READ ON PHILHSC.COM | READ TIME: 4 MINUTES | 8 OCTOBER, 2025

Hi Reader,

Welcome to Partnership Wednesday #115 featuring ideas you can use to build partnerships faster, with less guesswork, and confidently close 6-figure deals.

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A LESSON TO BUILD ON

Founded in 2025, AION Labs, backed by AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer, Teva, and Amazon Web Services, launched a global AI-for-drug-discovery challenge where problems and solutions are validated by pharma R&D experts and SMEs before funding. The model has already produced startups like Promise Bio, which raised $8.3M in 2024, proving that shared innovation between pharma and AI works in practice.

Leadership Lesson: True innovation leadership means curating ecosystems of validation, not just ideas. AION’s success shows that when leaders align industry experts, researchers, and startups around real-world challenges, they turn innovation from guesswork into evidence-based progress.

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AN ANSWER TO HELP YOU MOVE FASTER

I feel like my sales and partnerships team needs to lift their game. How do I reset my expectations with them knowing that the market is tough at the moment? I was asked this question from the crowd this week. Here’s my answer (I wish I had 15 years ago):

There is no question that markets can be tough but sales is a team sport.

And at the centre of that sport is clear expectations.

I've met 100's of sales leaders and from those interactions I know these leaders fall into one of five levels.

The best ones are Level 5 leaders, and here’s how each level is broken down, how those at each level generally act and what needs to happen for them to move up the ladder.
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​LEVEL 1: The Reciter​
→ "Here are this month's numbers"
→ Reads metrics without context
→ Focuses on what happened
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​📈 To level up:​
• Action: After each metric, add "This means..."
• Ask: "What story do these numbers tell us?"
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​LEVEL 2: The Explainer​
→ "Revenue dropped because of market conditions"
→ Provides reasons for performance
→ Still living in the rearview mirror
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​📈 To level up:​
• Action: End every explanation with "Next time, we'll..."
• Ask: "How do we prevent this next quarter?"
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​LEVEL 3: The Signal Spotter​
→ "Pipeline velocity is slowing in enterprise deals"
→ Identifies patterns before they become problems
→ Shifts from reactive to predictive
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​📈 To level up:​
• Action: Build your weekly "Signal Library"
• Ask: "What system would prevent this entirely?"
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​LEVEL 4: The Recommender​
→ "We need to adjust our qualification criteria"
→ Translates insights into actionable strategies
→ Bridges the gap between analysis and execution
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​📈 To level up:​
• Action: Frame every insight through the CEO's lens
• Ask: "How does this move the whole business forward?"
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​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
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The transformation moment? Level 3 to 4.
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That's where you stop asking "What happened?" and start asking "What should we do about it?"
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Where you move from managing activity to multiplying impact.
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Most sales leaders get stuck at Level 2.
They explain the past instead of engineering the future.
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The best ones?
They live at Level 5.
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They don't just hit numbers. They build the systems that make hitting numbers predictable.

Here’s an infographic that might help you navigate this topic further: Sale Leadership Ladder by Phil Hayes-St Clair.pdf​

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THIS WEEK'S MOMENT (Insight for your commute)​​

Do you know how to do the math to assess the risk of entering a new market?

In this 10 minute episode, you’ll learn:

• The 10 ways incumbents defend their market—and how to break through
• The formula every founder and sales leader should run before entering a market
• 5 proven partnership plays to unlock access, trust, and scale—without going head-to-head

Get every episode of the Partnership Playbook on your next commute or workout. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Youtube!

KNOW PEOPLE WHO FEEL STUCK?

Share this issue via text, social media, or email by copying and pasting this link:

​https://philhsc.com/partnership/8-october-2025​

See you next Wednesday,

Phil Hayes-St Clair, Executive Coach

​Find me on LinkedIn or Book a 1:1 Call​

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