers in startup conditions
How failure tolerance becomes a team development advantage
Why entrepreneurship can be less risky than waiting for the safe path to appear
How Fountane moved from project work towards venture creation and enterprise value
Why founder-market fit matters more than exciting ideas

Resources mentioned:

Fountane: https://www.fountane.com/
Aditya is active on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram; on Twitter and Instagram he uses @dealzman.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: do CEOs really need a superpower? | Rebecca Harrison - S14E15

Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:00:00 +0200

Do CEOs really need a superpower, or is that the wrong way to think about leadership?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Rebecca Harrison, co-founder and CEO of the African Management Institute, about building a pan-African learning business, scaling practical management capability, and leading without buying into the myth of the heroic CEO.

Rebecca's work is a powerful example of organisational leverage. AMI helps businesses grow by turning management behaviours into practical, repeatable skills. Internally, Rebecca had to learn the same CEO leadership lesson: define what management means, hire around values, and build managers who can multiply the mission rather than dilute it.

You'll learn:

Why the best CEOs fall in love with the problem, not the first solution
How impact and revenue can reinforce each other when the business model is clear
Why practical management behaviour matters more than leadership theory
How middle managers can multiply or weaken a scaling culture
Why CEOs may be more like Batman than Superman: assembling tools, people, courage and resourcefulness around the mission

Resources mentioned:

African Management Institute: https://africanmanagers.com/
Rebecca is also on LinkedIn and welcomes conversations about business building, leadership and Africa.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: building globally before competitors think it is possible | Fred Plais (CEO, platform.sh) - S14E14

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 07:00:00 +0200

What does it actually take to build a global business from day one, before local habits quietly define the company for you?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Fred Plais, co-founder and CEO of Platform.sh, about the strategic leadership required to design a business for global scale from the beginning.

Fred's story shows that global ambition is not a slogan. It is a stack of early constraints: English-only communication, ticket-based support, remote-first hiring, developer-led go-to-market, and later, a more focused approach to employment countries and compliance. For CEOs scaling businesses, the lesson is clear: organisational leverage is often created by the constraints you choose before growth arrives.

This is CEO leadership for scaling businesses in a very practical form: choosing the operating model before the business gets big enough for default habits to take over.

You'll learn:

Why global from day one means making trade-offs before competitors see the opportunity
How remote-first becomes an operating system, not just the absence of an office
Why written context, clear objectives and intentional gatherings matter at scale
How Platform.sh used developer-led demand to reach enterprise buyers
Why some culture costs are not perks, but load-bearing parts of the business model

Resources mentioned:

Platform.sh: https://platform.sh/
Fred says LinkedIn is his go-to place for conversations about entrepreneurship and scaling.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: the hidden bureaucracy that starts when growth feels easy | Toms Jurjevs (CEO, Sun Finance) - S14E13

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 07:00:00 +0200

What if the real danger in hypergrowth is not the crisis, but the comfort that arrives when things are going well?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Toms Jurjevs, founder and CEO of Sun Finance, about staying lean, fast and decisive while scaling across markets and building one of Europe's fastest-growing fintech companies.

For founders and CEOs, this is a strategic leadership episode about the hidden ways growth creates drag. Toms names three disciplines that protect leadership leverage at scale: every euro counts, keep bureaucracy out, and stay out of the comfort zone. The point is not austerity for its own sake. It is preserving decision speed, accountability culture and strategic focus before the business starts behaving like a much slower company.

That makes it a grounded CEO leadership for scaling businesses episode: not about adding more management theatre, but about protecting the decisions and behaviours that keep growth alive.

You'll learn:

Why cost discipline is cultural before it is financial
How bureaucracy often appears as non-decision rather than paperwork
Why direct channels can beat email theatre when speed matters
How the CEO can stay at eagle height without losing the ability to dive into the real constraint
Why growth-stage comfort can quietly create bloat, layers and slower strategic execution

Resources mentioned:

Sun Finance: https://sunfinance.group/
Toms says LinkedIn is always an option and that he welcomes questions, opinions and discussion.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: why early scaling fails when the founder keeps the old habits | Peter Busby (Founder, Grayce) - S14E12

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 07:00:00 +0200

Why do so many early-stage businesses start to wobble just as the market begins to prove the founder right?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Peter Busby, founder of Grayce, about the CEO bottleneck mistakes that show up when a business scales from zero to its first serious revenue base.

Peter's lesson is wonderfully practical: early scaling fails when founders rush past concept clarity, diversify too soon, or keep leading the next phase with habits that only worked in the last one. For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this is about knowing when to incubate, when to push harder, and when the founder must either evolve or make room for the leader the business now needs.

You'll learn:

Why time spent refining the concept upfront is rarely wasted
How to know when the business is ready to move from incubation to scale
Why the first management generation matters so much
How diversification can dilute the core before the market is fully penetrated
Why founder self-honesty becomes a strategic growth issue

Resources mentioned:

Grayce: https://www.grayce.co.uk/
Peter is on LinkedIn and says it is his only social media presence.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: why category creators need partners to behave differently | Karl Andersson (CEO, Motatos) - S14E11

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 07:00:00 +0200

What happens when your business model only works if suppliers, logistics partners and customers all learn to behave differently?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Karl Andersson, founder of Matsmart-Motatos, about the vision execution challenge of building a category that did not really exist before.

Motatos is not just an online food-waste business. It is a lesson in strategic leadership for category creators: suppliers had to trust the model, logistics partners had to solve unfamiliar problems, and consumers had to see surplus products as exciting rather than second best. The leadership leverage came from building the partner trust and operating model around the mission, not just selling a clever idea.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, Karl's story shows why execution is often ecosystem work: the business can only scale when the surrounding partners start making different decisions too.

You'll learn:

Why a new market often starts with one executive who can say yes when normal channels say no
How suppliers can become your first real customers
Why partner trust matters as much as consumer demand in a two-sided model
How breakthrough businesses turn operational friction into strategic execution work
Why category creators need to hire people smarter than themselves and then trust them

Resources mentioned:

Motatos: https://motatos.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: the skills CEOs need in an AI world | Tim Smeaton (CEO, Kubrick Group) - S14E10

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 07:00:00 +0200

What skills will your business actually need in an AI world, and which tempting opportunities should you ignore?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Tim Smeaton, CEO and co-founder of Kubrick Group, about the CEO evolution required when data, AI and cloud technology move faster than most organisations can absorb.

Tim's story is not a generic AI conversation. It is about turning a structural bottleneck into a business model. Kubrick did not simply hire scarce AI talent. It built the missing bridge between education and enterprise demand. For CEOs scaling businesses, the lesson is strategic focus: the biggest opportunity is not always the one with the largest market, but the one your organisation can execute with a tight enough arrowhead.

You'll learn:

Why Tim recommends ignoring amazing opportunities
How to spot a structural skills bottleneck and build around it
Why AI strategy depends on the human system around experimentation, training and governance
How to assess opportunities by execution capacity, not just market size
Why CEO leadership in an AI world requires sharper judgement, not just more technology spend

Resources mentioned:

Kubrick Group: https://www.kubrickgroup.com/us/
Tim Smeaton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-smeaton-424929

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: why fast-growing companies start behaving like separate businesses | Michael Riedl (CEO, Team Internet) - S14E09

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 05:00:00 +0200

Why do fast-growing companies so often start behaving like a loose collection of separate businesses?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Michael Riedl, CEO of Team Internet, about scaling culture, integrating acquisitions, and turning a portfolio of businesses into a higher-performance operating system.

Michael's story is a strong CEO transformation lesson. After a period of acquisition-led growth, the real work was not simply rebranding or forcing sameness. It was asking into the ugly truth, recognising the real divisions, giving each part a proper nervous system, and then building a shared identity strong enough to support the next wave of growth.

You'll learn:

Why integration sometimes starts by admitting you are not one business yet
How divisional leadership can create organisational leverage before a shared identity is credible
Why trust requires asking the right questions, not pretending the issues are minor
How owner reflexes change the speed and quality of decisions
Why the CEO journey moves from must-fix, to should-build, to could-become

Resources mentioned:

Michael Riedl: https://www.mr.ceo/
Michael shares more of his journey on LinkedIn.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Team Development: why purpose-led professional services can become a talent magnet | Logan Naidu (CEO, Kernel Global) - S14E08

Thu, 04 Jul 2024 05:00:00 +0200

What if extraordinary customer advocacy comes less from a brilliant strategy and more from doing the basics with unusual care, again and again?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Logan Naidu, founder and CEO of Kernel Global, about faith, followership, team development and the culture of excellence behind an almost unbelievable Net Promoter Score.

Logan's episode is a practical CEO leadership lesson for people-led businesses. In a commoditised market, Kernel built differentiation through daily service interactions, high standards, story rituals and leaders who shine a light on care and excellence rather than only revenue. The result is not just happy customers. It is a purpose-led culture that becomes a talent magnet.

You'll learn:

Why followership matters as much as leadership
How faith and values can shape business behaviour without becoming workplace preaching
Why customer advocacy compounds through small, repeated moments of care
How stories and rituals help newer team members understand what excellence looks like
Why doing fewer things at a higher bar can create more strategic focus and more impact

Resources mentioned:

Kernel Global: https://www.kernel-global.com/
Logan's website bio includes links to his LinkedIn and email address.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: why challengers need brand clarity before they need noise | Bjorn Thorngren (CEO, Meds) - S14E07

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 05:00:00 +0200

What if the smartest growth move is not creating a new category, but attacking an old market at the moment its rules are ready to break?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Bjorn Thorngren, CEO and co-founder of Meds, about the vision execution challenge of entering Sweden's dominated pharmacy market and building a challenger brand with speed, timing and customer preference.

Meds did not win by pretending pharmacy was a blank-slate category. It found a huge market with existing demand, changing regulation, poor customer experience and conservative incumbents, then focused on the parts of the system where a new player could move faster. For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, the lesson is sharp: strategic leadership is not always about being first. Sometimes it is about choosing the right market, entering when the tailwinds are real, and being different where the incumbents have trained customers to expect very little.

You'll learn:

Why first-mover advantage is often overrated
How to spot a large existing market that is ready for challenger execution
Why brand clarity matters when the product itself is not radically different
How Meds used speed, mobile experience and customer focus to build preference
Why founders need to build self-reliant leadership teams before the next strategic move opens up

Resources mentioned:

Meds: https://www.meds.se/
Bjorn Thorngren is active on LinkedIn.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why your mission message is not landing with impact | Jack Murray (CEO, Media HQ) - S14E06

Thu, 23 May 2024 05:00:00 +0200

Why do powerful missions so often become boring the moment they enter the boardroom, the slide deck or the all-hands meeting?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Jack Murray, CEO of Media HQ and author of The Magic Slice, about how leaders can make their message land with both logical and emotional impact.

Jack's point is uncomfortable because it is so familiar: most corporate communication does not fail because it lacks information. It fails because it has become safe, dry and disconnected from what the audience actually cares about. For CEO leadership and strategic leadership, this is a reminder that vision execution depends on communication people can feel, repeat and act on.

You'll learn:

Why corporate environments drain colour, risk and emotion out of important messages
How to define what success looks like before trying to win the room
Why the best communication sits in the magic slice between your agenda and your audience's attention
How narrative memos can create better thinking than bullet-point performance
Why one excellent communication win can expand your influence across the business

Resources mentioned:

Media HQ: https://mediahq.com/
Jack Murray's book: The Magic Slice
Jack Murray email: jack@mediahq.com
Jack Murray is active on LinkedIn.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why exponential results require the long game | Dorie Clark - S11E10

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 05:00:00 +0200

What if the next level of impact requires you to cut good work, protect strategic time and let the right assets compound before the payoff is obvious?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Dorie Clark, bestselling author of The Long Game, about strategic leadership, recognised expertise and the emotional discipline required to create exponential results over time.

Dorie's story is a practical lesson in CEO transformation because she did not simply add more activity to an already full calendar. She cut the bottom third of her business, accepted a temporary income dip, and reinvested that time into assets that could build authority, opportunity and reach. For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, the question is not whether strategy matters. It is whether you have the margin, courage and focus to play the long game when short-term demand keeps pulling you back.

You'll learn:

Why strategy often starts with the emotional willingness to make a real choice
How economic margin creates freedom for innovation and reinvention
Why content, relationships and IP become compounding strategic assets
How recognised expertise is built through network, social proof and public ideas
Why your calendar needs space for the future business, not just the current one

Resources mentioned:

Dorie Clark: https://dorieclark.com/
The Long Game Strategic Thinking Self-Assessment: https://dorieclark.com/thelonggame

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Decision Making: why generative AI raises the bar for leadership judgement - S13E38

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 05:00:00 +0200

What if generative AI does not make CEO judgement less important, but makes weak judgement much more exposed?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Elisa Farri, vice president and co-lead of Capgemini Invent's Management Lab, about how senior leaders can use generative AI as a co-thinker, not just a content machine or task assistant.

This is a CEO decision making episode about the leadership skills that become more valuable as knowledge becomes cheaper. Elisa argues that executives need hands-on practice with AI, but the real leverage is not automation for its own sake. It is learning how to design better conversations, provide context, ask sharper questions and use the machine to strengthen strategic thinking while preserving human judgement.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, the message is clear: responsible AI starts with responsible humans who know how to think, choose and lead.

You'll learn:

Why many executives discuss AI without enough direct practice using it
How to use AI as a co-thinker for complex leadership and strategy work
Why conversation architecture matters more than one clever prompt
How to start experimenting in domains where you can judge the output
Why emotional intelligence, context and embodied leadership become more important in an AI world

Resources mentioned:

Capgemini Invent: https://www.capgemini.com/services/invent/
Management GPT research and publications from Capgemini Invent's Management Lab

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why winning stops working when the market itself is broken | Brett Simmons (CEO, Scale Link) - S13E37

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 06:00:00 +0200

What do you do when the market you need for your mission does not really exist yet?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Brett Simmons, CEO of Scale Link, about impact investing, market design and the strategic leadership challenge of building the missing mechanism rather than pushing harder inside a broken system.

Scale Link exists because community-development lenders need liquidity to keep supporting underserved entrepreneurs, while banks need a way to participate in those loans. Brett's work is not just another impact business story. It is a lesson in vision execution when the problem is structural: if the system cannot produce the outcome you want, the CEO has to step back from pure execution and redesign the game itself.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, Brett's episode also surfaces a harder personal edge: can you see the holes in the plan, stay honest about the risks, and still lead others into the next move?

You'll learn:

Why some impact problems need market-making, not just more effort
How Scale Link creates liquidity for Community Development Financial Institutions
Why impact investing can become too narrow when every tool has to look like market-rate capital
How CEOs know when execution needs to give way to recalibration
Why humility and confidence have to coexist when the next stage is uncertain

Resources mentioned:

Scale Link: https://scalelink.org/
Brett Simmons email: brett@scalelink.org

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: is your work interesting, or actually impactful? | Chintan Panchal (Founding Partner, RPCK) - S13E36

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:00:00 +0200

What if the work that keeps you busy, stimulated and successful is also the work that keeps you below your real impact?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Chintan Panchal, founding partner at RPCK Rastegar Panchal, about the difference between work that is merely interesting and work that is genuinely impactful.

Chintan built an impact-first law firm after realising that prestigious, intellectually rich work was not the same as meaningful contribution. For strategic leadership and CEO transformation, this episode asks a sharper question: is your business model, calendar and operating structure designed around the impact you say you want, or around the old structures that keep pulling you back to old outcomes?

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, the standout lesson is that purpose cannot stay as a side project. If the mission matters, it has to move into the centre of the work, the structure and the way value is created.

You'll learn:

Why interesting work can become a sophisticated form of playing small
How to compare your claimed impact radius with the work your calendar actually serves
Why old legal, financing or operating structures often reproduce old outcomes
How to move from one-off projects to repeatable products and eventually wider paradigms
Why founder reinvention may require decoupling your personal impact from the firm's impact

Resources mentioned:

RPCK: https://www.rpck.com/
Chintan Panchal email: chintan@rpck.com
Chintan Panchal is on LinkedIn.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Transformation: how to make conversations magnetic enough to 10X impact - S14E05

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:00:00 +0200

Are your people truly following you, or are they just doing what you tell them?

In this episode, Richard explores how CEO transformation happens one conversation at a time, and why the most impactful leaders make those conversations magnetic enough to win hearts as well as minds.

The idea is simple, but demanding: leadership magnetism is not a personality trick. It is the choice to reconnect to your mission, your joy and the person in front of you. For CEO leadership, that means going beyond the plan, the target and the pressure, and showing up in a way that makes people want to commit rather than merely comply.

You'll learn:

Why leadership is delivered one conversation at a time
How determination reconnects you to the mission you truly stand for
Why joyfulness makes your presence more compelling, even when external results are volatile
How affection and genuine care change the quality of your influence
Why magnetism is both a choice in the moment and a muscle you can build

Resources mentioned:

Full source article: https://xquadrant.com/magnetic-and-10x-the-impact-of-conversations/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Transformation: how purpose becomes a restructuring and growth engine | Andy Morris (CEO, Cirencester Friendly Society) - S13E35

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 06:00:00 +0200

How do you lead people through a hard restructuring, then later ask a 135-year-old organisation to make a leap into its next growth era?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Andy Morris, CEO of Cirencester Friendly Society, about CEO transformation, purpose-led restructuring and the personal reinvention required when a technical expert becomes the leader of the whole business.

Andy's story starts with a CFO role that was supposed to be about growth and quickly became a divestment and restructuring mandate. The leadership lesson is not theoretical: people followed a difficult path because the leaders had skin in the game, a shared purpose and a real commitment to preserving what mattered.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, the second half of the conversation is just as useful. Andy's move from finance expert to CEO shows how the identity that gets you to the table can become the identity you have to release if the business is going to transform.

You'll learn:

Why purpose can create alignment when the strategy itself is painful
How skin in the game changes the credibility of restructuring messages
Why legacy can help leaders accept a strategy they did not originally choose
How customer-owned mutuality makes purpose operational rather than decorative
Why the CEO shift often means moving from technical certainty to strategic faith

Resources mentioned:

Cirencester Friendly Society: https://www.cirencester-friendly.co.uk/
Andy Morris email: andy.morris@cirencester-friendly.co.uk

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Leadership Leverage: the two levers that multiply CEO impact - S14E04

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 08:00:00 +0200

What if you are already successful, already strategic, and still leaving most of your leadership impact on the table?

In this episode, Richard explores the two levers that make a leader exponentially more impactful: strategy and magnetism.

The first lever is strategic leadership: focusing your energy on the 10X opportunities, doing fewer things better, and choosing the bigger game instead of repeating the moves that made you successful before. The second lever is magnetism: becoming the kind of leader people want to follow because they feel your determination, joy and genuine care.

For CEO leadership, the point is not to choose between rigour and soul. The X Quadrant is where strategic focus meets magnetic presence.

You'll learn:

Why a clear plan can still be too safe to create transformational change
How to focus on fewer, higher-leverage opportunities
Why bolder strategy starts with defining the game you want to play
How determination, joy and affection make leadership more magnetic
Why exponential impact comes when strategic thinking meets human presence

Resources mentioned:

Full source article: https://xquadrant.com/make-impactful-leader/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why story doing beats storytelling for systemic change | Marci Zaroff (CEO, ECOfashion Corp) - S13E34

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 06:00:00 +0200

What if the real story of your mission is not what you say, but the supply chain, partnerships and standards you build underneath it?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Marci Zaroff, CEO of ECOfashion Corp, about story doing, category creation and the strategic leadership required to reshape a global industry without asking customers to accept a worse product.

Marci coined ecofashion long before sustainability became mainstream. Her work is a powerful example of vision execution: she did not just tell a better story about fashion, she built source-to-shelf infrastructure that made the promise credible. Farms, factories, certifications, retailers, policy, products and partnerships all became part of the story.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, the deeper lesson is that systemic change often starts by refusing a false trade-off. When customers are told they must choose between style, price, quality and sustainability, the sector-shaping move is to redesign the system so the old compromise no longer holds.

You'll learn:

Why story doing is more powerful than storytelling when you are changing a category
How to make a mission visible through operations, standards and partnerships
Why yes-and innovation can remove customer trade-offs rather than preaching sacrifice
How vertical integration can raise standards while protecting affordability
Why ecosystem leadership means meeting large partners where they are and solving their real constraints

Resources mentioned:

ECOfashion Corp
Marci Zaroff's book: Eco Renaissance
Textile Exchange

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: the strategy CEOs miss when breakthrough results stall - S14E03

Mon, 12 Feb 2024 06:00:00 +0200

Why do so many leaders talk about breakthrough results, then keep operating from the same identity, habits and assumptions?

In this episode, Richard explores three ways leaders commonly pursue success. Two of them keep you trapped in incrementalism. The third is the strategic leadership move that unlocks genuine transformation.

HAVE > DO > BE waits for more resources before acting differently. DO > HAVE > BE tries to grind harder until the result arrives. But BE > DO > HAVE asks a more powerful question: who do you need to be to operate at a new level, naturally do different things, and create a different outcome?

For CEO leadership, this is the identity shift behind breakthrough results. You may not be able to 10X your resources or your workload, but you can 10X your vision, courage, focus, creativity, empathy and determination.

You'll learn:

Why waiting for resources keeps leaders stuck in incremental progress
How working harder can become another trap
Why BE > DO > HAVE is the real transformation lever
What an executive team's punctuality revealed about its ambition
How to compare the identity behind your default goals with the identity required for breakthrough results

Resources mentioned:

Full source article: https://xquadrant.com/breakthrough-results-strategy/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: how impact brands become real inside the business | Brad Flowers (CEO, Bullhorn Creative) - S13E33

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 06:00:00 +0200

What happens when the culture inside your business has changed, but the brand outside the business is still telling the old story?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Brad Flowers, CEO of Bullhorn Creative, about impact branding, scaling culture and the leadership leverage that comes from aligning what the company says with how it actually works.

Brad's work with impact brands starts from a simple but uncomfortable problem: when culture and brand fall out of sync, customers can feel the dissonance even if the mismatch is innocent. The brand assets lag behind the living organisation, and the market starts to read that gap as opacity, confusion or lack of trust.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this is also a lesson in the CEO's changing role. As the organisation becomes flatter and more distributed, the leader cannot make every call. The job becomes setting context again and again so better decisions can happen without creating dependency.

You'll learn:

Why brand is ethically neutral, but leaders are not
How B Corp certification can create transparency rather than just a marketing badge
Why culture-brand dissonance damages trust in impact-led organisations
How decision-process leverage can matter more than the leader's preferred answer
Why the CEO may need to become a constant context setter as the team scales

Resources mentioned:

Bullhorn Creative: https://bullhorncreative.com/
Brad Flowers and Bullhorn Creative are active online as Bullhorn Creative.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: how to commit to a legacy of exponential impact - S14E02

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 06:00:00 +0200

What if the thing holding back your exponential legacy is not a lack of clarity, but a lack of courageous commitment?

In this episode, Richard explores how CEOs and senior leaders can take the first step toward a legacy of exponential impact, even when the path still feels uncertain.

The trap is believing you need perfect strategy, total clarity or unshakeable confidence before you commit. But clarity and confidence often arrive after the commitment, not before it. For CEO leadership, the real starting point is courage: the willingness to name the bigger legacy, confront the fear, and take the next small step anyway.

You'll learn:

Why clarity and confidence are helpful, but not required before you begin
How a 25-year mission can reduce the pressure of an exponential legacy
How to confront and flip the fear that keeps you stuck
Why the language you use can speak your future self into being
How upgrading your environment and taking one tiny step can build momentum

Resources mentioned:

Full source article: https://xquadrant.com/commit-to-a-legacy/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: what healthcare learns from Silicon Valley thinking | Anjali Kataria (CEO, Mytonomy) - S13E32

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 06:00:00 +0200

How do you bring Silicon Valley product thinking into a sector where there is no real MVP and trust has to be built before scale can begin?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Anjali Kataria, CEO and co-founder of Mytonomy, about healthcare, patient education and the strategic leadership required to build a product-led company in a highly regulated market.

Anjali's story is not a simple move-fast-and-break-things story. In healthcare, the product had to be complete, clinically credible, deeply integrated and designed around real patient and provider usage before the market could reward it. The unglamorous back-end plumbing became part of the breakthrough.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this episode is a strong reminder that strategy is not only about analysing failure. Anjali uses reflection to study what is already working, understand why it is working, and turn those clues into repeatable systems.

You'll learn:

Why healthcare has no easy MVP when enterprise trust and integration matter
How usage became Mytonomy's north star for product strategy
Why boring back-end infrastructure can become a strategic differentiator
How success analysis helps leaders scale what is working before momentum is wasted
Why Anjali's next CEO evolution is bringing more kindness, strength and integrated identity into enterprise leadership

Resources mentioned:

Mytonomy: https://mytonomy.com/
Mytonomy email: info@mytonomy.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

https://xquadrant.com/insider/.

CEO Evolution: how to find the mission that sets you on fire - S14E01

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 09:06:00 +0200

Have you ever felt like your biggest successes are behind you? Or wondered what’s next in your career? Perhaps you feel stuck or as if your trajectory has plateaued.

If any of this sounds familiar, then today's episode is for you.

You'll learn four powerful ideas to help you find a mission that sets you on fire, fulfils your potential, and gets you out of bed with purpose and passion every morning.

Host Richard Medcalf, founder of Xquadrant and coach to top CEOs, shares 4 thought-provoking ideas to shift your perspective and unlock your next level.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Read the full show notes and article here.

MORE FROM RICHARD:

Subscribe to the Xquadrant Insider: Bite-sized weekly emails, with secrets from some of the world's top mission-driven leaders to help you transform yourself, your businesses and the world…without the grind!

Discover The CEO Upgrade. A free 5-day strategic leadership challenge for rising-star CEOs. https://xquadrant.com/go/the-ceo-upgrade/

Follow Richard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardmedcalf/

Visit our web site: https://xquadrant.com/.

Discover your Exponential Future and what's next for you: https://xquadrant.com/go/whats-next/

CEO Evolution: why seasoned CEOs still have to get better every day | Stan Middleman (CEO, Freedom Mortgage) - S13E31

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 06:00:00 +0200

What does CEO evolution look like after decades of success, thousands of employees and a business that has already proved itself?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Stan Middleman, founder and CEO of Freedom Mortgage, about credibility, contrarian preparation, shared purpose and the discipline of getting better every day.

Stan's philosophy is deceptively simple: say what you mean, do what you say, keep your point of view dynamic, and never start buying your own nonsense. For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this is a powerful reminder that experience does not remove the need to keep learning. The more successful the leader becomes, the easier it is to become static, political or over-attached to yesterday's model.

You'll learn:

Why credibility starts with being the person you claim to be
How to build a shared vision that people can understand and execute
Why debate matters before the decision, but alignment matters once the die is cast
How Stan prepared Freedom Mortgage for shocks by building a point of view about what might come next
Why doing good can give people purpose, connection and energy during difficult periods

Resources mentioned:

Freedom Mortgage: https://www.freedommortgage.com/
Stan Middleman is on LinkedIn.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Leadership Leverage: why elite relationships can change the rules of the game | Armand Arton (CEO, Arton Capital) - S13E30

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 06:00:00 +0200

What if your mission cannot be fulfilled by selling harder, because the rules of the game themselves have to change?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Armand Arton, CEO of Arton Capital, about mobility, policy, elite relationships and the leadership leverage required to turn a personal wound into global infrastructure.

Armand's story begins with passport inequality: the experience of being judged at borders by a document he did not choose. That founding fire became a business thesis connecting finance, migration policy and human freedom. For strategic leadership and CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this episode shows why some missions require access to governments, institutions and world-level decision makers, not just a better product or louder marketing.

You'll learn:

How a personal experience of exclusion became a sector-shaping mission
Why small, focused firms can enter complex regulated spaces that large institutions avoid
How policy can become part of the business model when the mission depends on changing the rules
Why elite relationships work when you believe you have something valuable to contribute
How conventional success can make the next 100x mission feel riskier than the first breakthrough

Resources mentioned:

Arton Capital: https://www.artoncapital.com/
Armand Arton is on LinkedIn.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Transformation: what severe decline teaches leaders about the next model | Matthew Guelke (CEO, The Plant Cafe Organic) - S13E29

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 06:00:00 +0200

What if the crisis that shrinks your business also reveals the model that could multiply its impact?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Matthew Guelke, founder and CEO of The Plant Cafe Organic, about purpose, severe business decline and the CEO transformation required to move from operating locations to scaling a concept.

When the pandemic hit, The Plant Cafe Organic lost around 80% of its business and had to close locations and lay off much of the team. But the collapse also forced a strategic reset. Instead of continuing the heavy brick-and-mortar path, Matthew returned to the core mission: make organic, sustainable, healthy food easier for people to choose, then find a model that could spread faster through franchising.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this episode is about the moment when the founder stops being consumed by the operational machine and starts rebuilding around the larger purpose again.

You'll learn:

Why crisis can expose the difference between the old operating model and the real mission
How purpose helps leaders continue when walking away would be easier
Why incubate-then-scale matters before expanding a physical concept
How franchising can shift the founder from HR-heavy operations to concept, inspiration and growth
Why making the right behaviour easier can create more impact than telling people what they should do

Resources mentioned:

The Plant Cafe Organic: https://www.theplantcafe.com/
Matthew Guelke is on LinkedIn.
Contact: contact@theplantcafe.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: how successful leaders quietly hold themselves back | Marshall Goldsmith - S11E09

Thu, 04 Jan 2024 06:00:00 +0200

What if the success formula that got you here is now the very thing making leadership heavier, less joyful and less effective?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Marshall Goldsmith, legendary executive coach and bestselling author, about achievement addiction, happiness, coachability and the CEO bottleneck that appears when leaders keep trying to prove they are smart, right and successful.

Marshall's challenge is direct: achievement and happiness are independent variables. Many successful leaders keep chasing the next outcome while forgetting to enjoy the life they are actually living. For CEO leadership and CEO evolution, the deeper issue is that the old identity of proving yourself can become the ceiling. The next level is making it about others, letting go of ego, and choosing the life your older self would be proud of.

You'll learn:

Why achievement is good at producing achievement, but bad at producing happiness
How senior leaders can win the game and still forget to be happy
Why proving you are smart is not the same job as leading
What coachability really requires from high-achieving CEOs
Why old-you-at-95 is a useful judge of the choices you are making now

Resources mentioned:

Marshall Goldsmith: https://marshallgoldsmith.com/
Books mentioned include What Got You Here Won't Get You There, Triggers, The Earned Life, and Being Coachable.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: what CEOs need to understand about mental health | Jon Cohen (CEO, Talkspace) - S13E28

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +0200

What do CEOs need to understand about mental health if they want people to perform, decide and lead well under real pressure?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Jon Cohen, CEO of Talkspace, about digital mental health, crisis leadership and the anti-permission culture required when a leadership team has to move without waiting for constant approval.

Jon's Talkspace story is partly about platform scale: insurance coverage, covered lives and large populations can make therapy more accessible to millions of people. But the CEO leadership lesson is just as important. Every person in the room is carrying a private context, and every executive team needs the ability to act in uncertainty without becoming paralysed by permission seeking.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this episode connects mental health, decision speed and organisational leverage in a practical way.

You'll learn:

Why mental health is now a must-have issue for employers, not a nice-to-have benefit
How covered-lives scale can create large impact even when utilisation percentages are small
Why CEOs need to remember the private context people bring into work
How crisis leadership requires empathy, current information and comfort with uncertainty
Why an anti-permission culture lets senior executives decide, act and learn without creating a CEO bottleneck

Resources mentioned:

Talkspace: https://www.talkspace.com/
Jon Cohen's book: Swab
Jon Cohen email: jon.cohen@talkspace.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: why corporate purpose fails when it becomes a slogan | Simon Mainwaring (CEO, We First) - S11E08

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +0200

Why do so many corporate purpose efforts create cynicism instead of commitment?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Simon Mainwaring, CEO of We First, about how CEOs can turn purpose from a slogan into a stakeholder movement.

Simon argues that purpose only works when it is defensible, embodied by leadership and built into the way the business creates value. If the company stays as the hero of the story, people switch off. But when the business becomes the celebrant of its employees, suppliers, customers and community, purpose can become a real force multiplier.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this is a sharp lesson in scaling culture: the issue is not whether your purpose language sounds inspiring, but whether people can see their role in the movement and believe the leadership team really means it.

You'll learn:

Why purpose washing gets exposed when behaviour, culture and business model do not match the message
How to make stakeholders the heroes of the story instead of talking about the company itself
The five common problems that stop purpose from creating business value
Why CEOs have to be moved themselves before they can move others
How a company becomes a movement when stakeholders understand the shared goal and their part in it

Resources mentioned:

We First: https://wefirstbranding.com/
Simon Mainwaring email: simon@wefirstbranding.com
Simon's book: Lead with We
Simon's podcast: Lead with We

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: why infrastructure can create access to capital at scale | Shane Bigelow (CEO, CHAMPtitles) - S13E27

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 06:00:00 +0200

What if the route to positive impact is not a louder mission statement, but fixing the invisible infrastructure that makes markets work?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Shane Bigelow, CEO of CHAMPtitles, about digital vehicle titles, access to capital, stakeholder alignment and the leadership discipline of getting to no faster.

Vehicle title registration sounds narrow until you see what sits underneath it. Provenance lets lenders lend, insurers insure, governments serve citizens faster, assets move safely and wasteful paper processes disappear. Shane's story shows how doing good can scale when the business model makes the better outcome rational for every stakeholder involved.

For CEO leadership and vision execution, this episode is about designing impact into the system itself. It is also a practical reminder that scaling and growth are different games: one is taking the known model into more places, the other is asking what new possibilities open when the infrastructure changes.

You'll learn:

Why asset provenance can unlock lending, insurance, recycling and commerce
How CHAMPtitles aligns government, lenders, insurers, dealers and citizens around one system of record
Why some businesses create impact as a byproduct of better infrastructure
How to think about scaling in defined markets versus growth in developing ones
Why a clear no can save more leadership time than a polite maybe

Resources mentioned:

CHAMPtitles: https://www.champtitles.com/
Shane Bigelow is on LinkedIn.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: how a giving-back mindset shapes a service business | Paul Feith (CEO, Paul Gregory Media) - S13E26

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +0200

How do you build a service business around giving back when every generous decision still has to come out of the economics of the company?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Paul Feith, CEO of Paul Gregory Media, about purpose-led marketing, nonprofit clients, employee retention and the leadership shift from being the account bottleneck to building a business that can scale.

Paul's story is useful because the mission did not arrive fully formed on day one. It emerged through volunteering, board service and a growing commitment to helping people who help people. Over time that became a clearer operating model: mission-fit clients, donated time, 1% of gross revenue given back, a 32-hour week and a culture designed around people who genuinely care about community contribution.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this is a grounded look at purpose economics. The question is not whether giving back sounds nice, but how the model, clients, team and founder role have to change so the mission can keep growing without everything depending on the owner.

You'll learn:

How a founder's personal volunteer work can become a business operating principle
Why purpose-led hiring still has to start with skill, judgement and fit
How a service business can serve nonprofits without pretending every client has the same budget
Why employee experience can become a retention advantage
How Paul moved from managing dozens of clients himself to creating the capacity for operations, sales and scale

Resources mentioned:

Paul Gregory Media: https://www.paulgregorymedia.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: why purpose has to change the business model | Jeff Grass (CEO, HUNGRY Marketplace) - S13E25

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0200

What makes purpose more than a message on the wall?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Jeff Grass, CEO of HUNGRY Marketplace, about building a purpose-driven marketplace, pivoting quickly when reality changes, and the CEO evolution required when the founder has to stop jumping into the middle of every problem.

HUNGRY's model is not just corporate catering with a nicer story. The platform is designed to improve outcomes for chefs, clients, communities and the team. Independent chefs get a stronger entrepreneurial path, clients get better variety and reliability, communities receive meals, and the business builds culture around a wider definition of value.

For CEO leadership and scaling culture, this episode shows why purpose becomes commercially powerful when it changes the business model itself. It also shows the founder's next constraint: as the company expands, Jeff has to protect strategic time, empower the team and resist the pull of being needed in every operational issue.

You'll learn:

Why purpose has to affect the value proposition, not just the language
How marketplace design can create wins for multiple stakeholder groups
Why positivity matters in a startup culture without becoming denial
How a failed first model taught Jeff to pivot faster with investors
Why the CEO bottleneck often appears as the desire to jump in and solve everything

Resources mentioned:

HUNGRY Marketplace: https://tryhungry.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: how purpose brands beat multinationals without preaching | David Simnick (CEO, Soapbox) - S13E24

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0200

Can a purpose brand win against multinationals without asking customers to buy charity?

In this episode, Richard speaks with David Simnick, CEO of Soapbox, about mission-led consumer products, everyday philanthropy, hiring for ownership and the strategic leadership required to compete on the customer's real buying criteria.

Soapbox learned the hard way that mission alone does not win the shelf. Customers came looking for excellent shampoo, conditioner or soap, not a donation pitch. The breakthrough was to make the product strong enough to beat larger competitors first, then let the give-back mission become the repeat driver and deeper reason to stay loyal.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this is a practical lesson in purpose without preaching. Impact scales when the offer is good enough to win on its own merits and the business keeps sharpening focus, team ownership and the founder's role as it grows.

You'll learn:

Why consumer brands cannot rely on mission as the first reason to buy
How Soapbox turned soap and hygiene education into a measurable impact model
Why the give-back story became the repeat driver rather than the shelf opener
How David hires for people who can own mistakes and learn quickly
The three CEO jobs David uses to stay focused: capital, vision and who is on the boat

Resources mentioned:

Soapbox: https://soapbox.co/
Soapbox email: hello@soapboxsoaps.com
Discount code mentioned in the episode: impact multiplier
David Simnick is on LinkedIn and Instagram.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: when servant leadership stops serving the business | Aaron Cruikshank (CEO, CTRS) - S13E23

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0200

Can servant leadership go too far and start hurting the business it is meant to serve?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Aaron Cruikshank, CEO of CTRS, about radical transparency, life-changing employment, market intelligence and the painful leadership lesson behind his line that servant leadership "bit me on the ass".

Aaron built his agency with a deep commitment to treating people better than the employers he saw exploit workers earlier in life. But a difficult year taught him that serving employees cannot mean abandoning the needs of the CEO, the owner or the company itself. The real work is building a culture where people are treated well, understand the business reality and pull together around the mission.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this episode is about the boundary between care and overextension. It is also a reminder that transparency can create trust when people understand the sacrifices being made, the numbers behind the business and the role they play in helping the company move forward.

You'll learn:

Why servant leadership can become distorted when the leader's needs disappear from the equation
How radical transparency helped Aaron's team face a difficult business period together
Why market intelligence starts with looking outside the company before making strategic decisions
How CTRS uses pro bono work to multiply impact through nonprofits
Why Aaron's next leadership shift is removing himself as the linchpin, especially in sales

Resources mentioned:

CTRS: https://www.ctrs.co/
Aaron Cruikshank is on LinkedIn.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Transformation: why changing behaviour starts with changing the game | Mark Poppenborg (CEO, Intrinsify) - S11E07

Thu, 09 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0200

What if the problem is not your people, but the game your organisation has taught them to play?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Mark Poppenborg, CEO of Intrinsify, about why leaders should stop trying to change individuals and start changing the context that shapes behaviour.

Mark's central provocation is that you can only respect people fully when you stop blaming their character for behaviour produced by the system. Targets, policies, budgets, approval rules, job titles and management rituals all teach people what to optimise for. If those rules reward internal compliance over customer value, no amount of motivational training will create real change.

For CEO transformation and scaling culture, this episode is a practical challenge to the machine view of organisations. If you want ownership, innovation or better customer outcomes, start with a real business problem, create a protected safe-haven project and change the playing field where new behaviour can emerge.

You'll learn:

Why context shapes behaviour more powerfully than personality in larger organisations
How management systems can accidentally create the disengagement they are trying to fix
Why change work should start with a real business problem, not a vague transformation concept
How safe-haven projects protect new behaviour while the old system pushes back
Why simplifying or removing management practices can create more value than adding another rule

Resources mentioned:

Intrinsify: https://intrinsify.com/
Mark Poppenborg is easy to find online under his name.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why different thinking needs a different learning platform | Sahra-Josephine Hjorth (CEO, CanopyLAB) - S13E22

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0200

How do you build a learning platform that helps young people think differently instead of trapping them inside the same personalised bubbles?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Sahra-Josephine Hjorth, CEO of CanopyLAB, about trusted learning spaces, accidental entrepreneurship, scaling through partners and the leadership work of staying true to your values under pressure.

Sahra-Josephine saw that civil society had been left behind as young people's learning and identity formation moved online. Rather than becoming the content expert on every topic, she built a platform where NGOs and educators could bring trusted knowledge to young people, teachers and communities at scale.

For strategic leadership and CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this episode is about building the platform layer that lets others create impact. It also shows the cost of fast growth: during the pandemic, CanopyLAB had to shift from outbound sales to inbound demand, onboard hundreds of customers, support teachers and learn which opportunities were worth pursuing.

You'll learn:

Why trusted learning spaces matter when young people are surrounded by algorithmic content
How CanopyLAB created a win-win-win between NGOs, teachers and learners
What changed when the pandemic forced the business into an inbound growth model
Why scaling fast requires sharper choices about which customers deserve human support
How Sahra-Josephine thinks about mistakes, perfectionism and values under pressure

Resources mentioned:

CanopyLAB: https://www.canopylab.com/
Sahra-Josephine Hjorth is on Instagram.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: what breaks when impact has to scale 10X in a year | Sebastian DiGrande (CEO, Plastic Credit Exchange) - S13E21

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 06:00:00 +0200

What breaks first when your impact ambition moves from impressive progress to 10X scale?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Sebastian DiGrande, CEO of Plastic Credit Exchange, about bending the curve on plastic waste, building trust in an impact marketplace and the CEO leadership required when the technology is only part of the challenge.

PCX is trying to accelerate a circular economy where no plastic ends up in nature. The platform connects companies and individuals with verified plastic-waste diversion projects through a transparent marketplace and blockchain registry. But Sebastian is clear that the harder work is not simply the platform. It is awareness, trust, high-status participation, regulation and the human relationships that make adoption spread.

For CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this episode is about the move from building infrastructure to activating an ecosystem. When the mission is bigger than the company, the question becomes: what conversation, partnership or visible commitment could change the adoption curve?

You'll learn:

How PCX turns plastic-waste diversion into a transparent marketplace
Why trust and verification matter in impact markets
What changes when a mission moves from 100,000 tonnes toward million-tonne ambition
Why the CEO's job becomes ecosystem influence when adoption is harder than technology
How to use the one-conversation question to identify a leverage point for scale

Resources mentioned:

PCX Markets: https://www.pcxmarkets.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: what it takes to redesign a conservative business model for good | Randell Leach (CEO, Beneficial State Bank) - S13E20

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 06:00:00 +0200

What if the most powerful route to impact is not leaving a conservative industry, but redesigning its business model from the inside?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Randell Leach, CEO of Beneficial State Bank, about finance, community prosperity, environmental responsibility and the leadership practices that help him show up with clarity.

Randell's story is not a generic purpose-in-business story. It is about recognising that banking is already a leverage point: deposits, lending, payments and capital allocation shape what becomes possible in a community. Beneficial State Bank was designed from the start to optimise for people, planet and profit, with governance, ownership and culture aligned around that triple bottom line.

For CEO leadership and vision execution, this episode asks a deeper question: what would happen if the default settings of an industry changed? In banking, a different model can shift credit access, affordable housing, environmental outcomes and community wealth through capital rails that already exist.

You'll learn:

Why Randell's failed startup helped him find the intersection of finance, people and nature
How a bank can act as a social intermediary rather than an extractor
Why serving low-income communities requires first-principles design, not predatory economics
How governance, ownership and B Corp commitments help protect the model
Why Randell uses rapid self-assessment to understand what energy he is bringing into each moment

Resources mentioned:

Beneficial State Bank: https://www.beneficialstatebank.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Transformation: how rock bottom became a mission to create 1000 millionaires | Kerry Siggins (CEO, Stone Age Tools) - S13E19

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 06:40:00 +0200

What if the real test of CEO transformation is not whether you can build a valuable company, but whether that value changes the lives of the people who helped create it?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Kerry Siggins, CEO of StoneAge Tools, about the personal and organisational shift behind her mission to create 1000 millionaires through employee ownership.

Kerry's story starts with a painful rock-bottom moment and becomes a lesson in ownership, accountability and scaling culture. StoneAge is not just trying to grow a manufacturing and technology business. It is trying to prove that capitalism can distribute wealth more fairly when employees are trusted to think and act like owners.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a powerful case study in Leadership Leverage. If everything depends on the CEO's energy, care and personal galvanising, the business eventually hits a ceiling. Kerry's challenge is to build the executive team, operating model and ownership culture that can scale care without her being in every room.

You'll learn:

Why employee ownership only works when accountability culture is already strong
How Kerry thinks about the difference between structural ownership and an ownership mindset
The hiring questions she uses to test whether people take responsibility or deflect blame
Why a big strategic pivot failed when the go-to-market model was too broad
What it takes for a CEO to move from fixer and galvaniser to builder of a team that can scale the mission

The standout idea: wealth creation becomes more powerful when the people creating the value have a real stake in the outcome.

Resources mentioned:

Kerry Siggins: http://kerrysiggins.com/
StoneAge Holdings: http://stoneageholdings.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: what changes when love becomes a leadership principle | Alper Utku (CEO, Amsterdam Tech) - S13E18

Thu, 05 Oct 2023 06:00:00 +0200

What changes when love is not a soft value on the wall, but a real CEO leadership principle?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Alper Utku, CEO of Amsterdam Tech, about building a new-generation university that links education, employment and leadership development.

Alper's work is built around a practical impact problem: young people need skills, identity and a pathway into meaningful work. But his deeper leadership argument is more provocative. He believes business can use power in service of love, and that impact-led organisations need both connection and decisive action if they want to change systems at scale.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this conversation is about Strategic Leadership in a regulated, slow-moving sector. Alper did not wait for the traditional university model to modernise itself. He built a different ecosystem around jobs, skills and personal growth, then worked through the constraints of regulation, funding and institutional resistance.

You'll learn:

Why impact can keep a CEO moving when a normal business opportunity would not be enough
How Amsterdam Tech challenges traditional assumptions about teachers, campuses and assessment
Why love and power both matter in leadership, and why the order matters
How to think about system change when the legacy model is protected by regulation
What CEOs can learn from education about building people, not just capability

The standout idea: love in business becomes practical when it shapes what the organisation is willing to build, challenge and endure.

Resources mentioned:

Alper Utku on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alperutku/
Amsterdam Tech: https://amsterdam.tech/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: how purpose survives inside a distributed workforce | Brad Stevens (CEO, Outsource Access) - S13E17

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 06:00:00 +0200

How do you keep purpose alive when your company is growing fast and your team is distributed across the world?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Brad Stevens, CEO of Outsource Access, about building a 500-person offshore virtual services firm with purpose embedded into the operating rhythm.

Brad's work is a useful scaling culture case study because purpose is not treated as a slogan. It shows up in employee questions, quarterly initiatives, social impact commitments and the way the organisation thinks about opportunity for people in the Philippines.

For anyone thinking seriously about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, the core issue is familiar: culture can feel strong when the company is small and founder-led, then weaken as layers, locations and complexity increase. Brad's answer is to turn purpose into repeated practices, so people keep translating it into tangible action as the business grows.

You'll learn:

How Brad built Outsource Access as a force-for-good business from the start
The framework he uses to keep purpose connected to daily work
The quarterly question that turns employee purpose into concrete initiatives
Why mental expansion matters when a CEO wants to multiply impact
How a distributed workforce can still carry a shared mission with clarity

The standout idea: purpose survives scale when it becomes a management practice, not just a founder belief.

Resources mentioned:

Outsource Access: http://outsourceaccess.com/
Brad Stevens on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradstevens44/
Email tools@outsourceaccess.com with "multiplier" in the subject line
10X is Easier Than 2X review: https://xquadrant.com/10x-is-easier-than-2x-dan-sullivan-benjamin-hardy/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Transformation: how conviction turns a private equity firm into an impact firm | Kevin Chin (CEO, Arowana) - S13E16

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 18:00:00 +0200

How does a finance-first investment firm become a genuine impact business without losing commercial edge?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Kevin Chin, CEO of Arowana, about the CEO transformation required to move from conventional private equity to one of the world's highest-ranking B Corps and impact investment groups.

Kevin's story is not about surface-level repositioning. It is about conviction under pressure: saving a software company with weeks of cash left, building it into a global leader, then reshaping Arowana around a more generational definition of value creation.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Strategic Leadership conversation about what changes when impact becomes part of the investment thesis. Resistance appears inside the firm, in the market and in the leader's own assumptions. The work is to stay mentally agile enough to keep learning after success.

You'll learn:

What Kevin learned from turning around a company close to collapse
Where resistance shows up when a private equity firm becomes an impact firm
Why B Corp status can be a forcing function rather than a badge
How Arowana thinks about multiplying impact across future generations
The practices Kevin uses to stay mentally agile despite deep experience

The standout idea: impact becomes credible when it changes how capital, conviction and leadership decisions actually work.

Resources mentioned:

Arowana: http://arowanaco.com/
HyperTurnaround: https://www.amazon.com/HyperTurnaround-Transforming-Company-Collapse-Global-ebook/dp/B07MDPR7CN/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: how coaching becomes the engine of accountability | James Boettcher (CEO, Righteous Gelato) - S13E15

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 06:00:00 +0200

What if the culture that made your company caring is also the thing that needs more accountability as you scale?

In this episode, Richard speaks with James Boettcher, CEO of Righteous Gelato, about building a business where coaching, care and commercial ambition reinforce each other.

James sees frozen desserts as a vehicle for impact, but the deeper leadership lesson is about scaling culture. A warm, human organisation can still drift into entitlement or ambiguity if leaders do not create the right conversations. Coaching becomes the mechanism for care with standards.

For anyone thinking seriously about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this conversation speaks to a common tension: you want people to feel valued and empowered, but you also need clear ownership, performance and alignment. James offers a practical way to make 1:1s, leadership reflection and cultural rituals part of the operating system.

You'll learn:

Why James says business is not just business
How to care for people without creating an entitlement mentality
The five questions that help create a coaching culture in team 1:1s
Why coaching is a practical tool for accountability, not just development
How CEOs can scale themselves by making leadership conversations more consistent

The standout idea: a coaching culture works when it raises both support and standards.

Resources mentioned:

Righteous Gelato: https://righteousgelato.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: the hidden downside of a thrilling mission | Craig Lund (CEO, Mightier) - S13E14

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 06:00:00 +0200

Can a thrilling mission become a leadership trap?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Craig Lund, CEO of Mightier, about the hidden downsides of leading a company with a deeply compelling purpose.

Mightier helps children build emotional regulation through biometric feedback and game-based play. It is a powerful mission, but Craig is candid about the leadership challenges that come with it: hiring people for the right reasons, staying commercially sharp, going deep into the sector and making hard choices in a resource-constrained startup.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Evolution conversation. A strong mission can attract talent, customers and investors, but it can also blur judgement if people assume purpose will solve operational problems. The leadership work is to turn mission into strategic discipline.

You'll learn:

Why a compelling purpose can create hiring problems as well as hiring advantages
How Mightier turns depth in its sector into competitive advantage
What Craig has learned about moving from early-stage intensity to a more scalable company
Why resource constraints force sharper strategic leadership
How CEOs can protect mission without letting it excuse weak execution

The standout idea: purpose is strongest when it makes the business more disciplined, not less.

Resources mentioned:

Mightier: https://mightier.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: what sustainable performance asks CEOs to rethink | Stuart McLachlan (CEO, Anthesis Group) - S13E13

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 06:00:00 +0200

What does sustainable performance really ask a CEO to rethink?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Stuart McLachlan, CEO of Anthesis Group, about moving sustainability beyond compliance and into the centre of strategy, growth and leadership.

Stuart founded Anthesis in 2013 and grew it into a global sustainability advisory business with more than 1000 people. His argument is that the previous era's assumptions are no longer enough. Leaders need to dismantle old strongholds, create impact KPIs and see the climate agenda as a source of opportunity rather than only risk.

For anyone thinking seriously about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this is Strategic Leadership at system level. The question is not simply how to make the existing business a little cleaner. It is how to reimagine the business model, performance system and market opportunity when sustainability becomes one of the defining forces of the decade.

You'll learn:

What sustainable performance means beyond compliance language
Why some strongholds of the previous business era need to be dismantled
How to think about impact KPIs as part of the performance system
The difference between working within the system and reimagining the system
Why sustainability may become a corporate superpower for the next decade

The standout idea: sustainability becomes strategic when it changes how the company defines performance.

Resources mentioned:

Adventures in Sustainable Performance: https://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Sustainable-Performance-compliance-Leadership/dp/1394177410
Anthesis Group: https://www.anthesisgroup.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: how values become tangible growth projects | Kirsty Leighton (CEO, Milk & Honey PR) - S13E12

Thu, 24 Aug 2023 06:00:00 +0200

How do company values become real growth projects instead of nice words?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Kirsty Leighton, CEO of Milk & Honey PR, about building a fast-growing agency where values are translated into decisions, initiatives and measurable impact.

Kirsty started the business with unusual clarity about what it stood for and how it should grow. That clarity helped Milk & Honey move quickly, expand internationally and commit to opening communications careers for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

For anyone thinking seriously about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, this is a scaling culture conversation about turning values into an operating tool. Values only matter when they shape how you hire, expand, serve clients and create opportunities beyond the walls of the business.

You'll learn:

The founding document that helped Milk & Honey scale quickly
How Kirsty turns values into practical value-creation projects
What international expansion taught her about resilience and timing
Why Milk & Honey pledged to help 250 people from disadvantaged backgrounds enter communications
How CEOs can connect purpose, growth and daily management choices

The standout idea: values become powerful when they create projects people can actually execute.

Resources mentioned:

Milk & Honey PR: https://milkandhoneypr.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: why impact principles matter before the big decision | Upkar Arora (CEO, Rally Assets) - S13E11

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 06:00:00 +0200

What principles guide you before the big decision arrives?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Upkar Arora, CEO of Rally Assets, about the personal and strategic principles behind impact investing, inorganic growth and long-term leadership conviction.

Upkar moved from traditional finance into impact investing, then helped build Rally Assets into one of Canada's leading impact investment management and advisory firms. The episode is not just about the market. It is about how a CEO decides what kind of impact is meaningful enough to organise a business around.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Leadership conversation about decision quality. When the stakes rise, you cannot invent your principles in the moment. You need a clearer operating philosophy before opportunity, pressure and uncertainty arrive.

You'll learn:

How Upkar moved from traditional finance into impact investing
Why inorganic strategy can accelerate a mission when used carefully
What great mentors can do for a CEO's judgement
How Rally Assets connected its work to Canada's Social Finance Fund
Why personal impact principles help leaders stay clear under pressure

The standout idea: your principles do their best work before the pressure peaks.

Resources mentioned:

Rally Assets: https://rallyassets.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: why the discomfort zone is where the bigger business begins | David Engel (CEO, Drake and Farrell) - S13E10

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 06:00:00 +0200

What if the next stage of your business starts in the place you have been avoiding?

In this episode, Richard speaks with David Engel, CEO of Drake & Farrell, about purpose, resilience and the discomfort zone that comes with multiplying impact.

Drake & Farrell is a European leader in reverse logistics, working across telecoms, EV charging and other sectors to reduce electronic waste. David's leadership challenge is not just operational expansion. It is the inner work of staying clear, resilient and open to being challenged while the business moves into new markets.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO Evolution in practice. The CEO cannot be the expert in everything. The work is to find the essence, trust the right people, let the team challenge you and keep choosing the bigger game even when it makes you feel like a beginner again.

You'll learn:

Why David focuses on purpose as the anchor for impact and resilience
How trusted CEO peers helped him think differently about his role
Why he schedules the big things and the small things, but avoids the middle
What it means to be comfortable not being the smartest person in the room
How leadership changes when the company moves into a new strategic arena

The standout idea: the discomfort zone is often where the CEO's next level of leverage begins.

Resources mentioned:

Drake & Farrell: https://drakeandfarrell.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: why nonprofit funding needs infrastructure, not just generosity | James Citron (CEO, Pledge) - S13E09

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 06:00:00 +0200

What if the biggest constraint on nonprofit impact is not generosity, but friction?

In this episode, Richard speaks with James Citron, CEO of Pledge, about building technology that makes it easier for companies, individuals and nonprofits to unlock billions in funding for good causes.

James moved from scaling text-messaging companies into tech for good after seeing how a crisis-support nonprofit used his platform to save lives. Pledge grew from that deeper question: how can technology remove the barriers that stop people from giving, fundraising and connecting business activity to meaningful impact?

For CEOs, this is a Vision Execution and CEO leadership conversation about turning purpose into infrastructure. A mission gets more powerful when the operating model makes the right action easier for everyone else.

You'll learn:

Why James left a commercially successful path to build a tech-for-good platform
How Pledge reduced friction in charitable giving and fundraising
Why early strategic partnerships with platforms like Evite helped the model scale
How purpose can increase customer lifetime value when it is built into the business model
What hiring for passion and mission alignment looks like in practice

The standout idea: generosity scales when the system makes contribution simple.

Resources mentioned:

Pledge: https://www.pledge.to/
James Citron: james@pledge.to

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: how challengers take on a global giant without becoming one | Andy Hunter (CEO, Bookshop.org) - S13E08

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0200

How do you take on a global giant without becoming a smaller version of the giant?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Andy Hunter, CEO of Bookshop.org, about building a values-led alternative to Amazon for independent bookstores and the readers who want to support them.

Bookshop.org did not win by trying to acquire every customer one by one. Andy designed a coalition model around bookstores, authors, publishers, media, book clubs and readers who already cared about the future of books. The result was a market-shaping platform that helped independent bookstores compete online, especially when COVID forced the industry to move fast.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership for scaling businesses in a dominated market. When the incumbent owns scale, the challenger needs a different kind of leverage.

You'll learn:

Why Andy built Bookshop.org around stakeholders with existing audiences
How timing and COVID accelerated several years of adoption into months
Why trust with independent bookstores mattered before growth could compound
How challengers can build feature parity without copying the incumbent's values
What CEOs can learn from ecosystem strategy when direct acquisition looks impossible

The standout idea: you do not beat a giant by copying its scale mechanics; you activate the people it leaves behind.

Resources mentioned:

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/
Wired profile on Andy Hunter: https://www.wired.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why raising industry standards starts before anyone gives permission | Maria Carell (CEO, Revision Skincare) - S13E07

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0200

What if the market is not yet asking for the standard you know it deserves?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Maria Carell, CEO of Revision Skincare and Goodier Cosmetics, about raising standards in skincare through proof, education and business-model change.

Maria joined a smaller family business after a career in large pharmaceutical companies, then helped turn it into a category leader by applying a more rigorous standard to an under-regulated market. Instead of waiting for customers to demand better proof, the company invested in clinical evidence, physician education and a clearer philosophy of what responsible skincare should look like.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership about courage before certainty. Category leaders often move first, then teach the market how to recognise the difference.

You'll learn:

Why Maria believes impact can start with small steps, not grand gestures
How Revision Skincare raised expectations in a loosely regulated category
Why evidence and education can become market-shaping tools
How small improvements can create the courage for larger business-model shifts
What CEOs can learn about setting standards before the market gives permission

The standout idea: standards compound when a leader chooses the harder path before everyone else sees why it matters.

Resources mentioned:

Revision Skincare: https://revisionskincare.com/
Goodier Cosmetics: https://www.goodiercosmetics.com/
Maria Carell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: why identity shifts can change performance faster than effort | Todd Herman - S11E06

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0200

What if the fastest way to change your performance is to change the identity you step into?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Todd Herman, author of The Alter Ego Effect, about how high performers use intentional identities to move through fear, insecurity and friction.

Todd's work began in elite sport and mental performance, then expanded into business, leadership and personal reinvention. His core point is practical: when a role creates resistance, you can build an inner ally that helps you bring the traits, energy and decisiveness the role requires.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO Leadership and CEO Evolution at identity level. More effort is not always the answer; sometimes the leader needs a different internal model for the field they are playing on.

You'll learn:

Why alter egos are performance tools, not gimmicks
How Todd used Super Richard to move through insecurity in business
What leaders can learn from athletes who step into a different identity on the field
Why clear models and symbols can make behaviour change easier
How to choose the role where an alter ego could unlock better performance

The standout idea: identity is a performance lever when it gives you access to traits you already need.

Resources mentioned:

Todd Herman: https://toddherman.me/
The Alter Ego Effect: https://alteregoeffect.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Transformation: how leaders move from deal-driven to purpose-driven | Stuart Tragheim (CEO, Holloway Friendly) - S09E15

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 06:53:00 +0200

What if your purpose is not what you say in the boardroom, but what happens when your customer is most vulnerable?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Stuart Tragheim, CEO of Holloway Friendly, about moving from deal-driven growth to purpose-driven transformation.

Stuart inherited a well-capitalised business that needed sharper direction. The work was not a cosmetic rebrand or a values exercise. It meant going back to first principles, deciding where a smaller specialist could genuinely compete, aligning the board behind a painful transformation, and making the customer claim moment the proof point of the whole strategy.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO Transformation with teeth. Purpose only becomes strategy when it changes what you stop doing, where you invest, how you lead upwards, and what promise the business is built to keep.

You'll learn:

Why growth for growth's sake can keep a CEO trapped in dealmaker mode
How a customer promise becomes real at the moment of greatest need
Why brave transformation beats tinkering around the edges
How to bring a board with you through staged commitments and clear get-out points
What it takes to create executive bandwidth for the next horizon

Resources:
Holloway Friendly
https://www.holloway.co.uk/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: why greatness cannot always be planned | Wendy Strgar (CEO, Good Clean Love) - S13E06

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 06:01:00 +0200

What if your next category does not come from a plan, but from the problem you cannot stop following?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Wendy Strgar, CEO of Good Clean Love, about the messy founder journey from personal need to product science, biotech possibilities and category creation.

Good Clean Love began with Wendy's own need for products that supported her body and relationships rather than harming them. Over time, that curiosity expanded into a broader biome-health thesis, practitioner education, FDA-related change and a deeper question about how founders hold a vision before the structure is obvious.

For founders and CEOs, this is CEO Evolution and CEO leadership for scaling businesses where the path is not linear. Sometimes the work is not to force the final destination, but to keep asking better questions until the category reveals itself.

You'll learn:

Why Wendy believes greatness cannot always be planned in advance
How lived pain can become a clue to a larger market or category
What biome health means beyond the gut-health conversation
Why money is not always the best indicator for founder decision-making
How founders can move from impostor anxiety to trusting the vision they are holding

The standout idea: a defining market can start as an irritation you refuse to dismiss.

Resources mentioned:

Good Clean Love: https://goodcleanlove.com/
Wendy Strgar's books: Love That Works and Sex That Works
Vaginal Biome Science: https://vaginalbiomescience.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: what your team learns from you under pressure | Steve Bilt (CEO, Smile Brands) - S13E05

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 06:26:00 +0200

What does your team learn from you when the pressure rises?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Steve Bilt, CEO of Smile Brands, about purpose, transparency and the cultural precedent a CEO sets through everyday behaviour.

Steve's work at Smile Brands is built around a simple mission: smiles for everyone. But the leadership lesson is not the wording of the mission. It is how consistently that mission appears in meetings, decisions, financial transparency, problem-solving and the way leaders respond when things go wrong.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Scaling Culture and CEO leadership conversation about values in action. The organisation copies what the CEO actually does under pressure, not what the CEO says on a good day.

You'll learn:

Why purpose has to be first on the agenda if it is going to shape culture
How transparency reduces fear by turning the unknown into something people can handle
Why CEOs set precedent through their reactions to problems and mistakes
How a mission can become part of the operating rhythm rather than a slogan
What it takes to build a culture that makes decisions consistently without the CEO in every room

The standout idea: whatever the CEO does under pressure multiplies through the organisation, for better or worse.

Resources mentioned:

Smile Brands: https://www.smilebrands.com/
Smiles for Everyone Foundation: https://smilesforeveryone.org/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: what coaching neurodiverse kids teaches leaders about empowerment | Elaine Taylor-Klaus (Co-founder, Impact Parents) - S13E04

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 13:58:00 +0200

What if empowerment starts with asking a better question?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Elaine Taylor-Klaus, co-founder of Impact Parents, about building the first global coaching organisation for parents of neurodiverse kids and what leaders can learn from that work.

Elaine's journey began with her own family and the gap she saw in support for parents. Impact Parents teaches coaching skills that help adults move from directive control into collaborative problem-solving, agency and independence. That same shift has powerful implications for CEO leadership, especially when leaders want teams to think and act with more ownership.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Leadership conversation about empowerment that is practical, not sentimental. The leader's job is not always to give the answer; it is often to create the conditions where the other person can understand themselves and act more effectively.

You'll learn:

Why Elaine moved from parent looking for help to founder of a global coaching organisation
How coaching changes the dynamic between adults and neurodiverse children
Why agency and independence are built through different questions, not more control
How a founder can scale impact beyond direct service into schools, professionals and systems
What CEOs can learn about empowering teams without abandoning accountability

The standout idea: empowerment grows when leaders stop managing the other person's brain and start helping them build agency.

Resources mentioned:

Impact Parents: https://impactparents.com/
Impact Parents resource for this audience: https://impactparents.com/multiplier
Parenting with Impact podcast: https://impactparents.com/podcast/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: when a 1.7M-person community becomes the growth engine | Haris Pylarinos (CEO, Hack the Box) - S13E03

Tue, 06 Jun 2023 20:40:00 +0200

What happens when the community is not a marketing channel, but the growth engine itself?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Haris Pylarinos, CEO of Hack The Box, about building the world's largest cybersecurity community from a hands-on training platform he first shared in a Facebook group.

Hack The Box grew because Haris solved a problem the market felt but existing training did not answer: cybersecurity skills are built through practice, experimentation and out-of-the-box thinking. One link became a viral community because the experience matched how people actually wanted to learn.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Scaling Culture and CEO leadership conversation about product-led community, creative problem-solving and the risks of growing too fast. When the user community becomes the engine, the CEO has to protect both the mission and the quality of the system behind it.

You'll learn:

Why Haris built Hack The Box after becoming frustrated with traditional cybersecurity training
How out-of-the-box thinking applies beyond ethical hacking and into CEO problem-solving
Why a bootstrapped infrastructure decision became a long-term strategic advantage
How a 1.7 million-person community can multiply product adoption without paid advertising
What CEOs should watch when fast growth starts stretching the organisation

The standout idea: communities scale when the product helps people become the kind of person they already want to be.

Resources mentioned:

Hack The Box: https://www.hackthebox.com/
Haris Pylarinos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: how one bold commitment built a $100M nonprofit | Matt Hill (CEO, One Tree Planted) - S13E02

Tue, 30 May 2023 20:00:00 +0200

What if the commitment has to come before you know exactly how you will deliver it?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Matt Hill, CEO of One Tree Planted, about turning a simple idea into a $100M nonprofit that has planted tens of millions of trees around the world.

Matt saw that companies and individuals wanted to help the environment, but the existing options often felt technical, gloomy or opaque. One Tree Planted made the action simple: one dollar, one tree, with enough transparency to help donors trust where their money was going.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Vision Execution and CEO leadership about bold commitments, practical trust and organisational scaling. A mission can be inspiring, but it only compounds when the operating system makes it easy for people to join in.

You'll learn:

Why Matt built One Tree Planted around simplicity and transparency
How a marketing background helped make environmental action easier to understand
Why trust with donors depends on showing the project, the benefits and the follow-through
What changed as the organisation moved from founder-led hustle to a larger team
How a bold public commitment can pull partners, funding and execution into motion

The standout idea: a simple promise can become a large-scale operating model when it removes friction and builds trust.

Resources mentioned:

One Tree Planted: https://onetreeplanted.org/
Matt Hill: matt@onetreeplanted.org

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: what changes when business becomes a force for good - S13E01

Fri, 19 May 2023 11:05:00 +0200

What changes when a CEO sees the business as a vehicle for systemic positive impact?

In this short season-opening episode, Richard introduces the Business as a Force for Good series and the leaders featured in it: CEOs and entrepreneurial leaders using commercial acumen, people skills and mission-driven conviction to create a bigger dent in the universe.

The question underneath the season is simple but demanding: how do leaders multiply their impact by transforming themselves, their businesses and ultimately the world around them?

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO Leadership in its broadest sense. It is about moving beyond a narrow definition of success and asking what the business could make possible for customers, teams, communities and systems.

You'll hear:

Why Richard created a season around business as a force for good
What distinguishes leaders who want systemic positive impact from those pursuing ordinary growth
The origin-story questions the season explores with each guest
Why the next level of impact usually requires both personal and business transformation
How the season connects inspiration with the practical CEO work of scaling a mission

The standout idea: the biggest business question is not just what you can grow, but what your growth is in service of.

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Transformation: why panic is the worst strategy for disruption | Jason Feifer (Editor-in-Chief, Entrepreneur) - S11E05

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 22:00:00 +0200

How do you lead through disruption without letting panic become the strategy?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Jason Feifer, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur and author of Build For Tomorrow, about adaptability, reinvention and how smart people move through change.

Jason's work is built around a simple but powerful observation: people often resist change because they are trying to protect a familiar answer. The leadership opportunity is to ask better questions, build a bridge from what people already understand, and discover the new value that eventually makes them say they would not go back.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO Transformation and Strategic Leadership in uncertain markets. The goal is not to wait for crisis, but to keep asking what the current model is really for and what customers now need it to become.

You'll learn:

Why panic narrows your ability to respond to disruption
How to build a bridge from familiar language to new behaviour
Why customers often prefer better versions of old things to entirely new things
What the "wouldn't go back" stage teaches about lasting change
How Jason thinks about partnerships, reinvention and his own next chapter

The standout idea: adaptability improves when leaders ask what the current thing is really for now.

Resources mentioned:

Jason Feifer: https://www.jasonfeifer.com/
Build For Tomorrow: https://www.jasonfeifer.com/book/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: what a lifetime of entrepreneurship teaches about meaningful work | Dan Miller - S11E04

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 22:00:00 +0200

What does a lifetime of entrepreneurship teach about work that still feels meaningful?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Dan Miller, author of 48 Days To The Work You Love, about opportunity, reinvention and building a life where work, contribution and creativity are not separate compartments.

Dan's story runs from a poor farming family in rural Ohio to decades of writing, coaching, communities and entrepreneurial experiments. The through-line is his belief that people can choose a different trajectory by controlling what they think about and by seeing opportunities others miss.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO Evolution and CEO leadership for the later chapters of impact. The question is not only how to succeed, but how to keep choosing work that is alive, aligned and useful.

You'll learn:

Why Dan believes optimism and opportunity are choices leaders can cultivate
How books became entry points into higher-engagement work, not just royalty streams
Why he deliberately cuts activities to make room for the next wave
What founders can learn from moving beyond workaholism without losing creative energy
How meaningful work changes across different seasons of life

The standout idea: the work can stay alive when you keep cutting what has gone stale and creating room for the next contribution.

Resources mentioned:

48 Days: https://www.48days.com/
48 Days To The Work You Love: https://www.48days.com/48-days-book/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why authority grows when your message travels | Grant Baldwin (CEO, The Speaker Lab) - S11E03

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 22:00:00 +0200

How does a leader turn hard-won experience into a message that travels?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Grant Baldwin, CEO of The Speaker Lab, about paid speaking, message clarity and building a business around a specific problem you solve for a specific audience.

Grant's advice is useful far beyond the speaking industry. He argues that people are looking for specialists, not generalists. The more clearly you choose who you serve and what problem you solve, the easier it becomes for the right people to recognise your authority.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership about focus, positioning and culture. A bigger platform usually starts with a narrower promise.

You'll learn:

Why speakers need to select a problem to solve before chasing visibility
How the steakhouse-not-buffet principle applies to expertise businesses
Why it is easier to steer a car in motion than one in park
How Grant built The Speaker Lab around people, ownership and growth
Why protecting culture and saying no to good opportunities are CEO-level responsibilities

The standout idea: authority grows faster when your message is specific enough to travel.

Resources mentioned:

The Speaker Lab: https://thespeakerlab.com/
The Speaker Lab podcast: https://thespeakerlab.com/podcast/
The Successful Speaker: https://thespeakerlab.com/book/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why turnarounds fail when leaders push before they listen | Remco Samuels (CEO, EVBox) - S09E14

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 22:00:00 +0200

What happens in a turnaround when the leader moves faster than the organisation can believe?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Remco Samuels, CEO of EVBox, about rebuilding focus, trust and momentum after a difficult chapter.

EVBox had to move past a failed IPO dream, diluted priorities, silos and morale damage. Remco's lesson is that strategic leadership in a turnaround is not only about making hard choices. It is about listening first, creating the management team, cutting scope, and repeating the purpose, vision, strategy and execution story until people can actually use it.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership under pressure. Silence fills itself. When people are disappointed or uncertain, the CEO has to communicate early, clearly and repeatedly enough for belief to return.

You'll learn:

Why turnaround focus often starts with stopping products, markets or offices
How leaders rebuild trust after a major organisational disappointment
Why strategy has to become almost annoyingly familiar before it becomes useful
How people relationships become the bridge from suspicion to belief
What changes when the CEO moves from internal fixer to external market leader

Resources:
EVBox
https://evbox.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: how deep-tech CEOs discover the mission while building the market | Scott White (CEO, PragmatIC) - S09E13

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 22:00:00 +0200

What if the mission is not fully visible at the start, but emerges as the technology finds its real-world pull?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Scott White, CEO of PragmatIC, about flexible semiconductors, deep-tech scaling and the discipline of turning broad possibility into focused strategic arenas.

PragmatIC began with a technology platform and customer problems. Over time, the bigger mission became clearer: circular economy, healthcare access, security and more distributed semiconductor manufacturing. The defining move was not leaving the platform open to every possible application, but choosing the few arenas where it could matter most.

For deep-tech founders and CEOs, this is Vision Execution and CEO leadership in motion. Possibility is not strategy until the leadership team decides where the platform is meant to change the world.

You'll learn:

Why mission can emerge after the technology and still become real strategy
How broad platform businesses avoid being pulled into every possible use case
Why focus themes matter when a technology could serve many markets
How ESG and societal impact can be designed into the business model, not bolted on later
Why the CEO's next level may be building beyond their own operational competence

Resources:
Pragmatic Semiconductor
https://www.pragmaticsemi.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: what life-and-death missions demand from the founder | Mike Lahiff (CEO, ZeroEyes) - S09E12

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 22:00:00 +0200

How does CEO leadership change when the mission is measured in lives saved?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Mike Lahiff, CEO of ZeroEyes, about AI gun detection, veteran-led culture and building technology where seconds matter.

Mike frames ZeroEyes not as a surveillance story, but as a mission to save time and save lives. That mission changes hiring, urgency, resilience and the operating rhythm of the business. The long-range ambition is translated back into the next six months, the next execution cycle, and the next clear communication.

For founders and CEOs, this is a powerful example of mission as a force multiplier. The bigger the stakes, the more the business needs simple operating language, disciplined execution and people who are genuinely pulled by the mission.

You'll learn:

Why serious missions attract different kinds of talent and commitment
How military principles like shoot, move and communicate translate into startup execution
Why technology stories need human stakes to become strategically clear
How to connect a ten-year mission to the next operational bite
What it means to build a company you would be happy to make unnecessary

Resources:
ZeroEyes
https://zeroeyes.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: why non-dilutive capital changes the startup game | Saket Kumar (CEO, Vitt) - S09E11

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 22:00:00 +0200

What if raising capital could be faster, cleaner and less dilutive for founders?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Saket Kumar, CEO of Vitt, about rethinking startup finance for SaaS businesses using connected data, faster underwriting and founder-friendly non-dilutive capital.

The deeper CEO leadership lesson is about Vision Execution. Vitt is not just another finance product; it treats capital access as infrastructure that can remove friction from a founder's growth path. Instead of weeks of opaque fundraising theatre, the business uses bank, accounting, subscription and payment data to make financing decisions much faster.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this episode also asks a useful operating question: when should you optimise the current funnel, and when do you step back far enough to evolve the model itself?

You'll learn:

Why venture capital is not always the right tool for every growth need
How data-enabled underwriting can change the capital experience for SaaS founders
Why repeat customers are a stronger proof point than a first financing transaction
How context creates genius inside a high-trust team
Why CEOs have to balance funnel optimisation with bigger business-model evolution

Resources:
Vitt episode page
https://xquadrant.com/saket-kumar/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why relevance matters more than size in professional services | Darren Comber (CEO, Scott Brownrigg) - S10E06

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 22:00:00 +0200

What does it take to build a professional-services firm that stays relevant, not just bigger?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Darren Comber, CEO of Scott Brownrigg, about scaling an architecture practice with ambition, creativity and strategic discipline.

For founders and CEOs, professional-services growth can become a headcount game: more offices, more projects, more complexity. Darren's story points to a different test of strategic leadership. The organisation has to stay distinctive, inspire clients and talent, and keep renewing its relevance as the market changes.

This is CEO leadership for scaling businesses where reputation, creative standards and client trust are part of the operating system, not decoration around it.

You'll learn:

Why size alone is a weak ambition for a professional-services business
How leaders keep a creative firm strategically relevant as it scales
Why culture and standards matter when the product is expert judgement
What CEOs can learn from building a firm around ambition, trust and client impact
How to think about scaling without losing the qualities that made the business worth scaling

Resources:
Scott Brownrigg
https://www.scottbrownrigg.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: what it takes to sustain Inc 5000 growth for a decade | Don Wenner (CEO, DLP Capital) - S10E05

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 22:00:00 +0200

How do you sustain high growth for years without letting execution depend on heroics?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Don Wenner, CEO of DLP Capital, about the operating discipline behind a decade on the Inc 5000 and a business model designed to connect profit with impact.

Don's core lesson is that impact needs an execution system. Purpose becomes scalable when the company knows its high-value activities, marches consistently, develops leaders and aligns the economics of the business with the outcomes it wants to create.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Scaling Culture and CEO leadership in practical form: discipline, leadership development and strategic focus working together so growth is not left to motivation, market weather or the founder's personal push.

You'll learn:

Why the 20 mile march is about steady massive productive activity, not slow growth
How DLP connects affordable housing impact with business model design
Why leadership development becomes the multiplication layer in a scaling company
How CEOs can identify the few activities that create disproportionate value
Why strategic leadership requires operating cadence, not just ambition

Resources:
DLP Capital
https://dlpcapital.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Operating System: the practical implementation plan for making time for strategy - S12E07

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 22:00:00 +0200

How do you turn the idea of making time for strategy into something your week, team and organisation can actually sustain?

In this final episode of the Making Time For Strategy series, Davina Stanley speaks with Richard Medcalf about the practical implementation plan behind the book and the TIME framework: tactics, influence, mindset and environment.

The core challenge is the Infinity Trap: leaders are surrounded by endless inputs, urgent requests and lower-value work that can feel productive while keeping them stuck in incrementalism. The solution is not just productivity. It is a CEO Operating System that creates strategic bandwidth for the work that changes the business.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership at the level of behaviour, team rhythm and commitment. Strategic time only appears when the leader chooses what they are truly committed to, then builds the influence and environment to make that commitment real.

You'll learn:

Why leaders stay trapped in the weeds even when they know strategy matters
How the TIME framework turns strategic focus into practical behaviour change
Why courage, contribution and discomfort sit underneath real delegation
How to help your team and organisation create strategic bandwidth, not just personal productivity
What implementation options exist beyond reading the book, including keynotes, individual programmes and leadership team workshops

The standout idea: strategic time is not found; it is built into the way the leader and team operate.

Resources mentioned:

Making Time For Strategy: https://makingtimeforstrategy.com/
Xquadrant services: https://xquadrant.com/services/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: when the whole team has to make time for strategy - S12E06

Tue, 03 Jan 2023 22:00:00 +0200

How do you move making time for strategy from a personal habit into a team culture?

In this episode, Davina Stanley speaks with Richard Medcalf about the environment part of the Making Time For Strategy framework: the organisational context that either protects strategic focus or rewards constant firefighting.

The deeper CEO leadership challenge is not just to fight fires faster. It is to become the fire-prevention officer: spotting repeated urgency, redesigning process, and creating team norms that make strategic activity easier to do than reactive busywork.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Scaling Culture conversation about behaviour change. Strategic focus becomes durable when the team has shared prompts, clear motivation, practical ability, and consequences that make the new behaviour matter.

You'll learn:

Why recurring urgency is often a broken process, not a badge of commitment
How the 72-hour rule can reveal where your organisation is creating avoidable noise
Why culture change starts with behaviour conditions, not slogans
How the IMPACT framework helps diagnose what stops a new habit from sticking
How leaders can create team-level strategic time without turning it into another initiative

The standout idea: culture is what makes the strategic behaviour easier than the reactive behaviour.

Resources mentioned:

Making Time For Strategy: https://makingtimeforstrategy.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: how your own thinking keeps you in low-value work - S12E05

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What if the real reason you stay in low-value work is not your diary, but your thinking?

In this episode, Davina Stanley speaks with Richard Medcalf about the mindset part of Making Time For Strategy: the beliefs, identity stories and hidden commitments that keep successful leaders trapped in work they know they should release.

The CEO leadership issue is subtle. Many leaders say they want more strategic bandwidth, but part of them is still committed to being useful, responsive, indispensable or in control. Until that inner contract changes, tactics alone will not create lasting freedom.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Bottleneck conversation. The operational constraint often survives because the leader's identity is still tied to the old success formula.

You'll learn:

Why productivity tactics fail when the leader is still attached to low-value work
How hidden identity stories keep CEOs over-obligated and under-committed
Why letting go often feels risky even when the business needs it
How to spot where responsibility has become a bottleneck
What mindset shift is needed before strategic time can become sustainable

The standout idea: you do not free up strategic time until you stop needing the old work to prove your value.

Resources mentioned:

Making Time For Strategy: https://makingtimeforstrategy.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: the conversations standing between you and strategic focus - S12E04

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 22:00:00 +0200

Which conversations are you avoiding because they might finally change how your time is used?

In this episode, Davina Stanley speaks with Richard Medcalf about the influence part of Making Time For Strategy: the stakeholder conversations that make strategic focus possible.

For many leaders, the diary is full because too many expectations remain implicit. The CEO leadership move is to stop treating strategic time as a private productivity project and start renegotiating the agreements, assumptions and trade-offs around you.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership in practice. If your calendar is shaped by everyone else's expectations, you need better conversations before you can create better focus.

You'll learn:

Why strategic time often requires stakeholder influence, not just personal discipline
How to surface the expectations that keep you stuck in reactive work
Why saying no is not enough if the wider system still expects the old behaviour
How to frame strategic focus as a business requirement, not a personal preference
Which conversations create the room for bigger contribution

The standout idea: strategic focus is often waiting on a conversation you already know you need to have.

Resources mentioned:

Making Time For Strategy: https://makingtimeforstrategy.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Operating System: the practical moves that create strategic bandwidth - S12E03

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 22:00:00 +0200

How do you actually free up hours each week for the work that changes the business?

In this episode, Davina Stanley speaks with Richard Medcalf about the tactics part of Making Time For Strategy: the practical moves that help leaders reclaim attention from endless demand.

The point is not to become a little more efficient at low-value work. The CEO leadership challenge is to build a CEO Operating System that protects strategic bandwidth, clarifies the goal, and turns time into a resource for breakthrough activity.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is about moving beyond ordinary productivity. Strategic bandwidth appears when you know where your time goes, what you are freeing it for, and which practical behaviours will stop infinity from consuming the week.

You'll learn:

Why tactics matter even though productivity is not the whole answer
How to set a clear strategic-time goal instead of vaguely hoping for more space
Why basic workflow and meeting hygiene still matter at senior levels
How small recurring leaks steal attention from bigger work
What practical moves help create the first few hours of strategic bandwidth

The standout idea: the first hours of strategic time usually come from a more deliberate operating system, not a heroic burst of effort.

Resources mentioned:

Making Time For Strategy: https://makingtimeforstrategy.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: why leaders stay stuck in the weeds - S12E02

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 22:00:00 +0200

Why do smart, successful leaders keep getting pulled back into the weeds?

In this episode, Davina Stanley speaks with Richard Medcalf about what leaders should do with strategic time once they create it: identify high-value activities and breakthrough projects that move the business forward.

The CEO leadership trap is that the work that once made you successful can quietly become the work that keeps you stuck. If you only repeat the old formula, you may stay useful while missing the next level of contribution.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Bottleneck conversation about where your focus really belongs. The aim is not empty space in the diary; it is time reinvested into the highest-value activities and capability-building projects.

You'll learn:

How to identify your highest-value activities
Why looking back is useful only if you turn the pattern toward the future
How to choose a number-one improvement project that builds capability
Why breakthrough projects compound more than recurring operational tasks
How Richard's own podcast, CEO community and book became strategic assets

The standout idea: strategic time only matters if you spend it on work that changes your future trajectory.

Resources mentioned:

Making Time For Strategy: https://makingtimeforstrategy.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why making time for strategy changes everything - S12E01

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What if strategic time is the clearest leading indicator of your future success?

In this opening episode of the Making Time For Strategy series, Davina Stanley speaks with Richard Medcalf about why he wrote the book and why successful leaders cannot beat endless demand with productivity alone.

The problem is the Infinity Trap: more emails, messages, meetings, requests and operational noise than any leader can ever fully clear. The CEO leadership shift is to stop trying to win that game and instead create time for next-level breakthrough activities.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership at the root. The bigger the ambition, the more dangerous it is to assume the answer is simply more effort.

You'll learn:

Why successful leaders often work harder just as the old formula stops working
What the Infinity Trap is and how it creates tunnel vision
Why strategic time is not just thinking time, but future-building time
How operational excellence can become a ceiling if it keeps you in the same role
Why Making Time For Strategy is a leadership reinvention challenge, not another productivity hack

The standout idea: you cannot beat infinity with productivity; you need to reinvent how you lead.

Resources mentioned:

Making Time For Strategy: https://makingtimeforstrategy.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Operating System: why overloaded leaders lose strategic bandwidth | David Allen (author, Getting Things Done) - S11E02

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What if your biggest strategic constraint is not time, but mental room?

In this episode, Richard speaks with David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, about why overloaded leaders need a stronger CEO operating system for commitments, attention and follow-through.

For CEOs and founders, the danger is familiar: every problem, idea, promise and follow-up stays half-held in your head until strategic bandwidth disappears. David's challenge is simple and practical. Treat problems as projects, clarify the desired outcome, identify the next action, and build a trusted system that lets your mind do higher-value work.

This is CEO leadership for scaling businesses at the most practical level: if the business depends on your judgement, your attention system becomes part of the operating model.

You'll learn:

Why senior leaders often need more room, not more time
How outcome-and-action thinking turns vague pressure into forward motion
Why waiting-for lists, agenda lists and weekly review rhythms matter at executive level
How overloaded CEOs accidentally overcommit when the full inventory is invisible
Why strategic leadership depends on creating space before the decision moment

Resources:
David Allen and Getting Things Done
https://gettingthingsdone.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: what CEOs should learn from the thinkers around them - S11E01

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 22:00:00 +0200

Who are the thinkers, advisers and experts shaping the way you lead?

This short season introduction opens the CEO Rolodex: a run of conversations with authors, thought leaders, advisers and practitioners who work with extraordinary executives or shape how the business world thinks.

For scaling founders and CEOs, the question is not just what you already know from running the business. It is whether you are deliberately exposing yourself to sharper ideas, better questions and different lenses before the next defining decision arrives.

This is a CEO leadership prompt: listen for the one idea in each conversation that could change how you think, lead or build.

You'll hear:

Why this season shifts from operating-CEO stories to expert and adviser conversations
How external thinkers can sharpen strategic leadership without taking you away from execution
Why the best CEOs keep building their own intellectual operating system
The simple listening question Richard suggests for every episode: what is the one thing that could change your future?

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: how founders turn bankruptcy scar tissue into hypergrowth | Chris Lee (CEO, Solgen Power) - S10E04

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What if the failure that made you wiser is also making you too cautious?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Chris Lee, CEO of Solgen Power, about moving from bankruptcy and under-scaling to building one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States.

Chris's story is a CEO Evolution lesson in scar tissue. After scaling too fast and filing bankruptcy at 26, he overcorrected into small, technician-led businesses. The breakthrough came when he treated the next chapter as an apprenticeship, studied high-growth CEOs from the inside, and then designed Solgen's culture, talent model and ownership structure deliberately from day one.

For scaling founders and CEOs, the question is not whether failure taught you something. It is whether those lessons have become explicit operating principles, or whether they are quietly keeping the business smaller than it needs to be.

You'll learn:

How past failure can become either wisdom or a hidden CEO bottleneck
Why culture happens by design or by default
How Chris used apprenticeship to rebuild his scale confidence
Why early talent needs upside before the company looks safe
What high-growth CEOs can learn from turning scar tissue into disciplined trust

Resources:
Solgen Power
https://www.solgenpower.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: when international growth starts stretching the mission | Erik Martinson (CEO, Svea Solar) - S10E03

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 21:00:00 +0200

Are you scaling the company, or scaling the organisation that has to carry it?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Erik Martinson, CEO of Svea Solar, about expanding a mission-led business across multiple European markets and learning that revenue growth is not the same as organisational capacity.

Svea Solar proved the model in a hard market first, then moved into new countries at speed. But the real leadership lesson is the shift Erik describes: from solving more problems personally to building the talent, culture and support systems that let the organisation keep scaling without the founders becoming the constraint.

For CEOs leading international growth, this is Scaling Culture and CEO leadership for scaling businesses in a very practical form. Demand may be there, but the mission only travels if the leadership system travels with it.

You'll learn:

Why proving the model in a harder market can create an advantage later
How rapid country expansion exposes the difference between revenue scale and organisation scale
Why HR and talent belong at the strategic table
How supporting teams too much can accidentally weaken ownership
What mission-led CEOs can learn about turning climate ambition into operating discipline

Resources:
Svea Solar
https://sveasolar.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: why product-market fit is not enough to scale | Matthew Scullion (CEO, Matillion) - S10E02

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 21:15:00 +0200

What happens after product-market fit, when the next bottleneck is the company itself?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Matthew Scullion, CEO of Matillion, about building a consequential software company, scaling culture deliberately, and moving from product-market fit to go-to-market fit.

Matthew's lesson is blunt: ambition only matters when it changes how you build. If you assume you are building something consequential, that belief has to show up in urgency, capital strategy, hiring standards, values, leadership upgrades and the commercial machine.

For founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Bottleneck and CEO leadership episode because the constraint often moves. The product can be strong, the market can be real, and yet the business still stalls because the go-to-market system, team standards or culture have not caught up.

You'll learn:

Why product-market fit is not the same as a scalable commercial machine
How to think about go-to-market fit as the next stage of growth
Why right person, right seat, right time matters as revenue stages change
How values become real through hiring, onboarding, reviews, coaching and exits
Why high performance with low values adherence can be one of the most dangerous scaling traps

Resources:
Matillion
https://www.matillion.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: what fast-growth CEOs learn the hard way - S10E01

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 21:00:00 +0200

Why do some CEOs sustain high growth while others get trapped by the complexity they create?

This short season introduction frames the second Secrets of Scaling series: conversations with high-growth CEOs about the practical realities behind rapid expansion.

For scaling founders and CEOs, growth is never just one problem. Team, culture, customer work, strategic decisions, business model choices, product-market fit and new offices all start interacting. The leader's job is to build the operating system, culture and judgement that can handle those interactions without everything coming back to the founder.

This is Scaling Culture and CEO leadership as a season theme: what fast-growth CEOs learn when ambition meets complexity.

You'll hear:

Why scaling is a multi-system challenge, not just a revenue target
The kinds of leadership questions this season explores with high-growth CEOs
How culture, strategy, customers and business model decisions compound as the business grows
Why sustainable growth requires more than momentum

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: why deep-tech missions need a 40-year horizon | Frank Millar (CEO, CPI) - S09E10

Tue, 11 Oct 2022 21:00:00 +0200

What kind of leader commits to a mission they may not personally finish?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Frank Millar, CEO of CPI, about deep tech, industrial renewal, ecosystem convening and the leadership required for a 40-year mission.

Frank's work shows that some transformations are too complex for one company to solve alone. Pharmaceuticals, sustainability, advanced manufacturing and regional renewal need trusted conveners who can align industry, public sector, places, science and long innovation cycles.

For CEOs and sector shapers, this is Vision Execution and CEO leadership on a long horizon. The defining move may not be winning a near-term market argument; it may be building the road that lets a whole ecosystem move.

You'll learn:

Why deep-tech missions often need ecosystem leadership, not just company strategy
How neutral conveners can help markets and sectors move faster
Why place-based impact can become part of the strategic mission
How long-horizon leadership changes the decisions you make this quarter
Why culture, story and constructive conflict matter when the mission is bigger than one organisation

Resources:
CPI
https://www.uk-cpi.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: what comes after 35 years in the top job | Adrian Weiler (Chair, Smart Freight Centre) - S09E09

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 21:00:00 +0200

What does a CEO learn after 35 years in the top job, and what comes after that?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Adrian Weiler, former CEO of Inform and Chair of Smart Freight Centre, about trust, subsidiarity, long-term culture and moving from company-building into a climate-focused next chapter.

Adrian's leadership lesson is not about tighter control. It is about organisational leverage: pushing decisions to the lowest level where people understand the work, building deep customer relationships before problems arise, and trusting the culture enough for the company to keep growing beyond one leader's direct grip.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO Evolution over decades. The leader's role changes from doing everything, to distributing decision rights, to preparing the organisation and the next mission to thrive without you at the centre.

You'll learn:

Why trust can create more leverage than control
How subsidiarity pushes decisions closer to the real work
Why mission-critical customer relationships are built before something goes wrong
What succession can look like after decades of CEO leadership
How a next chapter can shift from building a company to mobilising a broader climate ecosystem

Resources:
Inform
https://www.inform-software.com/

Smart Freight Centre
https://www.smartfreightcentre.org/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: why leadership has to be practised as a craft | Joshua Lachs (CEO, Moneythink) - S09E08

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 21:00:00 +0200

What if leadership is not a set of answers you collect, but a craft you keep practising in the grey?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Joshua Lachs, CEO of Moneythink, about leading self, people and an organisation through uncertainty.

Joshua's work with Moneythink gives a practical CEO leadership lesson: the leader does not always need to have the perfect answer. Often the real work is creating enough clarity in the process, communication and decision rights that the team can move, learn and recalibrate.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is about expanding leadership range. Vulnerability becomes cultural permission when the CEO can say, I do not know yet, and still lead a strong process.

You'll learn:

Why leadership has to be practised as a craft, not treated as an identity badge
How CEOs can become more comfortable being challenged, exposed and incomplete
Why most decisions need clearer process more than heroic certainty
How vulnerability from the CEO can become a useful cultural signal
What changes when the goal is a team that can fly without the CEO at the centre

Resources:
Moneythink
https://moneythink.org/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: when transformation has a 20-month deadline | Enrique Sacau (CEO, Kneip) - S08E20

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 21:00:00 +0200

When everything is urgent, how do you know which problem can actually kill the business?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Enrique Sacau, CEO of Kneip, about leading a turnaround and sale in 20 months.

Enrique's most useful lesson is crisis focus. In a turnaround, the most dramatic issue is not always the decisive constraint. Blood gets attention, but if the airway is blocked, the patient dies. The CEO's job is to identify A, B and C, communicate clearly, fix the system and let less important balls fall.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership under deadline pressure. The next level is not catching every detail. It is knowing which details have become rounding errors and which constraints must be solved now.

You'll learn:

Why visible fires can distract from the real life-threatening constraint
How ownership differs from doing everything yourself
Why communication failure is often a leadership-system failure before it is a team failure
How a CEO decides which balls are now allowed to fall
What turnaround leaders can learn from airway, breathing and circulation discipline

Resources:
Kneip
https://www.kneip.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Organizational Leverage: why diversified groups need more than a shared logo | Richard Rankin (CEO, H&H Group) - S09E07

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 21:00:00 +0200

How do you lead a diversified group when the businesses do not obviously belong in the same story?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Richard Rankin, CEO of H&H Group, about heritage, values, empowerment and aligning very different businesses without forcing them into sameness.

The organisational leverage challenge is clear: a group needs more than a shared logo. It needs a shared altitude. Broad enough to include each business, specific enough to guide decisions, and practical enough to help people understand what leadership means in the new system.

For CEOs running groups, portfolios or multi-unit businesses, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership about trust, values and removing roadblocks so each part of the organisation can jump higher.

You'll learn:

Why diversified groups need a shared story that is broader than any single division
How values and authenticity help a new CEO lead across unfamiliar terrain
Why empowerment requires people to understand the new rules of leadership
How to balance heritage with the need to embrace the future
What it takes to create organisational leverage across very different operating businesses

Resources:
H&H Group
https://hhgroupplc.co.uk/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: why embedded finance needs category-shaping conviction | Nigel Verdon (CEO, Railsbank) - S09E06

Tue, 19 Jul 2022 21:00:00 +0200

What if finance stopped being a place customers go, and became a capability embedded inside the experience they already need?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Nigel Verdon, CEO of Railsbank, about embedded finance, category-shaping conviction and building infrastructure that removes friction from financial services.

Nigel's frame is problem-led rather than feature-led. The opportunity is not to list more financial products, but to let companies create useful financial experiences without rebuilding the hard regulated infrastructure underneath. Like AWS or Twilio in other categories, the platform lets customers focus on the differentiating experience while the difficult machinery disappears into the background.

For CEOs and category creators, this is Vision Execution and CEO leadership with a clear market-shaping thesis: build something people need because it removes a real pain, and let the economics follow the value exchange.

You'll learn:

Why embedded finance changes the customer's relationship with financial services
How platform infrastructure can reshape a category by making hard things disappear
Why problem-led companies outperform feature-led companies
How uncertainty forces CEOs back to runway, focus, revenue and decisive pruning
What founders can learn from moving finance into the moments where it is actually useful

Resources:
Railsbank episode page
https://xquadrant.com/nigel-verdon/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Organizational Leverage: how decentralised ownership scales to 3000 people | Thomas de Cad'oro Granier (CEO, Equal Experts) - S09E05

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 21:00:00 +0200

Can you decentralise decision-making without turning freedom into chaos?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Thomas de Cad'oro Granier, CEO of Equal Experts, about scaling a decentralised, employee-owned organisation through visible reasoning, grown-up expectations and a practical advice process.

Equal Experts shows that freedom is not the absence of structure. Freedom scales when people know how to make decisions others can trust: write the reasoning, seek strong advice, refine the decision and publish the path. The CEO is not above the process; the culture becomes real because the leader is subject to it too.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Organizational Leverage and CEO leadership in a very concrete form. If you want less central control, the organisation needs decision infrastructure that makes autonomy visible.

You'll learn:

Why decentralisation is a decision habit, not just an org chart
How an advice process protects freedom without creating heavy bureaucracy
Why leaders have to accept decisions they would not personally choose
How employee ownership can become a structural commitment to independence
What CEOs can learn from building an organisation where people are expected to behave like grownups

Resources:
Equal Experts
https://www.equalexperts.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: what changes when 12 people become 700 | Ben Crawford (CEO, CentralNic) - S09E04

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 21:00:00 +0200

Are you building a platform that compounds, or just collecting more assets?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Ben Crawford, CEO of CentralNic, about 250x revenue growth, acquisition integration and making internet infrastructure more useful to more people.

CentralNic's story is not just about buying companies. The real lesson is marketplace integration: joining products, customer bases, data, account management and distribution so each new acquisition strengthens the whole system. That is where Scaling Culture becomes operating leverage.

For CEOs pursuing acquisitions or market infrastructure plays, this is CEO leadership with a sharper question: is the business becoming a mothership that helps each part grow, or a holding company where value stays trapped in separate units?

You'll learn:

Why a marketplace beats a pile of acquisitions
How integration changes what business managers optimise
Why central data, account management and marketing can create disproportionate revenue lift
How technical infrastructure becomes human when it expands access, ownership and opportunity
What CEOs can learn from connecting commercial scale to a broader public-good narrative

Resources:
Team Internet / CentralNic
https://teaminternet.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: what changes when employees really own the business | Graeme Strachan (CEO, ViTL Solutions) - S09E03

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 21:00:00 +0200

What changes when ownership is not a metaphor, but part of the operating model?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Graeme Strachan, CEO of ViTL Solutions, about building an employee-owned, multi-generational consulting company.

Graeme's story shows that employee ownership is not just generosity or cultural signalling. It can become decision infrastructure. Ownership payouts, employee-owner development and succession economics force the leadership team to build a business people want to stay in, grow inside and eventually carry beyond the founders.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Executive Team Ownership and CEO leadership as organisational design. If you want legacy without everything depending on you, the ownership structure, incentives and governance need to make the desired behaviour unavoidable.

You'll learn:

Why employee ownership can make culture economically visible
How multi-generational succession can mean future leaders, not just family succession
Why a company can be designed like a product around customer, employee-owner and community needs
How structural commitments can make founder intent harder to avoid
What CEOs can learn from turning ownership into operating infrastructure

Resources:
ViTL Solutions episode page
https://xquadrant.com/graeme-strachan/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: what changes when there is no glass ceiling | Ben Dorks (CEO, Ideagen) - S09E02

Tue, 21 Jun 2022 21:00:00 +0200

How do you make a technical or compliance business feel like a mission people want to join?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Ben Dorks, CEO of Ideagen, about turning regulatory and compliance work into a human purpose story, while building a no-glass-ceiling culture.

The core lesson is that purpose becomes powerful when people can see the human outcome. Ideagen is not just helping organisations complete forms. It is helping keep planes safer, healthcare better, communities protected and quiet voices heard.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Scaling Culture and CEO leadership through opportunity. A no-glass-ceiling culture is not a slogan; it has to be visible in who gets developed, who gets heard, and how safely high standards are pursued.

You'll learn:

How to make seemingly boring work emotionally meaningful
Why the leader's own story can become cultural proof that opportunity is real
How high standards and psychological safety can reinforce each other
Why listening for quiet voices is a practical CEO behaviour
How mission can become more than numbers, awards or growth metrics

Resources:
Ideagen
https://www.ideagen.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: what separates missionary CEOs from mercenary leaders - S09E01

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 21:00:00 +0200

Is profit the destination, or the fuel for a bigger mission?

This short season introduction opens the Mission-Driven CEOs series by contrasting missionary and mercenary leadership.

Richard's framing is simple: profitability matters, but it is not the whole point. The deeper CEO leadership question is what the business is ultimately for, what impact the leader wants to have beyond the financials, and how that mission shows up in daily decisions.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this episode sets up a useful lens for the whole season. The strongest leaders are not choosing between mission and performance; they are asking whether the mission is clear enough to focus the product, customer experience, culture and long-term legacy.

You'll hear:

Why missionary CEOs often outperform leaders who are only chasing the payout
How finance becomes fuel rather than destination
Why mission has to show up in daily operating choices, not only in vision language
The season question: what impact do these CEOs want beyond the financials?

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: why COO-to-CEO leaders must stop doing the old job | Rory McKeand (CEO, TSG) - S08E19

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 21:00:00 +0200

What really changes when the COO becomes CEO, even if they already know most of the business?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Rory McKeand, CEO of TSG, about the identity shift from operator to chief executive, and the decision to move from a sales-led model toward customer success.

Rory's story shows that the CEO leap is not just more scope. It is 360-degree accountability, a wider stakeholder field and a new relationship with the organisation. The leader has to stop doing the old job, create the right transparency bargain, and role-model the behaviours people will copy.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO Evolution in a familiar trap: the skills that made the leader credible can keep them too close to the work that now needs to scale without them.

You'll learn:

Why the CEO title changes how people relate to you, even inside a familiar business
How eyes on, hands off transparency supports autonomy without losing accountability
Why role-modelling can matter more than formal updates
How moving from sales-first to customer-success-first can reshape a services business
Why CEOs need to align people, customers and stakeholders around a broader contribution

Resources:
TSG
https://www.tsg.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: why distributed leadership multiplies professional-service scale | Stephen Foreshew-Cain (CEO, Scott Logic) - S08E18

Tue, 31 May 2022 21:00:00 +0200

Are you giving your team context, or just giving them answers?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Stephen Foreshew-Cain, CEO of Scott Logic, about creating leadership across the organisation instead of becoming the CEO answer machine.

Stephen's core lesson is that giving orders trains dependency. The CEO can make many decisions, but every unnecessary decision teaches the organisation to wait. The alternative is to create shared context, focus, momentum and relationships so more decisions can move closer to the work.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Executive Team Ownership and CEO leadership in a professional-services setting. Empowerment only works when people have enough context to make good calls without asking for permission every time.

You'll learn:

Why the CEO's job is not to run the company by touching every control
How context becomes the price of empowerment
Why asking what do you think can build decision ownership
How informal conversations reveal what dashboards miss
Why giving control creates leaders while giving orders creates followers

Resources:
Scott Logic
https://www.scottlogic.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: when scaling up means scaling back first | Elizabeth Cholawsky (CEO, HG Insights) - S08E17

Tue, 24 May 2022 21:00:00 +0200

What if the next scaling move is not adding more, but cutting back to the machine that actually compounds?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Elizabeth Cholawsky, CEO of HG Insights, about turning a creative project factory into a focused scaling machine.

Elizabeth inherited valuable assets and real growth, but the growth kept coming from something different: new ideas, new verticals, new products and new channels. The strategic leadership move was to narrow, systematise, cut complexity and move closer to customers.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership with a sharp reminder that more channels are not always more leverage. Sometimes the route to scale is saying no to tempting complexity so the business can repeat, learn and compound around customer value.

You'll learn:

Why growth can hide the absence of a repeatable machine
How process can remove politics rather than create bureaucracy
Why cutting channel partners can deepen customer insight and product focus
How executives need to shift from functional heads to general managers as the business scales
Why scaling back can be the most strategic way to scale up

Resources:
HG Insights
https://hginsights.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: the job description that makes the CEO role less lonely | Kelly Schmitt (CEO, Benevity) - S08E16

Tue, 17 May 2022 21:00:00 +0200

What if the CEO role feels lonely because you are using the wrong job description?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Kelly Schmitt, CEO of Benevity, about stepping into the CEO role after CFO and COO experience, and realising that the job is not to be the best salesperson, product visionary or functional expert.

Kelly's contribution is a powerful CEO leadership reframe: the work is people, team, culture, stamina and purpose in practice. The CEO has to build the executive team and cultural conditions that let the company outgrow the leader's old self-image.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this episode is especially useful when succession, purpose and executive-team design are on the table. The right team reduces the need for the CEO to jump into everyone else's job.

You'll learn:

Why cultural fit can matter more than external executive pedigree in succession
How the CEO role changes when the leader stops comparing themselves with the founder's strengths
Why getting the dream team in place changes the CEO's capacity
How purpose becomes operational through employee engagement, retention and everyday behaviour
Why vulnerability, health and stamina are operating requirements, not soft extras

Resources:
Benevity
https://benevity.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Team Development: why rapid scale depends on becoming a talent magnet | Jason Wojahn (CEO, Thirdera) - S08E15

Tue, 10 May 2022 21:00:00 +0200

How do you become the place scarce talent wants to gather?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Jason Wojahn, CEO of Thirdera, about scaling fast inside the ServiceNow ecosystem by becoming a focused global hub for talent, acquisitions and customer value.

Thirdera's move was to occupy the middle that did not yet exist: more focused than global generalists, more scaled than regional specialists. That clarity helped attract people, integrate acquisitions and create a place where specialists could do their best client-value work.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Team Development and CEO leadership through strategic focus. In a fragmented ecosystem, talent magnetism comes from a clear purpose, narrow focus and a culture that removes distractions from the work that matters.

You'll learn:

Why scarce talent gathers around clear focus
How a specialist services firm can become the hub in an existing ecosystem
Why acquisition integration needs a shared purpose, systems and mission
How execution beats strategy theatre when the market curve is real
Why leaders should not be too proud of the company they just built

Resources:
Thirdera
https://www.thirdera.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Organizational Leverage: how a 6000-person business stays entrepreneurial | Cahe Kuczera Toporowicz (EVP, Amaris Consulting) - S08E14

Tue, 03 May 2022 21:00:00 +0200

How does a 6000-person business stay entrepreneurial without letting autonomy turn into chaos?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Cahe Kuczera Toporowicz, EVP at Amaris Consulting, about decentralised growth, trust and the support systems that let local leaders move fast.

Amaris scaled from a tiny team to thousands of people by combining local entrepreneurial autonomy with shared hubs for finance, HR, recruitment, marketing and IT. The centre provides the recipe, training, support and controls; local leaders play the moves.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Organizational Leverage and CEO leadership through trust with infrastructure. If the centre tries to control everything, growth stalls. If it abdicates, chaos follows. The leverage is in setting the game clearly enough that others can play.

You'll learn:

Why autonomy scales when the centre sets the game, not every move
How shared support hubs can enable fast market entry without central bottlenecks
Why trust has to become operational, not just a stated value
How leaders can distinguish decentralisation from abdication
Why growth often requires trusted peers as well as formal structures

Resources:
Amaris Consulting
https://www.amaris.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: why inspiration gets harder across 30 markets | Timo Buetefisch (CEO, Cooltra) - S08E13

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 21:00:00 +0200

How do you keep a team inspired when the business has outgrown the founder's direct reach?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Timo Buetefisch, founder and CEO of Cooltra, about scaling from one scooter-rental garage in Barcelona into an international mobility business across dozens of markets.

Timo's story is a useful reminder that growth does not fix a weak model. If the unit economics, product, technology, payments, operations and team are not ready, scale simply multiplies the losses and stress. The CEO leadership challenge is to incubate the model long enough to make it repeatable, then communicate with enough empathy that the culture can keep travelling without the founder in every room.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Scaling Culture under real geographic complexity. Once the organisation passes the leader's natural influence radius, inspiration has to move through managers, rituals, clarity and trust rather than founder charisma alone.

You'll learn:

Why scaling too early can multiply losses instead of impact
How to use incubation as a serious growth discipline
Why CEO communication changes once the business crosses countries and business models
How empathy helps leaders keep people connected through complexity
Why the CEO sits between shareholders, financing pressure and operational execution

Resources:
Cooltra
https://www.cooltra.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Organizational Leverage: how four co-CEOs can scale one company | Matthias Berlit (CEO, Inform GmbH) - S08E12

Wed, 20 Apr 2022 03:34:00 +0200

Can a company scale better with four CEOs instead of one?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Matthias Berlit, co-CEO of Inform GmbH, about succeeding a long-serving founder CEO and building a leadership model based on autonomous business units, shared principles and distributed ownership.

The central idea is cell division. When a unit becomes too large for fast decisions and customer closeness, Inform splits it into smaller accountable businesses rather than forcing every decision through a central bottleneck. That only works when the top team has enough trust, role clarity and strategic discipline to make co-leadership practical.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Organizational Leverage and CEO leadership through decision architecture. The point is not to copy the four-CEO model mechanically; it is to ask where growth has made decision rights too slow, too distant or too dependent on a single leader.

You'll learn:

Why succession after a long founder era needs deliberate preparation
How autonomous business units can keep decisions close to customer reality
Why co-CEO structures require shared principles, not just goodwill
How splitting strong units can preserve entrepreneurial energy
Why letting go of interesting initiatives is part of scaling leadership

Resources:
Inform GmbH
https://www.inform-software.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: why specific vision changes an existing business | Silke Zschweigert (CEO, Jonckers) - S08E11

Tue, 12 Apr 2022 21:00:00 +0200

What happens when the most strategic asset in the business is already there, but no one has turned it into the vision?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Silke Zschweigert, CEO of Jonckers, about moving from corporate leadership into a smaller technology-led language business and sharpening the company's direction around its AI translation platform.

Silke's lesson is that vision is not useful because it sounds impressive. It is useful when it is specific enough to change priorities, help people decide whether they are in or out, and turn hidden capability into a market-facing proposition. Her CEO leadership work was to make the existing technology asset legible, credible and strategically central.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Vision Execution. A clear vision is not a slogan above the business; it is a filter for investment, hiring, customer conversations and the questions leaders keep asking.

You'll learn:

Why specific vision beats generic ambition
How a hidden internal platform can become the strategic centre of a business
Why leadership credibility depends on vision, experience and questioning
How clarity helps people choose commitment rather than drift
What smaller companies can gain from corporate experience without importing corporate drag

Resources:
Jonckers
https://www.jonckers.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: how serial CEOs know when it is time to reinvent | Evan Sohn (CEO, Recruiter.com) - S04E21

Tue, 05 Apr 2022 21:00:00 +0200

In this conversation, you’ll discover:

The mistake most leaders make in creating a gap between vision and execution
How to distinguish temptation from opportunity
How Evan deploys KPIs to give everyone real clarity about how they can most contribute to the corporate mission
The 'dark side' of Evan's high energy and passion - and how he's learned to deal with that

Resources/sources mentioned:

evan@recruiter.com
Evan Sohn's LinkedIn
Book - Extreme ownership
Book - The Lighthouse Effect (Steven Pemberton)
The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast home page
Remember to download your copy ofThe CXO's Checklist for Challenging Times!

Watch this episode on Youtube!

For full show notes, head to https://xquadrant.com/evan-sohn

CEO Leadership: the difficult decisions that unlock hidden talent | Thomas Crary (CEO, Pond5) - S08E10

Tue, 29 Mar 2022 21:00:00 +0200

What if the hard decision is also the moment that reveals who is ready to lead?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Thomas Crary, CEO of Pond5, about moving from CFO to CEO and leading through the early shock of COVID.

Thomas's story shows that difficult decisions are not just cost-control moments. When a CEO communicates the reality clearly, connects the decision to the direction of the business and trusts people with responsibility, hidden talent can surface quickly. The leadership curve is not only about making the call; it is about creating the conditions where others step up after the call is made.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership in a crisis. Strategy becomes a practical filter for what not to do, and the leader's job is to make the direction clear enough that people can act without waiting for constant permission.

You'll learn:

Why CFO-to-CEO leaders often need to prove they can operate beyond finance
How fast, clear decisions can unlock internal leadership capacity
Why strategy is most useful when it defines what not to do
How crisis communication can create alignment rather than panic
Why CEOs need unstructured thinking time even when the business feels urgent

Resources:
Pond5
https://www.pond5.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: what changes when corporate leaders enter high-growth specialists | John Maynard (CEO, Adarma Security) - S08E09

Tue, 22 Mar 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What changes when you move from a large corporate machine into a high-growth specialist business where the machine has to be built around you?

In this episode, Richard speaks with John Maynard, CEO of Adarma Security, about leaving Fortune 100 scale for a private-equity-backed cybersecurity company.

John's lesson is that CEO evolution often shows up first in the leader's calendar. In a larger corporate environment, many support systems already exist. In a specialist scale-up, the CEO has to consciously build the operating team, investor rhythm, customer relationships, partner ecosystem and long-term capacity that make the business less dependent on them.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a practical view of CEO leadership for scaling businesses. Stakeholder management is not a distraction from value creation; it is part of the system that lets the company grow with confidence.

You'll learn:

Why moving from corporate scale to specialist growth changes the CEO operating system
How to balance customers, investors, partners and team without losing the long-term agenda
Why stakeholder management is value creation, not extra work
How a CEO can use time allocation as a strategic discipline
Why making yourself redundant is a sign the organisation is maturing

Resources:
Adarma
https://adarma.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: how personal energy becomes a scaling constraint | Gurjodhpal Singh (CEO, Tide India) - S08E08

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What if the bottleneck in the business is not strategy, market or capital, but the CEO's personal energy system?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Gurjodhpal Singh, CEO of Tide India, about building both a development centre and SME banking business while navigating the pressure of a first country-CEO role.

Gurjodhpal's story makes personal energy concrete. Long hours, constant responsiveness and Sunday-night dread are not badges of honour; they are warning lights. The CEO leadership work is to create boundaries, thinking time and a team strong enough that every important decision does not have to pass through the same person.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership at the point where stamina becomes strategy. If the leader cannot protect energy, attention and judgment, the organisation inherits that fragility.

You'll learn:

Why personal energy is an operating constraint, not a private issue
How to spot when long hours have become a leverage warning light
Why CEOs need thinking time before the calendar fills every gap
How a stronger team changes what truly needs the leader
Why building for SME customers requires both local focus and organisational patience

Resources:
Tide
https://www.tide.co/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: the two challenges every new CEO has to face | Miguel Giribet Giral (CEO, Cash Converters España) - S08E07

Tue, 08 Mar 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What are the two pieces of homework every new CEO has to do at the same time?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Miguel Giribet Giral, CEO of Cash Converters España, about stepping into the CEO role, aligning with owners and founders, and leading retail and digital transformation through COVID.

Miguel's lesson is that CEO evolution starts in two directions at once. The new CEO has to build trust with the team below while also aligning with the owners, founders or board above. Without that double alignment, execution becomes noise. With it, the leader can connect personal purpose, business purpose and practical strategy.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership as alignment before action. The job is not just to push harder; it is to make sure the people around the business are actually trying to build the same thing.

You'll learn:

Why new CEOs inherit two alignment challenges, not one
How purpose helps when transformation has to move through existing systems
Why simple strategy matters more than elaborate language
How stepping back from hands-on work changes the CEO's effectiveness
What retail and digital transformation can teach leaders about timing and trust

Resources:
Cash Converters España
https://www.cashconverters.es/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why your investor story must be built before you need it | Christopher Traggio (CEO, VOO) - S08E06

Tue, 01 Mar 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What story would make a future investor believe the business is already becoming the company they want to back?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Christopher Traggio, CEO of VOO, about inheriting a difficult operating situation and using a future shareholder story as a practical transformation tool.

Christopher's lesson is that investor narrative is not something to polish at the end. Used well, it becomes the operating spine: where the company is going, what has to be true 12 to 18 months from now, and what the team must build backwards from today. The story gives people a way to understand painful decisions, capability gaps and leadership changes as part of one coherent direction.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership under investor scrutiny. The future story matters because it forces the current organisation to face what still has to change.

You'll learn:

Why investor story should be built before the fundraising or sale moment
How future-pacing can create a practical transformation roadmap
Why communication dilutes as it moves through layers unless leaders repeat the story deliberately
How to build the next leadership layer below the executive team
Why a difficult inherited situation needs narrative discipline as well as operational fixes

Resources:
VOO
https://www.voo.be/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: why employee support becomes a performance strategy | Olivier Anton (CEO, Sunshine-Me) - S04E20

Tue, 22 Feb 2022 22:00:00 +0200

In this conversation, you’ll discover:

Why hiring 60 young employees in 6 months changes Olivier's perspective on management forever
Why employers should support employees in their personal, not just professional, life
How Olivier "went slow to go fast" and the specific simple project he ran that transformed his product and built his sales pipeline.

Resources/sources mentioned:

Sunshine-Me website
Cafeyn news app
The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast home page
Remember to download your copy of The CXO's Checklist for Challenging Times !

Watch this episode on YouTube!

For full show notes, head to https://xquadrant.com/olivier-anton

Strategic Leadership: why great ideas rarely come from one source | Michel Robert (CEO, Epsilon Telecommunications) - S08E05

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 22:00:00 +0200

How do you find the right idea when the business has too many plausible directions?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Michel Robert, CEO of Epsilon Telecommunications, about using triangulation to shape strategy in a fast-moving communications business.

Michel's lesson is that the best ideas rarely arrive from one source. Leaders need to understand the revenue base, listen to customers, learn from analysts, draw out internal expertise and test where the value logic really sits. Strategic leadership starts slowly enough to see the pattern, then moves faster once the direction is clear.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership for scaling businesses that have more ideas than focus. The danger is not a lack of opportunity; it is scattering attention across too many good options before the strategic signal is clear.

You'll learn:

Why triangulation helps leaders separate signal from noise
How customers, analysts and internal experts each reveal different parts of the strategy
Why idea-rich companies need sharper focus, not more brainstorming
How to move slowly at the start so execution can speed up later
Why post-acquisition independence can preserve agility when the strategy is clear

Resources:
Epsilon Telecommunications
https://epsilontel.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: what to do when half the leadership team walks out | Alex Shevchenko (CEO, Guavus) - S08E04

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What do you do when half the leadership team leaves just as the business needs to transform?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Alex Shevchenko, CEO of Guavus, about stepping into leadership during COVID, resetting the senior team and holding the strategy steady through turbulence.

Alex's story reframes leadership departures. Losing senior people can feel like a crisis, but it can also reveal the energy, capability and ownership already sitting inside the organisation. The CEO leadership move is to treat the reset professionally, promote people who are ready, and keep the strategy consistent enough that the business does not wobble with every departure.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Executive Team Ownership in a high-pressure moment. A leadership team is not working simply because familiar people are still in the seats; it is working when the right people can own the future you are building.

You'll learn:

Why senior exits are not always the disaster they first appear to be
How internal promotions can create energy and credibility during transformation
Why professional fit matters more than friendship at the leadership table
How consistency helps teams navigate disruption without losing direction
What CEOs can learn from rebuilding the top team while the business keeps moving

Resources:
Guavus
https://www.guavus.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: what founders learn when the mission is bigger than the product | Julian Dixon (CEO, Napier) - S08E03

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What if the market category you are building is not just a product opportunity, but a public-protection problem hiding in plain sight?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Julian Dixon, founder and CEO of Napier, about building anti-money-laundering technology for a market where trust, credibility and mission matter as much as software capability.

Julian's story shows how serious categories often start inside infrastructure that everyone treats as a cost. Anti-money-laundering systems were failing banks, regulators and the public, so Napier's mission became bigger than selling a tool: make stronger detection capability available beyond the largest financial institutions.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership in a trust market. The first sale is not simply product-market fit; it is borrowed credibility, sector proof and the stamina to keep going through dozens of almost-but-not-yet conversations.

You'll learn:

Why regulated markets can hide major category-creation opportunities
How mission helps founders withstand slow early adoption
Why provenance matters when trust is part of the product
How a founder can reframe compliance from cost burden to mandatory defence
What it takes to build a company around an ecosystem-level problem

Resources:
Napier
https://www.napier.ai/

Julian Dixon episode page
https://xquadrant.com/julian-dixon/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: how radical transparency changes a CEO transition | Thomas Zanzinger (CEO, inriver) - S08E02

Tue, 25 Jan 2022 22:00:00 +0200

How can a new CEO make faster decisions when the team is remote, the company is growing fast and context is trapped at the top?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Thomas Zanzinger, CEO of inriver, about stepping from commercial leadership into the CEO role during COVID and learning to lead a high-growth SaaS business without the normal face-to-face signals.

Thomas's strongest lesson is radical transparency. If people only have department-level context, every strategic decision escalates. By sharing more board-level context with the organisation, the CEO can increase autonomy, speed and trust without pretending every decision is easy.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership through context. The new CEO trap is staying too close to the function that made you successful; the next level is building a team that can make better decisions because they can see the same map.

You'll learn:

Why CEO transition is harder when the leader cannot rely on informal in-person signals
How radical transparency can increase decision velocity
Why overcommunication matters in high-growth and remote environments
How to trust specialists without disappearing from the work
Why mediocre leadership hires are an expensive shortcut

Resources:
inriver
https://www.inriver.com/

Thomas Zanzinger episode page
https://xquadrant.com/thomas-zanzinger/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: what the CEO learning curve really demands - S08E01

Tue, 18 Jan 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What really changes when someone steps into the CEO role for the first time?

This short season introduction opens the CEO Learning Curve series: a set of conversations with relatively new chief executives facing rapid growth, fraud discovery, new offices, ambitious revenue goals and pandemic disruption.

Richard's promise for the season is to go beneath generic CEO advice. The interesting question is not whether leaders should build a great team or get the strategy right. It is what the top job actually demanded from them, what helped them make the leap, what went wrong, and what they would now tell the next leader on the same path.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO evolution in real time. The series is useful because it shows the lived underside of the role: the identity shift, pressure, mistakes and leadership systems behind the public job title.

You'll hear:

Why the CEO role is best understood through real transition stories
What early-stage CEOs learn once the title becomes enterprise-wide accountability
Why growth moments expose the limits of generic leadership advice
How Season 8 explores the underbelly of stepping into the top job

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why bold positioning beats polite visibility | Lori Jones (CEO, Avocet Communications) - S04E19

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 22:00:00 +0200

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

Why marketing is often the 'forgotten lever' on the CEO dashboard
Why most companies are bland, and the importance of taking a bold stance
The conversations leadership teams need to have before the business can really get noticed

Resources/sources mentioned:

Email Lori at lori@avocetcommunications.com
Lori Jones Twitter account (https://twitter.com/LoriJones)
PQ app (Positive Intelligence) (https://support.positiveintelligence.com/article/13-download-the-positive-intelligence-app)
Good to Great, by Jim Collins (https://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/good-to-great.html)
The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast home page (https://xquadrant.com/podcast/)
Remember to download your copy of The CXO's Checklist for Challenging Times ! (https://xquadrant.com/go/challenging-times-checklist/)

Watch this episode on YouTube!

For full show notes, head to https://xquadrant.com/lori-jones

CEO Evolution: the bolder leader you already know how to access - S07E09

Tue, 04 Jan 2022 22:00:00 +0200

What would the version of you who was truly right for the role do next?

In this episode, Richard and Davina close the Season 7 question series with WWXD: a simple identity-shift prompt that asks what a super leader would do in your current situation.

The power of the question is that it moves leadership from a to-do list to a to-be list. Leaders do not only get the results they want; they tend to get the results their current identity, standards and default behaviours make possible. WWXD creates enough distance from the usual frame to access a bolder, wiser answer.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO evolution as a practical self-coaching tool. When the next move is clouded by habit, fear or busyness, the question reconnects you to the leadership standard you already recognise.

You'll learn:

Why who you are being can matter more than what is on the task list
How a super-leader prompt helps break default behaviour
Why visible reminders can beat invisible intentions
How to use an imagined model without turning it into hero worship
Why the next leadership move often becomes clearer when you step outside yourself

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: 3 unlikely questions to prepare for the New Year

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 22:00:00 +0200

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

The simple structure you can apply to any review process
Three powerful questions for your New Year Reflections
How to crack the top areas you've been procrastinating on

Resources/sources mentioned:

The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast home page (https://xquadrant.com/podcast/)
Remember to download your copy of The CXO's Checklist for Challenging Times! (https://xquadrant.com/go/challenging-times-checklist/)

Watch this episode on YouTube!

For full show notes, head to https://xquadrant.com/season7bonus

Executive Team Ownership: what kind of leaders are you growing? - S07E08

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 22:00:00 +0200

What kind of leaders are people becoming because they work around you?

In this episode, Richard and Davina explore leadership multiplication as an apprenticeship question. Every leader is growing some kind of leader through what they reward, tolerate, celebrate and model.

The most useful lens is the performance, behaviour and learning triangle. A company can say it values learning, ownership or high standards, but the real culture appears when those values collide with short-term performance. The trade-off reveals what the organisation is actually teaching future leaders.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Executive Team Ownership and CEO leadership through modelling. Multiplying impact is not about having more followers; it is about growing leaders who can carry commitment, judgement and standards without constant supervision.

You'll learn:

Why leadership development is shaped by what the environment rewards
How performance, behaviour and learning compete in real trade-offs
Why failure theatre is weaker than extracting useful learning
How to make leadership principles explicit before pressure arrives
Why your legacy is partly the leaders you grow, not only the work you complete

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: where is the dissonance everyone is avoiding? - S07E07

Tue, 07 Dec 2021 22:00:00 +0200

Who is telling you the unwelcome truth before the organisation pays for avoiding it?

In this episode, Richard and Davina unpack one of the most important strategic leadership hygiene questions: where is the dissonance?

Senior leaders are exposed to two filters at once. They have their own confirmation bias, and people around them often filter difficult messages upward. The answer is not vague permission to challenge. It is designed dissent: structures, questions and reactions that make it safer and more useful for people to bring disconfirming evidence.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership against the executive echo chamber. If no one is surfacing the uncomfortable truth, the problem may not be courage in the team; it may be the system the leader has created.

You'll learn:

Why senior leaders often receive filtered truth
How confirmation bias and hierarchy reinforce each other
Why tell me any time is weaker than a designed challenge structure
How to ask teams for risks, failure reasons and disconfirming evidence
Why customers may be working around weaknesses instead of telling you directly

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: where are you playing it safe or dithering? - S07E06

Tue, 30 Nov 2021 22:00:00 +0200

Where are you taking action everywhere except the place that really matters?

In this episode, Richard and Davina explore the question: where are you playing it safe or dithering?

This is not a call for reckless action. It is a way to notice where apparent safety may actually be creating bigger future risk. Capable leaders can be decisive in many areas while quietly protecting themselves at the edge that would create the most growth, contribution or momentum.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership at the wall between comfort and greatness. The useful edge is often both exciting and scary: too exciting may be hype, too scary may be too much, but the combination points to a decision worth examining.

You'll learn:

Why what looks safe can become risky over time
How fear often masks something the leader deeply wants
Why the comfort zone protects self-image as much as comfort
How to spot the decision or conversation that has been drifting
Why contribution can pull a leader through self-preservation

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Transformation: why waiting for normality keeps leaders stuck - S07E05

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 22:00:00 +0200

What if volatility is not a bug in the system, but a condition your leadership has to learn to use?

In this episode, Richard and Davina ask how leaders can make friends with volatility, rather than treating uncertainty as an interruption before normal life resumes.

The key distinction is robustness versus anti-fragility. A robust system survives shocks; an anti-fragile system gets stronger because it has reduced fatal single points of failure, built sensing mechanisms and planted enough small seeds to benefit from surprise.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO transformation in uncertain conditions. Waiting for normality can keep the business over-optimised for the last environment, while the next curve is already forming elsewhere.

You'll learn:

Why the opposite of fragile is not merely stable
How to identify single points of failure in the business or leadership system
Why redundancy is sometimes the price of adaptability
How sensing systems help leaders see change before it becomes obvious
Why small bets and planted seeds create upside without betting the company

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: what would change if you dropped every 8 out of 10? - S07E04

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 22:00:00 +0200

What good work is quietly stealing capacity from your greatest contribution?

In this episode, Richard and Davina explore the question: what is an 8 or less?

High achievers often know how to remove bad commitments. The harder strategic leadership move is removing good commitments that are no longer the highest use of the leader's energy, attention and contribution. Respectable 7s and 8s can still dilute the 9s and 10s that would change the game.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership through subtraction. The next level of focus may not require a better productivity system; it may require a cleaner commitment inventory and a few hard conversations about what should no longer be yours.

You'll learn:

Why good opportunities can still be strategic noise
How to run a commitment inventory across weekly, monthly and quarterly obligations
Why over-obligated but under-committed leaders lose strategic energy
How to score work against passion, contribution and impact
Why delegation becomes easier when the goal is greater contribution, not escape

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Leadership Leverage: what is the single biggest contribution only you can make? - S07E03

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 22:00:00 +0200

What is the one contribution that would make everything else easier, unnecessary or less important?

In this episode, Richard and Davina move from long-horizon ambition to 12-month focus with the question: what is the single biggest contribution you can make?

The power of the question is that it cuts through people pleasing, respectable priorities and self-protection. Contribution focuses the leader outward. Single biggest forces the trade-off. Together, they turn strategy from a list of worthy activities into a sharper decision about where leadership energy creates the most value.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Leadership Leverage and CEO leadership at the point of focus. The answer may be the scary project, the successor hire, the acquisition, the new product or the platform move that changes the rest of the system.

You'll learn:

Why contribution is a stronger frame than people pleasing
How single biggest forces strategic choice
Why priority was never meant to be plural
How the one thing question reveals high-leverage work
Why the best answer may require sacrificing several good options

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: what a 25-year view changes about the next move - S07E02

Tue, 02 Nov 2021 22:00:00 +0200

What would change about today's choices if you were coming from a 25-year vision instead of reacting to this quarter's pressure?

In this episode, Richard and Davina explore a deceptively practical question: what is your 25-year vision?

The point is not to create a perfect long-range plan. A 25-year vision works as a North Star: big enough to create a silly grin, far enough away to remove the pressure of certainty, and alive enough to change who the leader becomes today. It helps a busy CEO stop choosing between options without knowing what they are really building.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Vision Execution and CEO leadership through identity. The right long-horizon vision does not just describe a future; it gives the leader a place to come from when deciding what to do next.

You'll learn:

Why a 25-year vision should not feel like a detailed plan
How long-horizon ambition can make today's trade-offs easier
Why the silly-grin test can reveal a more truthful ambition
How 1 percent per quarter makes a huge vision feel actionable
Why creation and reaction use the same ingredients in a different order

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: what do you stand for when the stakes rise? - S07E01

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What do you stand for strongly enough that you would pay a price to uphold it?

In this episode, Richard and Davina open the questions-that-multiply-impact series with a deeper leadership prompt: what do you stand for?

This is not about polished values copy. Richard frames a stand as a core conviction: something rooted in story, strong enough to move the leader first, and costly enough to shape real behaviour. If a leader wants to move others, they first need to know what has moved them.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership at the level of conviction. The stand behind the leader should shape communication, culture and decisions, especially when comfort, popularity or short-term advantage are pulling in another direction.

You'll learn:

Why better questions often create bigger breakthroughs than better answers
How to distinguish a generic value from a costly conviction
Why personal story can make leadership communication more powerful
How a leader's stand should shape the organisation, not just the speech
Why comfort is not enough of a legacy when unusual capability can serve something bigger

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: how trust becomes the real product in a service business | Alex Cheatle (CEO, Ten Lifestyle Group) - S04E18

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 21:00:00 +0200

In this conversation, you’ll discover:

The 5 criteria Alex used to determine his ideal business - and what the 'pub test' is
The importance of designing a business model that incentivises incredible customer service (and where most of Ten's competitors went wrong)
Why "high tech and high touch" is so powerful
Why you might be failing to motivate one of your team
Why Alex received a standing ovation... for firing someone!

Resources/sources mentioned:

Ten Lifestyle Group
The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast home page
Remember to download your copy of The CXO's Checklist for Challenging Times!

For full show notes, head to https://xquadrant.com/season4episode18

Organizational Leverage: why operational scale needs more than software thinking | Andre Prado (CEO, BBM Logistica) - S06E11

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 21:00:00 +0200

How do you scale fivefold when the work is physical, operational and happening across millions of deliveries?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Andre Prado, CEO of BBM Logistica, about growing a logistics business five times in four years while integrating acquisitions, expanding services and preserving customer experience.

Andre's lesson is that operational scale needs more than software thinking. BBM had to connect commercial processes, physical branches, teams, cultures and end-to-end customer solutions. Integration worked when it started with the real supply chain and the customer experience, not with abstract culture language alone.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Organizational Leverage and CEO leadership in the real world of moving parts. Growth becomes durable when the operating system, customer promise and acquisition integration all reinforce each other.

You'll learn:

Why physical scale demands deep operational discipline
How end-to-end customer solutions can drive organic growth
Why acquisition integration should start where customers feel the difference
How to combine commercial and operational integration after a deal
Why teamwork and clear responsibilities matter more as volume rises

Resources:
BBM Logistica
https://www.bbmlogistica.com.br/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: how long-term conviction keeps fintech scale on track | Rohit Arora (CEO, Biz2Credit) - S06E10

Tue, 05 Oct 2021 21:00:00 +0200

How do you keep building when the market has not yet caught up with the category you can already see?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Rohit Arora, CEO of Biz2Credit, about building a fintech platform before fintech became fashionable and staying focused through market cycles.

Rohit's story shows the difference between mindless growth and disciplined compounding. Biz2Credit began with a problem close to home: immigrant and small-business owners struggling to access credit. That mission kept the company investing in platform, data and relationships while others chased funded visibility.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership for scaling businesses with a longer clock. A durable mission becomes a scale advantage when it keeps the company consistent while the market moves around it.

You'll learn:

Why early category creators often look unfashionable before the category has a name
How mission can keep strategy steady through crises and funding cycles
Why owning the relationship is different from selling leads
How patient platform-building can compound into market position
Why long-term conviction has to show up in product, hiring and investment choices

Resources:
Biz2Credit
https://www.biz2credit.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: what leaders must unlearn from hierarchical businesses | Ian Jackson (CEO, Enshored) - S06E09

Tue, 28 Sep 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What has to be unlearned before people can make good decisions close to the customer?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Ian Jackson, CEO of Enshored, about scaling an outsourcing business for high-growth clients while building a culture of empowerment, trust and social impact.

Ian's story connects commercial growth with conscious unlearning. Enshored wins referrals because frontline leaders can respond to fast-changing client needs without waiting for hierarchical permission. That means managers who came from traditional outsourcing environments have to learn a different way to lead.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Scaling Culture and CEO leadership through empowerment. Referrals are not only a sales outcome; they are the compound return on an operating culture that gives people judgement, context and permission to solve real problems.

You'll learn:

Why high-growth clients need empowered teams, not slow escalation paths
How referral-led growth reveals the quality of the operating culture
Why CEO-led sales can protect early positioning and client fit
What leaders must unlearn from hierarchical management habits
How social impact becomes credible when it shows up in everyday operating choices

Resources:
Enshored
https://www.enshored.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: how founders avoid becoming the curse of their own business | Janus Nielsen (CEO, AnyTech365) - S06E08

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What happens when the founder's decisiveness starts to limit the very business it created?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Janus Nielsen, CEO of AnyTech365, about building one of Europe's fastest-growing tech-support businesses and avoiding the entrepreneur's curse.

Janus's lesson is that founder judgement can be a powerful early advantage, but it becomes a CEO bottleneck when every decision still routes through the founder. Scaling requires strong people, clear values, real rewards for commitment and enough space for leaders to own their areas without being overruled by default.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO leadership at the handoff point between founder energy and organisational capacity. The business can only grow beyond the founder when the team has room to decide, learn and lead.

You'll learn:

Why the habits that build a company can later constrain it
How strong values can create commitment when they are repeated and rewarded
Why giving leaders room to decide is essential for scale
How founders can stay strategic without becoming the operating bottleneck
Why commitment has to be matched by honouring the people who go the extra mile

Resources:
AnyTech365
https://anytech365.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: when a can-do business starts becoming bureaucratic | Rob van den Heuvel (CEO, Sendcloud) - S06E07

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 21:00:00 +0200

How do you keep a can-do culture alive once the business needs managers, systems and international scale?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Rob van den Heuvel, CEO of Sendcloud, about turning founder pragmatism into a repeatable culture as the company scaled across markets.

Rob's story shows that can-do culture is not motivational language. It is made visible through transparency, directness, low-politics behaviour, referral-quality hiring and managers who know how to preserve ownership without micromanaging. The management layer becomes the culture carrier.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Scaling Culture and CEO leadership through operating norms. The challenge is to protect the behaviours that made the company fast while adding the structure required for hundreds or thousands of people.

You'll learn:

Why founder pragmatism only scales when managers can teach it
How no-bullshit culture becomes an anti-politics operating norm
Why international expansion needs a learning model, not just country launches
How talent density and transparency reinforce ownership
Why the management layer is often the constraint on culture at scale

Resources:
Sendcloud
https://www.sendcloud.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: how challenger businesses grow without losing agility | Zoisa North-Bond (CEO, Octopus Energy Business) - S06E06

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What changes when a business has to keep innovating and become more efficient at the same time?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Business, about scaling inside a fast-growing challenger that combines retail energy, technology and market expansion.

Zoisa's strongest distinction is that growth and scaling are different leadership games. Growth explores new arenas; scaling makes a proven model more efficient and repeatable. Octopus Energy's leverage comes from combining customer experience, technology platform and ownership culture so the company can keep learning while it expands.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Scaling Culture and CEO leadership in a challenger business. Agility survives scale when people still act like builders, and when technology improves both customer experience and operating economics.

You'll learn:

Why growth and scaling require different leadership disciplines
How technology becomes leverage when it improves service and cost structure
Why challenger businesses need builders, not only operators
How ownership culture helps a company keep discovering while it scales
Why the best challengers make old markets feel unnecessarily slow or expensive

Resources:
Octopus Energy Business
https://octopus.energy/business/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Organizational Leverage: why decentralised hubs can scale faster than headquarters | Modestas Sudnius (CEO, Eleving Group) - S06E05

Tue, 31 Aug 2021 21:00:00 +0200

How do you enter ten new markets in 30 months without turning headquarters into the bottleneck?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Modestas Sudnius, CEO of Eleving Group, about rapid international expansion, a mission-led rebrand and the decentralised hub model behind the company's growth.

Modestas's story shows that rebrands matter when they change the strategic frame. The move from Mogo Finance to Eleving Group was not just cosmetic; it connected market entry, social mobility, environmental impact and operating design around a larger mission.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Organizational Leverage and CEO leadership through decentralised execution. Fast market entry works when local leaders can carry the model, the mission and the P&L without every decision returning to the centre.

You'll learn:

Why impact-led rebrands need operating-model substance behind them
How decentralised hubs can support rapid international expansion
Why ESG is stronger when it is embedded in product and market choices
How to balance central coherence with local autonomy
Why the right local leaders matter more as the market-entry rhythm accelerates

Resources:
Eleving Group
https://www.eleving.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why doing things slightly better can create a blue ocean | Konrad Weiske (CEO, Spyrosoft) - S06E04

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What if the opportunity is not to invent a new market, but to serve a neglected corner of an existing one slightly better?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Konrad Weiske, CEO of Spyrosoft, about scaling rapidly in a crowded technology-services market by choosing a sharper wedge, a clearer customer segment and reliable execution.

Konrad's story is a useful counterpoint to novelty-obsessed strategy. Radical invention can create a heavy market-education burden. Spyrosoft found space by doing familiar work better for buyers the incumbents were not serving well, then building from founder relationships into a stronger marketing engine.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership for scaling businesses in crowded markets. A challenger does not always need theatrical differentiation; sometimes it needs the discipline to pick the right wedge and execute with unusual reliability.

You'll learn:

Why crowded markets can still contain neglected opportunities
How slightly better can become a powerful strategic wedge
Why over-innovation can slow early market adoption
How founder networks can create the first beachhead before marketing catches up
Why focused execution can change customer expectations inside an old category

Resources:
Spyrosoft
https://spyro-soft.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: why anti-fragile companies need acquisition discipline | Jonathan Satchell (CEO, LTG) - S06E03

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 21:00:00 +0200

Is your growth strategy making the business stronger, or more fragile?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Jonathan Satchell, CEO of Learning Technologies Group, about scaling through recurring revenue, acquisition discipline and a portfolio designed to absorb shocks.

Jonathan's story is less a simple M&A success story than a lesson in anti-fragile scale. LTG grew by avoiding dependence on one customer, product, geography or heroic leader, and by treating acquisitions as capability-building moves rather than revenue aggregation alone.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Scaling Culture and CEO leadership through resilient design. Acquisition only compounds when the business has the discipline to integrate people, capability and revenue quality into a stronger operating system.

You'll learn:

Why anti-fragile scale is an operating-model choice
How recurring revenue creates strategic oxygen
Why acquisition discipline matters more than deal volume
How people diligence can make or break post-acquisition value
Why forecast trust becomes a strategic asset with investors and the organisation

Resources:
Learning Technologies Group
https://www.ltgplc.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: the structural changes that finally let your business scale | Matthijs Welle (CEO, Mews) - S06E02

Tue, 10 Aug 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What structural changes have to happen before growth can become scale?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Matthijs Welle, CEO of Mews, about building a hospitality software company from nothing, surviving the shock of COVID and returning to growth with a clearer operating model.

Matthijs's story shows that scale is not only about more demand. The business had to shift from early passion and improvisation into stronger systems, clearer planning, better leadership capacity and a more holistic view of the company. Even crisis became a forcing function for structural clarity.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is the CEO Bottleneck and CEO leadership under pressure. The company can only outgrow the founder's direct energy when the structure, data and leadership team can carry more complexity than the early version of the business was built for.

You'll learn:

Why early customer passion can carry a company before the system is mature
How COVID forced a hospitality software business to rethink scale
Why structure becomes a growth enabler, not just bureaucracy
How bringing systems together creates better business visibility
Why the people you should have hired earlier often become obvious in hindsight

Resources:
Mews
https://www.mews.com/

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: the questions CEOs must answer before scale breaks the business - S06E01

Tue, 03 Aug 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What do high-growth CEOs have to get right before scale starts breaking the business?

This short season introduction opens the Secrets of Scaling series: conversations with CEOs of fast-growing companies that have moved beyond small-base growth into serious revenue, headcount and operational complexity.

Richard sets up the season around the patterns that make scale work: structural decisions, decentralisation, distinctive value propositions and the leadership choices that let companies grow through multiple phases rather than simply spike from a small base.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Scaling Culture and CEO leadership as a pattern-spotting exercise. The season is a useful map for noticing what has to change when growth becomes a system problem.

You'll hear:

Why real scale is different from growth off a tiny base
What structural choices show up across high-growth companies
How decentralisation can become part of the operating model
Why distinctive value propositions matter more as markets get crowded
What to listen for across the Secrets of Scaling conversations

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: where corporate CEOs make their biggest contribution | Helene Barnekow (CEO, Microsoft Sweden) - S04E17

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What if your biggest contribution as a corporate CEO is being quietly crowded out by governance, meetings and matrix noise?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Helene Barnekow, CEO of Microsoft Sweden, about CEO leadership inside large, complex organisations. Helene shares how she built her impact through customer obsession, diverse teams, inclusion, and a clear contribution model for where her time should go.

For scaling founders and CEOs, the lesson is not only about corporate life. As the business grows, your calendar becomes your operating strategy. If you do not deliberately protect external focus, team development and high-value contribution, the system will pull you into administration and internal maintenance.

You will learn:

Why diversity only becomes performance when the culture is genuinely inclusive
How senior teams need explicit work on shared values, language and trust
Why customer obsession can be the contribution of the outsider in an expert-heavy room
How Helene thinks about the 50/30/20 split between external focus, team/business development and governance
Why CEO leadership for scaling businesses requires designing contribution into the calendar before governance takes over

Links and resources mentioned:

Microsoft Sweden: https://www.microsoft.com/sv-se

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why fragmented markets reward integration discipline | Peter Sweetbaum (CEO, Content + Cloud) - S04E16

Tue, 20 Jul 2021 21:00:00 +0200

When does an acquisition strategy actually create leverage, rather than just adding more complexity?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Peter Sweetbaum, CEO of Content + Cloud, about building a market leader in a fragmented technology services market. Peter explains how acquisitions only compounded because they were tied to a clear strategic thesis: building capability around the Microsoft ecosystem, not just adding revenue or EBITDA.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a sharp Strategic Leadership lesson and a practical CEO leadership problem. Buy-and-build growth can look impressive on paper while leaving the organisation with too many P&Ls, too many systems, and no real operating model. The real work is preserving what was worth buying while building the platform the next stage needs.

You will learn:

Why acquisitions should add capability to a vision, not just size to a spreadsheet
How to think about revenue synergy rather than destructive cost synergy
Why respectful integration matters when you are combining different businesses and cultures
How a target operating model translates strategy into decision rights, structure and P&L logic
Why the CEO's next level may involve more external market sensing and less internal governance

Links and resources mentioned:

Content + Cloud: https://contentandcloud.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: why red-pen ping-pong kills the message - S05E06

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 21:00:00 +0200

How do you collaborate on a high-stakes message without turning the document into red-pen ping-pong?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley explore how senior teams can work together on communication without wasting time, weakening the message or burying the real disagreement in edits.

The core lesson is that collaboration needs structure. Notes keep the discussion anchored, constraints force clarity, and dissent makes disagreement useful before the document hardens. Without those conditions, too many contributors can create noise instead of a sharper message.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Executive Team Ownership and CEO leadership through communication discipline. The team has to own the message together, not just pass a document around until everyone has left a mark.

You'll learn:

Why collaboration on communication often fails without an agreed method
How notes and constraints stop the discussion wandering
Why dissent should be designed into the process early
How to reduce red-pen ping-pong and endless revisions
Why the leader's role is to create conditions for useful debate, not just approve wording

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: what to ask before high-stakes communication - S05E05

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What do you need to find out before you start writing the board paper, investor update or high-stakes message?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley discuss how to get the information needed for powerful communication, especially when the real requester is several layers away and the brief arrives through organisational whispers.

Davina's 3Ts are telepathy, triangulation and timing. Ask the obvious questions. Triangulate through people who understand the stakeholder, context and history. Choose the right moment to ask before everyone is trapped in last-minute scramble mode.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership in the communication system. The quality of a message depends on the quality of the questions asked before the first draft appears.

You'll learn:

Why unclear requests create expensive send-and-scramble cycles
How to ask simple questions without looking unprepared
Why triangulation matters when you cannot access the final stakeholder directly
How backwards, forwards and sideways questions reveal the real brief
Why timing can determine whether a question creates clarity or irritation

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Decision Making: why senior audiences need the answer before the evidence - S05E04

Tue, 29 Jun 2021 21:00:00 +0200

Are you giving senior audiences the answer they need, or making them watch you discover it in public?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley explore top-down communication: starting with the answer, then building the supporting structure and evidence underneath it.

The key idea is that executive communication is not a data container. It is a storyline. Purpose, audience and key messages create the spine before slides, prose or evidence are assembled. Senior readers should not have to reverse-engineer meaning from a pile of well-organised detail.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is CEO decision making and CEO leadership through clarity. The communicator earns influence by choosing the governing message, then making it easy for the audience to understand and act.

You'll learn:

Why detail-first communication often reflects the author's process, not the audience's need
How to start from the answer without oversimplifying the evidence
Why purpose, audience and key messages should come before drafting
How top-down and bottom-up checks work together
Why strategic communication starts when someone chooses what matters

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why substance matters more than polish - S05E03

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What if the real reason the presentation feels hard is that the idea underneath it is not clear enough yet?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley discuss why delivery is often easier once the substance of the message has been properly worked through.

The trap is to focus too early on slides, grammar, delivery style or presentation nerves. Those things matter, but they are rarely the highest-leverage problem for senior communication. The deeper work is deciding the single message, the supporting logic and the action the audience should take.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership through substance. When the thinking is clear, the document, deck or meeting becomes a vehicle for the idea rather than a place to hide weak thinking.

You'll learn:

Why delivery problems often start as substance problems
How unclear thinking creates endless document iterations
Why a single-page message structure can save days of rework
What Amazon-style narratives reveal about substance and discussion
Why active, simple communication becomes easier when the idea is sharp

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why insight beats information in executive communication - S05E02

Tue, 15 Jun 2021 21:00:00 +0200

Are you giving your audience meaning, or just making them assemble meaning from your data?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley explore the difference between information, summary and insight in executive communication.

Information organises material into buckets. Summary describes what the data says. Insight takes the leadership risk of forming a point of view for this audience, in this situation, so the reader can see what matters and why. The communicator has to burn the calories before asking the board, investor or CEO to act.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership through synthesis. Influence starts when communication moves beyond categories and gives the audience a useful decision-ready point.

You'll learn:

Why organised information is still not enough
How summary differs from insight
Why insight requires a point of view tailored to the audience
How slide titles and section headings can carry the message, not just the topic
Why useful communicators make the audience's life easier

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why senior messages fail even when the idea is good - S05E01

Tue, 08 Jun 2021 21:00:00 +0200

Why do smart ideas still fail to land with senior stakeholders?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley open the From Ideas to Impact series by naming common traps in executive communication: sharing the journey, parading knowledge and falling into stream-of-consciousness delivery.

The problem is rarely that leaders need generic advice like be more strategic or keep it short. The problem is that the audience is being forced to work too hard. Powerful communication starts with a single message, clear prioritisation and a structure that helps people skim, understand and act.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership and CEO leadership through communication leverage. If communication inside the executive team is muddy, decision speed, alignment and influence all suffer.

You'll learn:

Why sharing your journey often makes the audience do too much work
How the nervous parade of knowledge weakens influence
Why stream-of-consciousness communication creates role reversal
How to identify the single message that matters most
Why impact and distribution should guide where to improve communication first

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why purpose-led growth still needs ruthless trade-offs | Ali Fenn (President, ITRenew) - S04E15

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What happens when your mission creates more opportunities than you can possibly pursue?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Ali Fenn, President of ITRenew, about purpose-led growth, circular technology, and the discipline required when the market starts pulling in many directions at once. Ali shares how an adult gap year helped her ask "to what end?" and reconnect her technology expertise with her passion for sustainability.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Strategic Leadership conversation about focus. Purpose does not remove trade-offs. In fact, a strong mission can create too many attractive routes, which means the next leadership challenge becomes delegation, transparency, and choosing which parts of the market to build now.

You will learn:

Why purpose is most powerful when it uses the leverage you already have
How data can turn sustainability from good intention into market-changing evidence
Why opportunity overload is often an operating-model problem, not a motivation problem
How to integrate work, life, movement and mission rather than pretending they are separate games
Why CEO leadership for scaling businesses requires saying no even when every opportunity looks aligned

Links and resources mentioned:

ITRenew: https://www.itrenew.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: why hypergrowth gets messy before it gets scalable | Ali Parsa (CEO, Babylon Health) - S04E14

Tue, 25 May 2021 21:00:00 +0200

Why does management get harder, not easier, when the mission is clear and the growth is working?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Ali Parsa, founder and CEO of Babylon Health, about the messy reality of leading a high-growth healthcare company. Ali is candid about learning from failure, aligning humans around a mission, and the leadership upgrades required as a company moves into territory the founder has never led before.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Scaling Culture episode with a useful warning: mission is the easy part. The harder work is clarity, ownership, care, capability upgrades, and honest learning when the organisation grows faster than the old leadership system can handle.

You will learn:

Why entrepreneurs do not lose if they are willing to learn honestly
How mission, clarity and ownership work together in a fast-growth operating system
Why caring about people is not sentimental when pressure and friction are high
How to know when loyalty to early leaders must be balanced with next-stage capability
Why CEO evolution depends on protecting learning time before the business outgrows your past experience

Links and resources mentioned:

Babylon Health: https://www.babylonhealth.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Organizational Leverage: why ecosystems beat isolated expertise | Stephanie Hospital (CEO, OneRagtime) - S04E13

Tue, 18 May 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What if your next level of leverage is not more expertise, but a better ecosystem?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Stephanie Hospital, CEO of OneRagtime, about building a venture platform that combines fund, community, data, and network effects. Stephanie shares the leap from corporate life at Orange into entrepreneurship, the patience required to sell a vision before it is proven, and the challenge of scaling a founder-led investment model.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is an Organizational Leverage episode about building a system where investors, entrepreneurs, partners, team members and technology make each other more valuable. The point is not to have a better contact list. It is to design an ecosystem that carries more of the work.

You will learn:

Why early-stage ecosystem building means selling the vision before the proof exists
How platform thinking can protect the human relationship work rather than replace it
Why network effects can become an operating model, not just a product mechanic
What founders learn when they leave corporate comfort and face cash, hiring and customer reality
Why CEO leadership for scaling businesses eventually means trusting a system that can think without you checking everything

Links and resources mentioned:

OneRagtime: https://www.oneragtime.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Transformation: how internal rebranding changes what a team believes it is | Dan Fiehn (Global COO, Markerstudy) - S04E12

Tue, 11 May 2021 21:00:00 +0200

Can a team change its performance by changing what it believes it is here to do?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Dan Fiehn, Global COO of Markerstudy, about scaling operations, joining technology and business strategy, and using internal rebranding to shift a function's identity. Dan explains how Group IT became "Empowered" and why the change worked because it altered purpose, behaviour, perception and ownership.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Transformation lesson: internal branding is not cosmetic when it gives people a new role in the operating system. A function can move from service department to change-agent only when the team and the wider business start treating it differently.

You will learn:

Why technology transformation fails when IT and the business are travelling in different directions
How a new identity can unlock ownership and pride inside a function
Why symbols, quick wins and external proof help make a cultural shift real
How simplicity and curiosity help leaders translate complex work into business value
Why the next stage of executive leadership often means moving from control to influence

Links and resources mentioned:

Markerstudy: https://www.markerstudy.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: what it takes to turn market vision into a billion-dollar brand | Mark Makepeace (CEO, Wilshire) - S04E11

Tue, 04 May 2021 21:00:00 +0200

How do you turn a market insight into a brand and institution big enough for the market to organise around?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Mark Makepeace, CEO of Wilshire and the builder of FTSE Russell, about category creation, stakeholder influence, and the ambition to build again after a billion-dollar success. Mark shares how FTSE grew from a tiny team into a global financial-services brand by questioning assumptions, creating a picture of change, and winning influential support.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is Strategic Leadership at market-shaping scale. A bold idea is not enough. The leader has to make the future vivid, assemble the right coalition, and build the team and institution that can carry the category beyond personal energy.

You will learn:

Why sector shaping starts by questioning the assumptions everyone else is living inside
How a vivid picture of change helps stakeholders and teams move together
Why influence matters when you are building a market category, not just a product
How the leader's role shifts from raw drive to stretching and coaching the next team
Why CEO evolution can mean choosing another mountain after a major win

Links and resources mentioned:

Wilshire: https://www.wilshire.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: why hard transformation needs a story people can believe | Bob Bailkoski (CEO, Logicalis) - S04E10

Tue, 27 Apr 2021 21:00:00 +0200

Why do technically sound transformations still fail to create commitment?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Bob Bailkoski, CEO of Logicalis, about leading transformation across a global technology services business. Bob shares how listening, slowing down to speed up, and repeated purpose communication helped him turn dry strategic language into stories people could actually care about.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Vision Execution episode about translating strategy into shared meaning. People do not commit to a transformation because the slide deck is rational. They commit when the leader connects the work to a human outcome and repeats the message long enough for it to become operating reality.

You will learn:

Why the CEO sometimes needs to slow down before the organisation can speed up
How storytelling turns abstract transformation into emotional commitment
Why repeated purpose language is alignment infrastructure, not boring repetition
How diverse experience can make a leader more adaptable across teams, sectors and cultures
Why CEO leadership for scaling businesses requires letting go of solving every problem yourself

Links and resources mentioned:

Logicalis: https://www.logicalis.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: why remote work can drain disruptive creativity | James Bain (CEO) - S04E09

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 21:00:00 +0200

How do you keep creativity, challenge and bold thinking alive when the organisation is distributed and under pressure?

In this episode, Richard speaks with James Bain, CEO of Worldline UK and Ireland, about disruptive creativity, psychological safety, bold leadership, and the search for significance. James reflects on the lessons that took him from early frontline jobs to leading in a global payments business, including why brave ideas need openness rather than hidden momentum.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Scaling Culture conversation about the conditions creativity needs and a useful CEO leadership reminder. Psychological safety is not softness. It is the challenge infrastructure that lets mixed teams question, invent, and move at the right speed without losing trust.

You will learn:

Why bold ideas need open coalition-building, not cloak-and-dagger progress
How psychological safety creates sharper challenge rather than comfortable agreement
Why creativity needs different personality types and clear boundaries
How leaders can calibrate speed when charging ahead would lose the team
Why legacy, social mobility and future generations can change the size of the game a CEO is playing

Links and resources mentioned:

Worldline: https://worldline.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Accountability: why ownership gets tested in the hardest calls | CP Gurnani (CEO, Tech Mahindra) - S04E08

Tue, 13 Apr 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What does ownership really mean when the decision is painful, public and human?

In this episode, Richard speaks with CP Gurnani, CEO of Tech Mahindra, about extreme ownership, stretch goals, tough love, and leading at the scale of 125,000 people across 90 countries. CP shares the mindset that helped him move from a small town in India into global leadership, and the people challenges that remain hardest even at huge scale.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is an Executive Team Accountability episode about ownership beyond the job description. It is easy to claim responsibility when the work is exciting. The real test is whether leaders own the uncomfortable consequences, protect the values system, and multiply judgement through others.

You will learn:

Why extreme ownership means owning impact, people and trade-offs together
How stretch goals require alternate thinking rather than larger versions of the old plan
Why high-performing individuals can still damage culture if they cannot lead through others
How shared language and story help large teams collaborate across complexity
Why CEO leadership for scaling businesses becomes coaching younger leaders to carry judgement, not personality

Links and resources mentioned:

Tech Mahindra: https://www.techmahindra.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Transformation: how new behaviours multiply beyond the pilot | Hugo Fry (CEO, Sanofi UK) - S04E07

Tue, 06 Apr 2021 21:00:00 +0200

Why do some transformation pilots stay trapped in one corner of the business while others become the new normal?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Hugo Fry, Managing Director and Country Chair of Sanofi UK and Ireland, about how to multiply new behaviours across a complex organisation. Hugo shares a practical pattern for CEO transformation: find what is already working, prove it, celebrate it, and scale it.

For scaling founders and CEOs, the lesson is that behaviour change rarely spreads because the leader explains the theory one more time. It spreads when people can see success, feel the proof, and understand the pathway well enough to join it.

You will learn:

Why shared objectives are execution infrastructure, not a soft alignment exercise
How pilots become leverage when the organisation can see why they worked
Why visible success stories often move behaviour faster than top-down mandate
How visionary leaders can slow down enough for others to help map the path
Why CEO leadership for scaling businesses sometimes means turning the executive team into external influencers, not just operators

Links and resources mentioned:

Sanofi UK: https://www.sanofi.co.uk

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: when strong relationships stop being enough to scale | Abhishek Rungta (CEO) - S04E06

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 21:00:00 +0200

What if the relationship strength that built the business is also part of what now limits its scale?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Abhishek Rungta, founder and CEO of Indus Net Technologies, about partnership-led growth, founder evolution, customer understanding, and building a company of entrepreneurs. Abhishek shares how strong relationships became a source of trust and growth, but also why the next level required more timely feedback, bigger bets, and a system beyond one founder's operating grip.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Bottleneck conversation about turning personal relationship capital into organisational leverage. The next level is not always a bigger company run harder. It may be a system that creates more leaders, more partnerships, and more entrepreneurs.

You will learn:

Why true partnerships can deliberately create a bigger win for the other side
How marketing starts with the customer's needs, wants, challenges and product reality
Why delayed feedback compounds inside the leader but fades for the recipient
How a no-entitlement culture protects market leaders from complacency
Why CEO evolution often means moving from operating the first company to building a system that creates more companies

Links and resources mentioned:

Indus Net Technologies: https://www.indusnet.co.in

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why benevolent CEOs still need to make hard calls | Thomas Jamet (CEO, IPG Mediabrands France) - S04E05

Tue, 23 Mar 2021 22:00:00 +0200

Can you be warm, accessible and benevolent without becoming unclear when the hard calls arrive?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Thomas Jamet, CEO of IPG Mediabrands France, about benevolent leadership, energy, influence and strategic clarity. Thomas explains how he helped turn around a difficult situation by building trust, giving people a direction they could believe in, and treating every interaction as a chance to leave people with something useful to think about.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Strategic Leadership episode about the support-and-challenge tension. Benevolence creates trust and energy, but it only scales when the leader also protects their own energy, makes the plan explicit, and gives feedback clearly enough for people to act.

You will learn:

Why warm leadership still has to say the sharp thing clearly
How a five-year plan can turn scattered energy into shared direction
Why influence is partly the thought people leave with after each interaction
How accessibility can create trust, but also blur distance and expectations
Why CEO leadership for scaling businesses requires private rituals that replenish the leader's energy

Links and resources mentioned:

IPG Mediabrands France: https://www.ipgmediabrands.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Scaling Culture: why attitude can matter more than pedigree | Billy d'Arcy (CEO, BAI Communications UK) - S04E04

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 22:00:00 +0200

What if the foundation of scale is not a clever strategy, but the attitude you refuse to compromise on?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Billy d'Arcy, CEO of BAI Communications UK, about building solid business foundations in complex telecoms and infrastructure environments. Billy shares why culture, humility, hard work, hunger, delegation and patience matter when the work involves large stakeholders, slow-moving systems and long-term trust.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Scaling Culture conversation about the basics that are easy to say and hard to enforce. Skills can often be taught. Attitude, ownership and cultural fit are harder to retrofit once the wrong behaviours have started shaping the team.

You will learn:

Why recruiting for attitude can matter more than technical pedigree
How humble, hardworking and hungry becomes visible in communication, proposals and customer relationships
Why one strong performer with the wrong attitude can create a separate culture inside the business
How forced delegation taught Billy the value of letting his team carry more important work
Why CEO leadership for scaling businesses means keeping people motivated when public-sector and enterprise progress is slow

Links and resources mentioned:

BAI Communications: https://www.baicommunications.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: how a one-page strategy makes nine businesses move as one | J Schwan (CEO, Kin + Carta) - S04E03

Tue, 09 Mar 2021 09:15:00 +0200

How do you move from a portfolio of businesses to one company with enough focus to scale?

In this episode, Richard speaks with J Schwan, CEO of Kin + Carta, about scaling Solstice, integrating nine businesses, and using structure to create focus and accountability. J shares how servant leadership, straight talk, one-page strategy and B Corp commitments helped turn ambition into a system that could survive beyond the leader's personal energy.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Strategic Leadership episode about structural leverage. Scale comes from decisions that keep creating clarity after the CEO leaves the room: priorities, ownership, integration choices, and the operating values that force real trade-offs.

You will learn:

Why the portfolio-versus-platform decision matters when integrating multiple businesses
How servant leadership removes blockers without making the leader the permanent bottleneck
Why empathy without decisiveness can slow transformation and dilute positioning
How a one-page strategy forces prioritisation across a complex organisation
Why CEO evolution can mean building commitments that outlast any one leader

Links and resources mentioned:

Kin + Carta: https://www.kinandcarta.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Operating System: why every CEO needs a personal leadership framework | Keri Gilder (CEO, Colt Technology) - S04E02

Tue, 02 Mar 2021 22:00:00 +0200

What language does your organisation hear from you so often that it becomes a way to make decisions?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Keri Gilder, CEO of Colt Technology Services, about the power of an explicit personal leadership framework. Keri frames her impact around connection and four human elements: health, happiness, harmony and hope. The power is not in the words alone, but in how they show up through strategy, wellbeing, sustainability, inclusion and industry ambition.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Operating System episode about values becoming usable. A leadership philosophy only matters when it turns into repeated decisions, shared language and commitments the organisation can act on without waiting for the CEO to explain everything again.

You will learn:

Why the real leverage may sit in the connections between teams, ideas and systems
How health, happiness, harmony and hope become a practical leadership language
Why inside-out strategy can create ownership and execution energy
How diversity helps an organisation see more of reality in complex markets
Why CEO leadership for scaling businesses can move from company performance to industry-level standards

Links and resources mentioned:

Colt Technology Services: https://www.colt.net

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: when your success formula becomes your ceiling - S04E01

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 22:00:00 +0200

What if the formula that made you successful is also the thing that will stop you reaching the next level?

In this short season opener, Richard introduces the idea of a CEO success formula: the habits, strengths, beliefs, disciplines and ways of working that create your current results. The challenge is that when a formula works, changing it can feel risky. But the next level often requires adjusting the very mechanism that got you here.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Evolution prompt. High performers do not usually need more effort. They need to understand which part of their current value-creation system is becoming stale, overused, or mismatched to the bigger game ahead.

You will learn:

Why success leaves patterns that can be studied and upgraded
How the same habits that created your current level can become the ceiling on your next one
Why reinvention feels dangerous precisely because the old formula still works
What to listen for across the season as each CEO explores formula, dark side and next-level shift
How CEO leadership for scaling businesses starts with asking which part of your own formula now needs to evolve

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: is your leadership team creating value or consuming time? - S03E10

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 22:00:00 +0200

Is your leadership team actually creating value, or has it become another expensive operating rhythm?

In this season capstone, Richard pulls together the high-value leadership team series and explains how to move from diagnosis to a real team-development roadmap. The core question is not whether your executives are busy, capable or committed. It is whether the team creates outcomes that would not happen without the team.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is an Executive Team Ownership episode about the top team as the leverage point for the whole business. CEO leadership for scaling businesses means building the team the next chapter requires, not just running another offsite and hoping the follow-through survives normal operations.

You will learn:

Why high-performing teams can still be low-value teams
How blind spots, black spots and hot spots reveal where the team is really stuck
Why the CEO is usually too embedded in the system to diagnose it alone
How to build a roadmap for the team's next level before adding more initiatives
Why team coaching is different from facilitation, team building or individual coaching

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: why executive teams keep getting pulled into the weeds - S03E09

Tue, 09 Feb 2021 22:00:00 +0200

Why does your executive team keep falling back into operational topics, even when everyone says they want to be more strategic?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley look at the operational drag that pulls senior teams into the weeds. The issue is not just poor agenda hygiene. It is usually a lack of clarity about what value only the leadership team can create, and which operational issues should be handled elsewhere.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Bottleneck episode about forum design, delegation and team identity. CEO leadership for scaling businesses means deciding whether the top team exists to coordinate functions, solve escalations, or create the higher-value work the business cannot get anywhere else.

You will learn:

Why operational topics shout loudest unless higher-value work is deliberately protected
How the urgent-and-important trap signals missing systems, not heroic leadership
Why the n-minus-one interface determines how much operational work reaches the top team
How to use questions, options and recommendations instead of absorbing every escalation
Why leadership team agenda quality is a leadership artefact, not admin detail

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Execution: why nothing happens after the leadership off-site - S03E08

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 22:00:00 +0200

Why do leadership offsites feel useful in the room, then quietly disappear once the real business resumes?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley explore the gap between offsite enthusiasm and strategic execution. The problem is rarely that the ideas were weak. It is that offsites often add commitments without subtracting work, rely on inspiration rather than process, and fail to install a behaviour-change system.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a Strategic Execution episode about turning good intentions into operating rhythm. CEO leadership for scaling businesses means choosing the few changes that can actually compound, then giving them owners, cadence, environment, language and accountability.

You will learn:

Why most offsites add work but rarely remove current commitments
How to distinguish one-and-done decisions from recurring behavioural changes
Why sleeping on the ideas can prevent overcommitment in the room
How agenda templates, one-to-ones, prompts and public commitments carry behaviour change
Why small actions that compound often beat big declarations that fade

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: why leadership meetings feel busy but create no value - S03E07

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 22:00:00 +0200

What if your leadership team meeting is busy because it is trying to do too many different jobs at once?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley diagnose why senior meetings become uninspiring, overstuffed and low value. Too much information, too little deciding, unclear finish lines and muddled meeting purposes turn the top team into an update forum instead of a decision-making powerhouse.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is an Executive Team Ownership episode about meeting design as strategy design. CEO leadership for scaling businesses means protecting executive attention for the conversations, decisions and trade-offs that only this team can handle.

You will learn:

Why updates often belong in memos, not executive meeting airtime
How quarterly strategic projects can give the team a winnable 90-day game
Why every agenda item needs a clear definition of done
How tactical coordination, operational problem-solving, strategic decisions and organisational reflection need different rhythms
Why one breakthrough can be worth more than ten half-discussions

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: how airtime imbalance quietly kills ownership - S03E06

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 22:00:00 +0200

What intelligence is your leadership team missing because the same few voices dominate the room?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley unpack why airtime imbalance is more than a manners problem. When 20% of people dominate 80% of the conversation, expensive executive attention is wasted, personality style can crowd out expertise, and quieter strategic insight never reaches the table.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is an Executive Team Ownership episode about using the team you hired. CEO leadership for scaling businesses means designing discussion so the full intelligence in the room is available before the team makes important calls.

You will learn:

Why balanced contribution improves decision quality, not just meeting tone
How the leader's own airtime can quietly shape the whole system
Why quieter or more reflective leaders may need different formats to contribute fully
How turn order, smaller formats and explicit permission can rebalance discussion
Why airtime is a useful leadership-system metric for executive teams

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: why polite teams avoid the conversations that change the business - S03E05

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 22:00:00 +0200

What conversations are not happening in your leadership team, and what is that avoidance costing the business?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley explore why leadership teams can be technically frank while still avoiding the conversations that would actually change the business. Richard breaks the problem into three practical barriers: the wrong forum, no explicit behavioural contract, and insufficient psychological safety.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is an Executive Team Ownership episode about building the conditions for truth. CEO leadership for scaling businesses means creating a room where the real issues can be named, challenged and worked through without becoming personal or political.

You will learn:

Why bold conversations need the right forum, not just more courage
How explicit rules make challenge legitimate rather than personal
Why psychological safety is about difficult truth, not comfortable agreement
How to ask what elephants are not being discussed
Why leaders should notice how often they get their own way in team discussions

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: how leaders move from defending functions to owning the business - S03E04

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 20:00:00 +0200

Is your executive team acting like one team, or like senior representatives defending their own territories?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley look at why competent functional leaders can still fail as an executive team. The trap is subtle: leaders may be excellent inside their own boxes while leaving the cross-functional gaps, interfaces and trade-offs under-owned.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is an Executive Team Ownership episode about shifting from functional success to enterprise ownership. CEO leadership for scaling businesses means making the top team the primary team, not a polite United Nations of functional interests.

You will learn:

Why silo behaviour often comes from functional success, not incompetence
How the loyalty test reveals whether leaders see the executive team as their number-one team
Why senior leaders need both a functional hat and a cross-functional business-leader hat
How transformational projects usually live in the interfaces between functions
Why pairing leaders around cross-functional gaps can create better shared recommendations

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: a manifesto for an exponential new year

Tue, 29 Dec 2020 20:00:00 +0200

You'll discover the three elements of the Xquadrant Manifesto, and how you can apply them to your own leadership for the year ahead.

To read the Xquadrant Manifesto, head to https://xquadrant.com/manifesto/

For all the main episodes of the podcast, head to https://xquadrant.com/podcast/

CEO Evolution: Christmas leadership reflections for a bigger year ahead

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 20:00:00 +0200

In this episode, you'll find 3 key words to reflect on this Christmas and prepare yourself for a meaningful New Year. For more episodes head to https://xquadrant.com/podcast/

Executive Team Ownership: why your perfect plan may be killing accountability - S03E03

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 20:00:00 +0200

Why does your team fail to own the plan, even when the plan itself makes sense?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley explore why ownership cannot simply be handed to people. Richard's core distinction is push versus pull: push can create clarity, but pull creates the common ground, authorship and commitment that make accountability real.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is an Executive Team Ownership episode about the leader's hidden role in the ownership problem. CEO leadership for scaling businesses means resisting the temptation to impose the perfect plan when a co-created plan would create far more commitment.

You will learn:

Why lack of ownership is often a team dynamic, not a character flaw
How push provides clarity but pull builds commitment
Why people do not buy in if they do not weigh in
How leader-speaks-last discipline gives others room to own the thinking
Why 60% right with 100% ownership can beat 100% right with weak commitment

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: why every decision still orbits you - S03E02

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 22:00:00 +0200

What if the thing holding your executive team back is not the team, but the gravitational pull of the CEO?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley discuss how to diagnose what is really limiting a leadership team. The key is to define what the team is trying to become before deciding what is holding it back, then use stakeholder input, team self-perception and focused improvement themes to move the system.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO Bottleneck episode about the top team's next level. CEO leadership for scaling businesses means noticing when decisions, relationships and accountability still orbit the CEO instead of being worked through by the team as a peer system.

You will learn:

Why business goals are not the same as team-development goals
How the CEO's experience of the team can differ from the team's experience of the team
Why star-formation teams feel efficient until every meaningful decision returns to the centre
How the three conversations frame can define commission, future state and one improvement theme
Why a team 360 should reveal blind spots, black spots and hot spots rather than produce a vanity score

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: is your top team creating value or coordinating functions? - S03E01

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 22:00:00 +0200

If your executive team stopped meeting, what would the business actually lose?

In this episode, Richard and Davina Stanley open the leadership-team series with a sharp distinction: company performance is not the same as executive-team value creation. A team can be full of high performers, hit targets, and still fail to create value as a team.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is an Executive Team Ownership episode about diagnosing the top team honestly. CEO leadership for scaling businesses means asking whether the leadership team is making the business smarter, more aligned and more decisive, or simply coordinating functional activity.

You will learn:

Why high-performing is not the same as high-value creating
How the restaurant-bill gap reveals missing enterprise ownership
Why functional leaders need to own the whole business, not just their own KPIs
How task focus can crowd out strategic learning and behaviour change
Why meetings should create insight, trade-offs and decisions, not just distribute information

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: when demand, regulation and fear all move at once | Michel Emelianoff (CEO, Visiomed) - S02E09

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 21:00:00 +0200

How do you lead when demand surges, regulation shifts, and fear is spreading through the organisation at the same time?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Michel Emelianoff, CEO of Visiomed, about strategic leadership during the first shock of COVID-19. Visiomed was operating in healthcare and telemedicine at exactly the moment when speed, evidence, duty of care and business continuity all became urgent at once.

For a scaling founder or CEO, the lesson is not only about crisis management. It is about CEO leadership when the executive team has to make decisions before the data is perfect, protect people without paralysing the business, and turn uncertainty into an operating rhythm people can trust.

You will learn:

Why leaders need faster feedback loops when anxiety is rising inside the company
How early, imperfect data can still help a CEO make better operational decisions
Why duty of care becomes a strategic leadership issue, not just an HR issue
How healthcare pressure exposed the need for clearer communication and stronger execution
What scaling CEOs can learn from making decisions when public health, regulation and customer need all collide

Guest links and resources:

Visiomed: https://www.visiomed-group.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Evolution: what first-time CEOs learn when growth pressure rises | Bhavesh Vaghela (CEO, Singula Decisions) - S02E08

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 12:00:00 +0200

What does a first-time CEO learn when the plan changes overnight and the team still needs to feel close, clear and cared for?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Bhavesh Vaghela, CEO of Singula Decisions, about leading a subscription-growth business through the first COVID shock. The company moved fully remote almost overnight, while still helping subscription businesses use technology, data, insight and people to find growth.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a practical lesson in CEO evolution. Growth pressure does not remove the human work of leadership; it makes it more important. Bhavesh shares how he used simple operating rhythms, personal check-ins, coffee chats and all-company communication to keep the team connected when the business environment became unpredictable.

You will learn:

Why first-time CEOs need to stay close to the human signal, not only the commercial metrics
How daily check-ins can protect trust during remote work and rapid change
Why small rituals can keep a growing team connected under pressure
How to build a communication rhythm when people need certainty but the market cannot provide it
What scaling CEOs can learn from leading through uncertainty without losing the team

Guest links and resources:

Singula Decisions: https://www.singuladecisions.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why crowded markets punish vague leadership | Alun Baker (CEO, Clario Tech) - S02E07

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 20:00:00 +0200

How do you lead in a crowded category when customers do not want more features, they want someone to make the problem feel clear?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Alun Baker, CEO of Clario Tech, about leading a consumer cybersecurity challenger in a market full of technical language, incumbent habits and confused buyers. Clario's opportunity was not simply to build another security product; it was to reframe the category around the everyday risks people actually feel.

For a scaling founder or CEO, this is a CEO leadership lesson in clarity. Crowded markets punish vague positioning, and internal teams need a sharper sense of the problem they are solving if they are going to move fast, align decisions and earn customer trust.

You will learn:

Why category clarity matters when customers are overwhelmed by technical complexity
How to shift the conversation from product features to the risk customers actually experience
Why remote work exposed old assumptions about productivity and control
How people context, home life and morale became part of the CEO operating system
What scaling CEOs can learn about positioning, communication and leadership in a crowded market

Guest links and resources:

Clario: https://clario.co

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: what founders do when demand disappears overnight | Christophe Collet (CEO, S4M) - S02E06

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 20:00:00 +0200

What do you do when the market your company serves almost disappears overnight?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Christophe Collet, CEO of S4M, about leading a drive-to-store technology business when COVID-19 abruptly shut down large parts of physical retail. S4M had built its proposition around helping retailers turn digital advertising into store visits, then suddenly had to rethink how that capability could serve a new reality.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO leadership and CEO bottleneck moment: the business cannot wait for perfect visibility, but the wrong decision can damage cash, morale and future options. Christophe shares how S4M pivoted from drive-to-store to drive-to-site, protected cash, used its location technology for public-health messaging, and tried to protect jobs while demand was uncertain.

You will learn:

How CEOs can separate the core capability from the old use case when demand collapses
Why cash protection and strategic adaptation have to happen at the same time
How partial employment and reduced hours can be used to preserve the company and the team
Why team solidarity can strengthen when leaders communicate hard realities clearly
What scaling businesses can learn from pivoting under pressure without abandoning the future

Guest links and resources:

S4M: https://www.s4m.io

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: why purpose-led CEOs should not only defend in a crisis | Fred Trinel (co-CEO, EcoVadis) - S02E05

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 21:00:00 +0200

When a crisis hits, should a purpose-led CEO defend the business, or keep looking for the opportunity to advance the mission?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Fred Trinel, co-CEO of EcoVadis, about CEO leadership through the early COVID shock. EcoVadis helps organisations assess sustainability, ESG risk and supplier performance, which meant the crisis created both immediate operational pressure and a bigger question about the resilience of global supply chains.

For scaling CEOs, Fred's playbook is useful because it avoids false choices. You have to plan for the worst until the worst is off the table, but you also need a separate track for offence: where the mission becomes more relevant, where customer need is changing, and where the executive team must keep building the future.

You will learn:

Why CEOs should separate defensive continuity work from offensive strategic opportunity
How to use tighter KPI monitoring and leading indicators when visibility falls
Why freezing hiring early can be a people-protection move, not only a cost move
How purpose-led businesses can stay commercially sharp during a crisis
What scaling founders can learn from ESG, procurement risk and supply-chain resilience

Guest links and resources:

EcoVadis: https://ecovadis.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Vision Execution: why your best ideas may be outside the executive team | Simon Hill (CEO, Wazoku) - S02E04

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 19:00:00 +0200

What if the idea that unlocks your next move is not sitting inside the executive team?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Simon Hill, CEO and founder of Wazoku, about open innovation, crisis leadership and the value of building a system that can surface ideas from employees, customers, suppliers and external experts. When strategy shifts quickly, the organisations with a reusable idea system have more options than those relying on ad hoc meetings and the usual voices.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO leadership and vision execution lesson. Big strategy does not fail only because the CEO has the wrong answer. It often fails because the company has no reliable way to find, test and mobilise the best answers across the whole ecosystem.

You will learn:

Why open innovation can become execution infrastructure, not just a creativity exercise
How an idea archive becomes more valuable when the market changes suddenly
Why boards and CEOs must make risk-on and risk-off decisions under uncertainty
How remote work exposed the human side of leadership beyond the technology stack
What scaling CEOs can learn about turning distributed intelligence into strategic advantage

Guest links and resources:

Wazoku: https://www.wazoku.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: what CEOs do when the market accelerates without them | Brooks Borcherding (CEO, Cloudreach) - S02E03

Tue, 13 Oct 2020 19:00:00 +0200

What do you do when a market shift you believed in suddenly accelerates faster than anyone expected?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Brooks Borcherding, CEO of Cloudreach, about leading a cloud services company as COVID-19 compressed years of technology adoption into months. Cloudreach had already positioned itself around the cloud transition, but the crisis forced customers to move faster, rethink remote work, and solve business-continuity problems immediately.

For scaling CEOs, this is CEO leadership in an accelerating market. The opportunity is real, but only if the company can protect its people, serve urgent customer needs, and avoid being overwhelmed by the very transition it was built to lead.

You will learn:

Why CEOs need to position early around the real technology transition, not the current fashion
How manager training became part of employee care during remote crisis leadership
Why customer continuity matters when demand patterns change quickly
How Cloudreach adapted services around remote access, virtual desktops and cloud advisory needs
What scaling businesses can learn from leading into acceleration rather than waiting for certainty

Guest links and resources:

Cloudreach: https://www.cloudreach.com

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Decision Making: why optimism is risky when the future is unclear | Ben Page (CEO, Ipsos MORI UK) - S02E02

Tue, 06 Oct 2020 15:00:00 +0200

What happens when your optimism as a leader becomes one of the risks you have to manage?

In this episode, Richard speaks with Ben Page, CEO of Ipsos MORI UK, about CEO decision making in a crisis where visibility is low, public behaviour is shifting, and the recovery may not look like the optimistic forecasts. Ben brings the perspective of a research leader who has lived through multiple downturns and understands how easily leaders can mistake hope for evidence.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this conversation is a reminder that visible leadership is not the same as false reassurance. The job is to communicate clearly, look honestly at worst-case scenarios, understand customer and employee psychology, and make decisions before the future has resolved itself.

You will learn:

Why optimism bias can be dangerous when revenue, jobs and confidence are under pressure
How scenario planning helps CEOs avoid pretending uncertain work is guaranteed
Why transparency and empathy matter when hard decisions may be coming
How consumer psychology can shape the speed and shape of recovery
What CEO leadership for scaling businesses looks like when people need clarity more than certainty

Guest links and resources:

Ipsos UK: https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: what challenging times reveal about how leaders really lead - S02E01

Tue, 29 Sep 2020 06:00:00 +0200

When the chips are down, what do people discover about your leadership?

In this short series introduction, Richard sets up Leadership Lessons for Challenging Times through the story of his sister Georgina and the family party that followed a painful crisis. The phrase was simple: when the chips are down, you discover who is really there.

For CEOs and senior leaders, that is the deeper question behind this season. Challenging times are not only operational tests. They reveal whether people experience you as a leader who shows up, brings clarity, supports them through uncertainty and creates an experience of leadership they will remember.

This episode introduces a series of conversations with CEOs reflecting on what worked, what did not, what they learned during the COVID crisis, and what they would do differently next time. Listen for the lessons you need to integrate before the next wave of challenging times arrives.

You will learn:

Why crisis reveals who is really there when the stakes rise
How challenging times can become a moment to lead at a higher level
Why people remember how leaders show up when uncertainty and pressure increase
How to listen to CEO leadership stories for practical insight, not just inspiration
What it means to be there for the people accompanying you on your journey and movement

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Leadership Leverage: why good intentions disappear under pressure - S01E06

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 10:00:00 +0200

Why do smart leadership intentions disappear the moment pressure rises?

In this episode, Richard explores one of the hardest parts of CEO leadership: turning insight into behaviour change that actually sticks. It is easy to leave a conversation, offsite or coaching session with a clear intention. It is much harder to behave differently in the real moment of pressure, fatigue, urgency or conflict.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is where transformation either becomes real or stays theoretical. The episode shows why vague goals like "be more strategic" or "listen more" do not create lasting change, and why leaders need to design specific moments of truth, reduce friction, and build a support system around the new behaviour.

You will learn:

Why adult behaviour change is hard in high-pressure corporate contexts
How to move from vague leadership goals to specific moments of truth
Why insight is not enough when the planner and the doer want different things
How environment design can make the new behaviour easier than the old one
What executive teams can do to support behaviour change instead of leaving it to willpower

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: why reorgs rarely fix trust problems - S01E05

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 20:00:00 +0200

What if the problem in your executive team is not the org chart, but the trust system underneath it?

In this episode, Richard explores why collaboration problems so often survive restructures, new roles and fresh reporting lines. Organisations are living systems, not machines. If the relationship patterns, contribution patterns and side-channel conversations remain the same, the drama simply finds a new map.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO leadership issue because friction and drama consume strategic capacity. Healthy friction can sharpen decisions, but uncontained drama slows execution, weakens ownership and keeps the leader trapped in mediation rather than multiplication.

You will learn:

Why reorgs rarely fix unresolved collaboration and trust problems
How to distinguish useful friction from drama that drains the organisation
Why leaders should look in the mirror before diagnosing everyone else
How trust, contribution and common language become collaboration infrastructure
What executive teams can do to move from side-channel tension to direct, productive conversation

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Learning Culture: why training fails unless the conversation changes - S01E04

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 08:30:00 +0200

Why does so much leadership training disappear once people return to the old conversation?

In this episode, Richard explores how learning actually spreads inside a business. New ideas do not become culture just because people hear them once. They become culture when leaders create shared language, ask better questions, and build a rhythm for deciding, doing and debriefing.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO transformation issue. The larger the organisation becomes, the less useful it is for insight to stay inside one leader's head or one workshop room. The business needs language and learning loops that can travel faster than the market is changing.

You will learn:

Why words shape what leaders notice and what teams treat as normal
How shared language turns private insight into organisational infrastructure
Why high-value questions challenge assumptions without making the conversation personal
How the decide, do, debrief loop helps teams convert action into learning
What scaling CEOs can do to build a learning culture instead of relying on one-off training

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Executive Team Ownership: why commitment cannot be forced from the centre - S01E03

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 14:30:00 +0200

Why does pushing harder sometimes create less ownership from the people around you?

In this episode, Richard explores what it takes to release commitment in a team instead of trying to force it from the centre. Strategy and execution are not enough if the people around the table are nodding in the room but not carrying the mission with energy afterwards.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is a CEO leadership for scaling businesses lesson. As the organisation grows, the leader cannot be the only source of drive. The team needs commitment to the leader, the mission, the team and the task, supported by the right balance of challenge and support.

You will learn:

Why ownership cannot simply be assigned through deliverables
How commitment to the leader, mission, team and task creates stronger execution
Why high challenge without support creates compliance rather than genuine commitment
Why high support without challenge can create comfortable drift
What executive teams can do to move from passive agreement to real ownership

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

Strategic Leadership: what CEOs must remove before the business can scale - S01E02

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 16:30:00 +0200

What do you need to remove before the business can really scale?

In this episode, Richard explores the first Impact Multiplier: eliminating noise. In a world of infinite inputs, opportunities, messages, projects and distractions, CEO leadership is not about doing more. It is about knowing what is noise relative to the direction that matters.

For scaling founders and CEOs, the key distinction is that the company's objectives are not automatically the CEO's own strategic objectives. The leader has to identify the few constraints only they can move, then repurpose attention, calendar and decision energy toward the work that creates disproportionate value.

You will learn:

Why strategy is the lens that reveals what is actually noise
How to separate company objectives from the CEO's personal strategic moves
Why the constraint question can make everything else easier
How to identify high-value activities and raise return on time
What CEOs can remove, delegate or automate so the business has room to scale

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Bottleneck: why high-performing CEOs still become overwhelmed - S01E01

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 16:00:00 +0200

Why do high-performing CEOs still end up overwhelmed when they are already working hard and doing so much right?

In this opening episode, Richard introduces the five Impact Multipliers: the recurring constraints that limit a leader's ability to create more impact without simply adding more intensity. The problem is not usually a lack of ambition or effort. It is that attention, energy, learning, collaboration or behaviour change has become the hidden constraint.

For scaling founders and CEOs, this is the CEO bottleneck in its earliest form. Multiplication starts when the leader stops asking only how to do more, and starts asking which constraint is preventing the whole system from moving with more leverage.

You will learn:

Why multiplying impact is a constraint problem, not a productivity hack
How attention, energy, mindset, collaboration and transformation shape leadership leverage
Why strategic focus begins with eliminating noise
How commitment, learning and collaboration become multipliers across the organisation
What CEO leadership for scaling businesses requires when personal intensity is no longer the answer

---

BONUS RESOURCE – ACCOUNTABILITY CHARTER

Turn your leadership team into a strategic growth engine, without micromanaging or drama. Download and implement the Accountability Charter today.

---

GO DOWN THE XQUADRANT RABBIT HOLE

📧 The Leverage Letter

📒 The 10X Reckoning

📕 Making TIME For Strategy

🎧 The Defining Move Podcast

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.

CEO Leadership: Welcome to the Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast - S00E00

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 15:00:00 +0200

You’ll learn:

The reason behind the Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast, and why we’re driven to helping you achieve 10X more impact
Who the show is for - not just CEOs, but also people who think like CEOs (and what that means
The background behind the co-hosts
Why, as a high achiever who’s already achieved a lot, you should listen to our podcast to help you reach your next level
How we work at the intersection of strategy, leadership and purpose and the relevance of each of these

Resources/sources mentioned:

The Xquadrant Manifesto

++ To celebrate the launch of the podcast we’re giving away a coaching package valued at $3000 for you, a friend or a colleague. To enter the competition all you have to do is leave a review of the podcast on iTunes or your preferred App and send us a screenshot to podcast@xquadrant.com before the 15 September 2020. If you miss that deadline, then submit before the 15th October 2020 to win a smaller coaching package. For all the details go to https://xquadrant.com/podcast/ ++

For full show notes, head to https://xquadrant.com/s0e0-podcast-welcome/

---

NEW SHOW BRAND & FORMAT

This episode was released as part of The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast. We’ve now rebranded the show to The Defining Move, and upgraded the format.

The Defining Move is a podcast about CEO leadership for scaling businesses, and the CEO transformation that drives the next level of growth.

Check out our newest episodes, in which Richard Medcalf hands one of the world's most accomplished leaders a fictional defining move, already made, that changes the trajectory of their business.