"Sometimes entrepreneurs are like alchemists, they create gold from metal!"
Pod O Sullivan Tweet
Pod O Sullivan is a founding partner of The Leadership Context is a boutique Management Consulting firm that specializes in Top Team development, ‘C’ level Leader Development and fostering Organisational Culture Change to high performance and beyond.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET FEATURED?
All interviews are 100% FREE OF CHARGE
Table of Contents
Thank you so much for giving us your time! Before we begin, could you introduce yourself to our readers and take us through what exactly your company does and what your vision is for its future?
Pod O Sullivan: My consulting company, The Leadership Context, is a boutique consulting firm that helps leaders evolve and transform their levels of leadership effectiveness. Our role is to partner with leadership teams and individual leaders as they grapple with elevated levels of complexity and change. We have a sustained success rate of our clients achieving over 88% of their targets when we support them at individual or leadership team levels. In our work, we regularly measure useful business metrics before and after our work to illustrate the impacts realized.
NO child ever says I want to be a CEO/entrepreneur when I grow up. What did you want to be and how did you get where you are today?
Pod O Sullivan: I first wanted to be a musician and songwriter. My earliest inspirations were Elvis and U2. I was moved by how they made people feel. I wanted to be able to do that! I was in several bands and at one stage had a recording contract with London records. But alas my rock star career was short-lived! I started life as a registered nurse specializing in cardiac care, coronary surgery, and heart transplants. When I moved from London to Australia, I took on a management role in a private hospital which opened my eyes to non-clinical work.
From there I moved into sales and marketing for a German medical device manufacturer who had an office in Sydney. It was there I learned the basics of sales and the importance of service. Later I moved to a headhunting firm that specialized in recruiting sales and marketing staff for pharmaceutical companies, my first pure service-based role. Again that taught me a lot about how organizations truly worked and what made high performers stand out. I loved that role. Several years later I discovered Executive Coaching and fell into that industry just as it was emerging. That was twenty years ago and I am still here.
Tell us something about yourself that others in your organization might be surprised to know.
Pod O Sullivan: I am a huge fan of U2, particularly Bono and Adam Clayton (bass player). Bono- for his passion, lyrics writing ability, and vocal range that goes past three octaves. Adam- as he is a bass player that understands how he fits into the U2 sound and delivers every time. I took up playing the bass guitar in 2020 when covid 19 first hit and now I play in a band called TPQ (the perfect question).
Many readers may wonder how to become an entrepreneur but what is an entrepreneur? How would you define it?
Pod O Sullivan: An entrepreneur is someone who catalyzes the creation of a product or service that other people (Customers) value and buy. Sometimes they are the original creator and founder of that idea/ company, but not always. Almost always founders are entrepreneurs but not all entrepreneurs are founders. The entrepreneur is interested in optimizing an idea for the highest level of productivity, commerciality, and ultimately the highest potential value. Sometimes entrepreneurs are like alchemists, they create gold from metal!
What is the importance of having a supportive and inclusive culture?
Pod O Sullivan: A supportive and inclusive culture is phenomenally important in an organization in any situation. But for an entrepreneur, this is even more important. Smart entrepreneurs know that they need to hire the best people they can and create an environment that allows those people to shine, give their best and come up with amazing ideas that will help that organization to continue to grow. Inclusive cultures try to encourage a range of thinking and seek contributions from everyone.
How can a leader be disruptive in the post covid world?
Pod O Sullivan: Firstly there is no better time for an entrepreneur than when their industry, market, geography is being disrupted. That’s when opportunities emerge and the future titans of industry surface. A simple way to be disruptive is to recognize that (knowledge-based working) organizations will not return to work like we did pre-march 2020. Therefore offering an environment that can thrive within a hybrid working environment will attract future high caliber workers.
The recent emergence of the acknowledged metaverse, the improvements in technology relating to AR, VR, and the convergence of gaming technologies with visual effects companies such as Unity and Weta all suggest an emerging creative renaissance not seen since the early days of photoshop or the launch of the Apple iTunes store. All entrepreneurs will be studying these spaces and seeking to apply the learnings to their particular industries hoping to spot opportunities. Any scenario that relies on particular skill development is ripe for disruption in the emerging metaverse.
If a 5-year-old asked you to describe your job, what would you tell them?
Pod O Sullivan: I work with leaders to help them get better at what they do in the same way your sports coach helps you and your team get better at (insert here- whatever sport that 5-year-old plays)!
Share with us one of the most difficult decisions you had to make for your company that benefited your employees or customers. What made this decision so difficult and what were the positive impacts?
Pod O Sullivan: Every organization ends up over time with customers that are not optimal for the organization. It might be they have been long-term clients and no one has the heart to stop servicing them, they are not as profitable as others, they take excessive time to service, they cause too many problems, or they just no longer fit the ‘ideal customer profile. Having the courage to let that customer go is important as a leader.
Every year I sit down with my accounts team to do a customer review which in part assesses our current clients against our ICP (ideal customer profile). When it becomes obvious that we need to have a conversation with a particular client to explain our situation, I make the call that we should. We rarely regret when we have that conversation with a client and both parties agree that it is time to let each other go! Invariably it frees up time to service a client that is really in our sweet spot. And usually the client we are speaking with appreciates our honesty and approach. Some have even referred us to other clients as a result.
Leaders are usually asked about their most useful qualities but let’s change things up a bit. What is your most useless talent?
Pod O Sullivan: Dealing with minutiae! I am crap at the tiny details and lose interest very quickly. My perfectionism scores are really low!
Thank you so much for your time but before we finish things off, we do have one more question. If you wrote a book about your life until today, what would the title be?
Pod O Sullivan: “Just getting started!”
Mike Weiss, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Pod O Sullivan for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Pod O Sullivan or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
Did you enjoy this article? Check out similar stories:
Jocko Willink: From US Navy Seal To Millionaire Coach And Best Selling Author
Andy Frisella: An Inspiring Story Of Grit
Allison Stokke: How A Single Photo Made Her The Famous Internet Sensation That She Is Now
Dave Portnoy: The Story Behind The Founding Of Barstool Sports
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.