READ TIME: 9 MINUTES | 28 JANUARY, 2026 | READ ON PHILHSC.COM What you’re about to read combines my thoughts and those with significant military, intelligence and international affairs experience. Their identities remain confidential due to the nature of their work. We have a strange relationship with risk. And when it comes to conflict between nations, that relationship could be costing us more than we think. This past week has been a turning point in world affairs. The US administration...
11 days ago • 11 min read
READ TIME: 8 MINUTES | 21 JANUARY, 2026 | READ ON PHILHSC.COM We have a strange relationship with speed. And it could be costing us more than we think. I've led teams in healthcare where we moved with urgency to prove a product and validate a business model. We needed speed. Investors wanted traction and the market was moving. But healthcare innovation doesn't move at the pace of urgency. It moves at the pace of evidence. And here's the frustrating part: the evidence threshold is subjective....
18 days ago • 8 min read
READ TIME: 6 MINUTES | 14 JANUARY, 2026 | READ ON PHILHSC.COM At work and in our most important relationships, it's not an option to think we communicate well. Each day, we need to fight for communications. Because there are so many moving parts in life that how we communicated yesterday won't be good enough to communicate effectively today. The military lesson I never forgot One of the clearest memories I have from the Army is graduating signals course as an infantry soldier. Days later, our...
25 days ago • 8 min read
READ TIME: 10 MINUTES | 7 JANUARY, 2026 | READ ON PHILHSC.COM Most of us think we understand what a paradox is. Two competing ideas. A clever contradiction. Something you "balance." But that's not what the hardest decisions feel like. The decisions that drain you aren't about choosing the right option. They're about holding two ideas that are both true and both required. Cut costs and invest in growth. Move fast and protect trust. Empower leaders and step in earlier than you want to. These...
about 1 month ago • 9 min read
READ TIME: 6 MINUTES | 31 DECEMBER, 2025 | READ ON PHILHSC.COM Tomorrow is 2026. We can expect this year to move at pace. AI will continue reshaping industries. Tariffs will shift supply chains. Governments will remain unpredictable. And I'd like to share with you a different way to make the big calls. If you're still on a break, consider this an invitation to think differently about the year ahead. What I've been observing Over the past two years, I've sat with dozens of CEOs facing...
about 1 month ago • 8 min read
READ TIME: 5 MINUTES | 24 DECEMBER, 2025 | READ ON PHILHSC.COM Hi Reader, Before I sign off for a short break with my family, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being here, for reading these emails and for letting me be a small part of your journey. However you celebrate this time for year, I hope you have a restful, happy, and safe holiday. Here's this week's essay. It's the week of Christmas and the world feels unsteady. The leaders I’ve spoken with are tired. Here in Australia,...
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
READ TIME: 6 MINUTES | 17 DECEMBER, 2025 | READ ON PHILHSC.COM I'm the first to admit I don't do holidays well. I can trick myself into thinking my lifelong learner switch can't be turned to the off position. That taking a break means I'm missing something. That if I'm not working, I'm not moving forward. For years, I operated with one philosophy emblazoned in my mind: Volume equals effort, and effort drives reward. More hours. More meetings. More decisions. More output. If I only did more,...
about 2 months ago • 7 min read
READ TIME: 7 MINUTES | 10 DECEMBER, 2025 | READ ON PHILHSC.COM This past weekend I watched the final instalment in the Mission Impossible lineup. One line stayed with me: "Our lives are not defined by any one action. Our lives are the sum of our choices." A little dramatic? Maybe. But it captures something essential about the conversations I've been having with CEOs this year. Last week, I was at dinner with friends when one of them, a construction services CEO, turned to me and asked: "So...
about 2 months ago • 7 min read
READ TIME: 5 MINUTES | 3 DECEMBER, 2025 | READ ON PHILHSC.COM If ever there was a square peg in a round hole, it was me when I walked into my first corporate role after leaving the military. My dreams had been shattered by the discovery of an eye condition I never knew I had. The career I'd built and the skills I'd developed suddenly felt next to useless in a corporate banking environment. I arrived with three qualities: curiosity, values, and a high rate of learning. I was up against...
2 months ago • 6 min read