PHILHSC.com

I help CEOs lead with clarity, build momentum, and achieve measurable growth in the most demanding times of life and leadership. I also support leaders to scale through high-value partnerships in The Partnership Lab.

Industry Focus: healthcare, biotech, aerospace and technology.

Founder & Executive Coach

My podcast helps sales and marketing leaders build systems to close high-value partnerships that unlock business growth and reclaim time.

Host, Partnership Playbook Podcast

Drop Bio Health

Co-Founder & Non-Executive Director

Drop Bio Health is the at-home health technology company. A partnership-driven, multidisciplinary team accelerating the transition to personalised, preventative health. At scale.

Co-Founder & CEO

AGSM @ UNSW Business School

They say, "to learn, teach". I teach MGNT502 Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Sharing experience and knowledge with MBA candidates at my alma mater to help them build great companies is a lot of fun and I couldn't think of a better place to teach while growing businesses.

Adjunct Professor

Sangui Bio

Sangui Bio is an Australian life sciences company aiming to revolutionise how blood is analysed and used in medicine by shifting the focus to red blood cells. The company is creating powerful diagnostics and therapeutics for a range of inflammatory conditions with an initial focus on cancer, pregnancy-related complications, diabetes, and renal failure.

Member, Board of Directors

inkl

• Co-led and closed $1.3M equity financing
• Developed and delivered global B2B sales strategy for micropayments product
• Secured major procurement agreement with Avendra LLC to distribute digital news to over one million hotel rooms in the US (worth $12M revenue per annum)

Business Development

AirShr

• Developed concept, identified and recruited talent, and created venture to make radio interactive
• Closed major agreements with national broadcasters in Australia and launched to >600K listeners
• Raised ~$1M in capital over two rounds from 17 investors and secured $200K Federal Government
Acceleration Commercialisation grant and $160K R&D tax incentive
• Won Judges Choice Award and attended Echelon Asia Summit in Singapore in June 2015

Transfield Holdings

Founded by industrialist Franco Belgiorno-Nettis in 1956, I worked in marketing and government relations on Transfield's listed and unlisted investee companies across infrastructure, renewable energy and industrial services.
• Led corporate strategy planning, marketing and corporate affairs, including corporate and crisis
communications, government engagement, issues management and community investment
• Led portfolio company (wholesale solar power generation) rebranding strategy in four global markets,
marketing of new high temperature industrial solar power generation products
• Co-founded the Australian Solar Thermal Energy Association with six multinational energy companies to
influence Federal Government renewable energy policy
• Established the Transfield Foundation to distribute $700K in annual philanthropic distributions

Corporate Affairs

HSC & Company

I secured seed capital during the 2008 global financial crisis to deliver workflow technologies to modernise the corporate philanthropy family office niche markets. The firm successfully influenced families, governments, corporations to refocus over $100M directed towards social impact initiatives.

No amount of reading or discussion can equal the value of this market entry and start-up experience. You can read about these experiences on my blog at philhsc.com

Founder & CEO

In retrospect, probably the greatest intrapreneurial episode of my career, though I didn’t fully appreciate that at the time. I led a team that applied customer centred design to create and prioritise new product and service offers for retail wealth management customers. Our objective was to revolutionise the experience of these customers and AMP’s sales culture. Everyone involved learned a great deal and I now truly understand the energy and resilience needed to achieve a transformation of this magnitude.

Customer-Centred Design - Marketing & Product Management

Suncorp Group

The first company I worked for, and a tremendous learning experience. My journey began in the retail banking call centre and progressed to the corporate strategy team where I helped introduce customer experience metrics into Group-wide balanced scorecards and supported the launch of the customer centred design centre of excellence. Little did I know that customer (or user) centred design would become a passion of mine. I was also a member of the post-merger integration team when the Promina Insurance Group was acquired in 2007. 

My fondest memory is founding the Suncorp Ride 4 Research, a charity bike ride that raised over $560,000 in two years for the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.

Group Strategy, Post-Merger Integration & Customer-Centred Design

CEO Coach • Founder, The Partnership Lab • TEDx Speaker on Women’s Health • Follow for Partnership-Driven Growth & Inclusive Leadership

Hi, I'm Phil Hayes-St Clair. Over the past 20 years, the companies I’ve built and backed have used one strategy to grow: high-value partnerships.

Today, I’m an executive coach to CEOs. 

I also coach entrepreneurs, and commercial leaders to close partnerships that:

• Drive double-digit revenue growth
• Strengthen supply chains
• Pioneer new product and market opportunities

My work spans biotech, healthcare, aerospace, technology, agriculture, education, and e-commerce.

Want to grow faster through strategic partnerships? Start here:
	1.	Listen to the Partnership Playbook podcast
	2.	Read the Wednesday Partnership Newsletter
	3.	Follow me here on LinkedIn

Because growth doesn’t happen in isolation.

And life’s too short for partnerships that don’t work.

⸻

Ready to make partnerships your next growth engine?

Join The Partnership Lab: 6-week cohorts for CEOs, founders, and commercial leaders.

You’ll build a repeatable, AI-powered system to close 6-figure partnerships fast, with the confidence and clarity to do it again and again.

Apply here → https://philhsc.com/group-coaching-programs

Questions? Email: hello@philhsc.com

⸻

Snapshot: Phil Hayes-St Clair
• Executive Coach + Partnerships expert
• Serial entrepreneur + award-winning speaker
• TEDx: How To Move Beyond Hope in Women’s Health
• Fierce advocate for women’s health
• Member: International Menopause Society
• Member: Australian Women’s Health Alliance
• Special Advisor: The Parenthood
• Ambassador: Inspiring Rare Birds
• Former Army soldier + national triathlete
• Lifeblood donor: 181 donations (Oct 2025)
• BSc (QUT) | MBA (UNSW)

Uncertainty isn’t the enemy of leadership.

Silence in uncertainty is.

Markets shift. Geopolitics flare. Technology disrupts.

No leader can predict exactly what comes next.

The mistake isn’t saying “I don’t know.”
The mistake is leaving it there.

Silence creates space for fear.
 
Scenarios create space for confidence.

The leaders I know say this: 
“We don’t know the future…But here are three ways it could play out, and here’s how we’ll respond to each.”

That shift replaces anxiety with structure.

Here’s how scenarios guide decisions:

1. Best Case → Maximise Opportunity
• If growth rebounds, be ready to scale
• Line up resources and move first
• Optimism matters only if you’re prepared

2. Base Case → Navigate Steady State
• In uneven recovery discipline wins
• Tier your investments
• Forecast cash tightly
• Normalise quarterly adjustments

3. Worst Case → Build Resilience
• Protect non-negotiables
• Pre-approve cost levers
• Over-communicate with empathy, reinforce purpose
• Trust is forged in downturns, not booms.

The real power is in cascading this skill to teams:
→ Model vulnerability (“I don’t know yet”)
→ Teach them to sketch 3 scenarios in 15 minutes
→ Anchor every path to concrete actions
→ Repeat until it becomes part of culture

At 6 months, fear gives way to clarity.

At 2 years, resilience becomes second nature.

Remember, great leaders don’t eliminate uncertainty. They equip their people to move confidently within it.

That’s how you scale trust, resilience, and momentum, inside your company and across your partnerships.

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Phil Hayes-St Clair

Entering a market isn’t guesswork.
It’s math. 
And the equation is simpler than you think.

When a new player shows up, incumbents move fast:
→ Drop prices until rivals run out of cash
→ Lock up distributors and suppliers
→ Flood the market with brand spend
→ Sign long contracts with penalties
→ Lobby regulators to raise barriers

That’s 5 of 10 ways big companies protect their turf.

For new entrants, fighting head-to-head rarely works.

The smarter play is partnership.

Instead of burning years and millions, you can borrow scale, credibility, and access.

Here are 5 proven ways to do it:
Co-distribution
⤷ Partner with a non-competitor who already sells to your target customers
⤷ You get reach without building your own network.

Joint innovation
⤷ Collaborate with an incumbent to launch a new product
⤷ You share costs and inherit their credibility

White-label supply
⤷ Sell your product under an incumbent’s brand 
⤷ You scale quietly, while learning how the market really works

Adjacent alliances
⤷ Enter through a related industry
⤷ Bypass the strongest defences

Anchor partnership
⤷ Land one marquee partner 
⤷ Their endorsement signals trust and opens doors

The question is: how do you know if you have a real chance?

Use the Entry Equation.

Success Score = (Distribution × Incentive × Differentiation) ÷ (Switching + Regulatory + Capital)

Score each factor 1–5 (5=Excellent):
• Distribution Access
• Incumbent Incentive
• Differentiation
• Switching Costs
• Regulatory Barriers
• Capital Intensity

Interpretation:
0–5 = Low viability
6–10 = Conditional entry
11–15 = Strong entry

Need an example? 

An EV battery startup partners with a Tier-1 auto supplier.

Here's the assessment:
• Distribution = 4 
• Incentive = 5
• Differentiation = 5
• Switching = 3 
• Regulatory = 4 
• Capital = 3

Score = (4×5×5) ÷ (3+4+3) = 10 

Interpretation → Conditional entry

The path forward: reduce regulatory drag or switching pain

This is how experienced CEOs think about market entry.

Not just, “Can we compete?”
But, “Who can we partner with to get through the defences?”

Remember: Go-to-market partnerships aren’t a growth lever for new entrants. They’re the only way in.

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Confidence isn’t a feeling.

It’s a system.

Most managers think confidence comes from instinct.
Or charisma.
Or just doing more reps.

When I coach CEOs, entrepreneurs, and go-to-market leaders, this is what happens:
 
• Deals close faster 
• Teams move with conviction
• Growth accelerates
 
Because confidence is a system.

A system that:
→ Collapses time from first conversation to signed contract
→ Aligns sales, marketing, and ops around one playbook
→ Turns “maybes” into predictable wins

That’s what I built The Partnership Lab.
• 6 weeks
• A proven framework
• A room full of leaders chasing the same outcome 

Closing 6-figure partnerships, again and again.

Here’s what you’ll find:
→ A battle-tested curriculum showing what to do
→ AI assistants that accelerate progress
→ Weekly live clinics to close tough deals in real time
→ A peer cohort that pushes you, supports you, and shares what works

This isn’t theory.
It’s repeatable.
It’s proven.

And it’s built for leaders done with:
• Stalled conversations
• Endless “check-ins”
• Partnerships that never land

When leaders graduate the Lab, they don’t just close one deal.

They transform how their company grows.

The next cohort starts 1 October.

If you’re tired of waiting for confidence to show up and ready to engineer it into your business, this is your shot.

Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gjPhhMwU

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You can sense it.
So can your team.
But no one wants to say it out loud.

The risk.
The assumption.
The thing that could sink the project.

Most leaders surface them in a post-mortem.

After the budget is blown.
After the deadlines slip.
After the damage is done.

By then, it’s too late.

Consider another option and run a pre-mortem.

Instead of asking “Why did this fail?”

Ask “It’s 12 months later. It failed. What went wrong?”

That shift matters.

Because our brains trick us.
We discount the future.
We overvalue today.
 
Psychologists call it hyperbolic discounting (h/t to Adam Grant for raising this again recently).

A pre-mortem breaks the bias.
It makes the future feel urgent now.
It forces leaders to name the risk before it’s real.

And the payoff is huge:
→ Save money: Failures cost 3–10x more to fix after launch.
→ Save time. Issues surface early when they’re cheapest to solve.
→ Make money. Projects stay resilient and ROI becomes predictable.

Think of it as one hour of pre-mortem saving 100 hours of rework.

Here's the Pre-Mortem Playbook to help your team walk through this process.

It's a 90-minute agenda any leader can run:
1. Assemble the right people
2. Frame the failure
3. Capture risks fast
4. Rank and prioritise
5. Convert to safeguards
6. Monitor relentlessly

Simple. Practical. Insanely valuable.
Because optimism isn't a strategy.

So don’t ask: “Do we have time for this?”
Ask: “Can we afford not to?”

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Teaching is my business.
 
Content is the classroom.

Every post, newsletter, or podcast is a chance to help someone think differently about partnerships, leadership, or growth. 

That’s the real reward.

But building a content-led business is still a new journey.
 
There’s no 100-year playbook. We’re all figuring it out as we go.

That’s why I lean on frameworks. 

One of the most useful I’ve found comes from Chenell Basilio into what makes content “insanely valuable.” She mapped six emotional drivers that high value content unlocks:

1. Saves money
2. Saves time
3. Makes you feel smarter
4. Unlocks a new way to grow
5. Speeds up execution
6. Adds levity or human connection

When I create, I use these as a filter. If a piece doesn’t trigger at least two, it probably won’t stick and we don't ship it.

Here’s how that plays out:

Newsletter
• Each edition must be more than interesting
• It has to be bookmark-worthy
• A resource you’ll forward to a colleague

LinkedIn 
• Each post aims to be practical and clear
• The kind of ideas you can quote in a team meeting
• The resource you'll 📸  and read over ☕ 

Podcast
• The prep for each episode must be world class
• Each episode must deliver a 'human aha' 
• Listeners should be compelled to use it to open conversations inside their own business

And here’s the part people don’t see: it takes a tribe.

Yes, I’m the one writing. 

But I have a tiny team behind me making sure this gets to you in the right format, at the right time, in a way that’s useful. 

Without them, this system doesn’t run (thank you Claire, Brad, Kyle and Tom!)

It’s a journey. Not just for me, but for anyone building a business by teaching and sharing ideas.

And if you’re on that path too, my advice is simple:
 
Don’t aim to be consistent first. Aim to be valuable.

Because when the value is real, consistency follows.

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Follow or lead.

Which one would you choose?

When I was school Army Cadet, I had a choice on graduation: apply for officer training and step straight into command, or enlist first.

I wanted the fast track.

My Commanding Officer pulled me aside:
“Enlist. Learn how to follow before you try to lead.”

It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. But it’s what I needed.

Serving as a follower taught me lessons no leadership course ever could:

• What it feels like to carry out unclear orders.
• Why respect has to be earned, not assumed.
• How much trust matters when decisions are out of your hands.

Years later, as a founder, CEO, and now a coach to leaders, those lessons shaped everything.

Because leadership isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room.
 
It’s about knowing what it feels like to be led.

That experience builds empathy.
It makes your communication clearer.
And it grounds your authority in something real, not theoretical.

Here's how to be a better follower, no matter your level:

1. Seek clarity before progress
 ⤷ Don’t guess
 ⤷ Ask questions to make sure you understand the intent

2. Give feedback up the chain
 ⤷ Leaders can’t fix what they can’t see
 ⤷ Be the voice that helps them improve

3. Model respect 
 ⤷ Extend respect colleagues, leaders and followers
 ⤷ Be what you’d want when it’s your turn to lead

4. Own your role
 ⤷ Deliver on what’s asked - fully and reliably 
 ⤷ Trust is built in small, consistent steps

5. Anticipate needs 
 ⤷ Look one step ahead
 ⤷ be great to work with

Many leaders stumble because they skip this stage. 

They rush to lead without learning how to follow. 

The result? 

They confuse title with trust.
And their teams feel it.

If you want to be a leader worth following, start by being the follower worth leading.

It sounds slower. But it’s the fastest way to earn credibility that lasts.

🔴 Which of the 5 follower steps matters most in your org right now?

Thank you Jacquelyn Lane and Scott Osman for joining me on EP37 of the Partnership Playbook. You are brilliant.

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I've met 100's of sales leaders.

The best ones are Level 5 leaders.

Let's cut to the chase so you can make this quarter your best yet. 

Five levels separate those who manage metrics from those who multiply impact:

Level 1: The Reciter
→ "Here are this month's numbers"
→ Reads metrics without context
→ Focuses on what happened

📈 LEVEL UP:
• Action: After each metric, add "This means..."
• Ask: "What story do these numbers tell us?"

Level 2: The Explainer  
→ "Revenue dropped because of market conditions"
→ Provides reasons for performance
→ Still living in the rearview mirror

📈 LEVEL UP:
• Action: End every explanation with "Next time, we'll..."
• Ask: "How do we prevent this next quarter?"

Level 3: The Signal Spotter
→ "Pipeline velocity is slowing in enterprise deals"
→ Identifies patterns before they become problems
→ Shifts from reactive to predictive

📈 LEVEL UP:
• Action: Build your weekly "Signal Library"
• Ask: "What system would prevent this entirely?"

Level 4: The Recommender
→ "We need to adjust our qualification criteria"
→ Translates insights into actionable strategies
→ Bridges the gap between analysis and execution

📈 LEVEL UP:
• Action: Frame every insight through the CEO's lens
• Ask: "How does this move the whole business forward?"

Level 5: The Force Multiplier
→ "Here's the system that prevents this issue recurring"
→ Creates scalable processes that multiply results
→ Builds capability, not just delivers outcomes

The transformation moment? Level 3 to 4.

That's where you stop asking "What happened?" and start asking "What should we do about it?"

Where you move from managing activity to multiplying impact.

Most sales leaders get stuck at Level 2.
They explain the past instead of engineering the future.

The best ones? 

They live at Level 5.

They don't just hit numbers. They build the systems that make hitting numbers predictable.

What spoke to you most about Level 5 on the ladder?
Leave a comment down below with your thoughts. 

If you want more strategies and mindsets of successful GTM leaders, my newsletter, the Wednesday Partnership, is your weekly guide. 

Join here: https://lnkd.in/gZtdkx_U

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Everyone's talking about partnerships.
But 76% of strategic alliances fail.
Why?

The problem isn't lack of opportunity.
It's how leaders evaluate potential partners.

After guiding 50+ CEOs through partnership transformations,
I've seen what makes the difference:

A simple and systematic approach to sizing up partnerships.

Most companies get stuck in:
→ Lengthy evaluation cycles
→ Scattered decision processes
→ Missed opportunities

The leaders who succeed?

They have a system that:
→ Assesses opportunities quickly
→ Reduces partnership risk
→ Accelerates validation

Here's what successful GTM leaders do differently:

1. Start before you're ready
→ Begin conversations 6 months before you need results
→ Test partnership fit with small pilots
→ Learn what works through doing, not planning

2. Focus on mutual value creation
→ Lead with what you can give, not what you need
→ Solve your partner's immediate problem first
→ Build trust through small wins before big deals

3. Move fast on qualified opportunities  
→ 30-day decision cycles
→ Simple agreements to start
→ Real pilots beat theoretical discussions every time

Real results from our community:

✓ Agency: 4× revenue growth in 5 weeks
✓ Healthcare SaaS: 80% faster partnership closes
✓ Average time to first deal: Cut by 65%

Have questions about how to pick the right partner?

Join my live masterclass tomorrow.

A collaborative space where GTM leaders share challenges,
ask questions, and learn from real partnership examples.

11am AEDT • 5pm PT • 8pm ET

→ Secure your free spot: philhsc.com/masterclasses

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80 days until Christmas.

40 days to close your best deals.

Your GTM team is looking at you for direction.
Not pep talks. Clear expectations.

Here's what leaders need to say this week:

"Every deal gets a verdict by December 15th"
→ Close, push to Q1, or kill it
→ No deals live in limbo through year-end
→ Your team's focus is worth more than false hope

"We're auditing everything above $50k. Now."
→ Real blockers vs. what reps are saying
→ Decision makers identified (not just contacts)
→ Timeline that's honest, not optimistic

"Daily stand-ups start Monday"
→ 10 minutes max
→ Blockers surface immediately
→ I remove obstacles, you close deals

Your team is tired. Lead accordingly.
→ Cancel non-essential meetings
→ Take admin tasks off their plate
→ Give permission to log off at 5pm
→ Celebrate small wins daily, not just closes
→ Double your 1:1 time (they need you more)
→ Write personal notes of appreciation

⚡ While you're executing Q4:

Map Q1 opportunities now
→ Future customers are budgeting in November
→ Book discovery calls before December chaos
→ Position yourself when competitors are asleep

Prep your team for January momentum
→ Document objections you're hearing today
→ Refine your strongest closing techniques
→ Set territory goals that excite, not exhaust

Lock in Q1 expectations early
→ Numbers that stretch your team's confidence
→ Clear consequences for underperformance
→ Support systems that make success inevitable

The difference between good GTM teams and great ones?

Great teams don't just finish strong.
They start the next quarter already winning.

40 days to prove what your team is made of.
Make them count.

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