Anatomy of a Leader with Maria Hvorostovsky
#18 Leading with Your Conscience, Crying at Work, Who is Most Valuable in a Team, Being First Time CEO: Simon Whitehouse CEO, Eco-Age, First CEO JW Anderson
07 Oct 2021
In Episode #18 I spoke with Simon Whitehouse, the CEO of Eco-Age, who was also the first CEO of JW Anderson (I may have had something to do with that). We talked about being and acting yourself, parents as role models, empathy, taking a moral path, fairness, men crying at home and at work, leading with your conscience, the most valuable function in a team, being a first time CEO, the dynamic of being a CEO to a Creative Founder and the different paths to being a CEO. This is one of the most unfiltered and candid conversations so far… But you’ll be the judge of that. WE DISCUSS 01:54 - Growing up - never been comfortable with being a leader 12:20 - Empathy - How would I like my mother to be treated? 14:30 - When Simon is not so nice and concept of fairness 17:39 - Seeing dad cry - being and acting yourself 22:34 - Two different routes to becoming a CEO 24:19 - Role at JW Anderson - expressing your emotions 31:17 - Building and leading a high performing team 35:28 - Relationship between CEO and Creative Founder 40:29 - The role of general manager is to set the tone of the culture 42:21 - Dealing with challenging situations 44:22 - What does being a leader mean - challenge and psychological safety 50:55 - How having a baby shaped Simon’s view of business and life 56:43 - What would have saved Simon a lot of hassle 01:01:41 - Advice to younger self 01:08:42 - Simon being obnoxious 01:11:22 - The Impossible Question EPISODE #18: You can listen to the full episode here OR WATCH it on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC-YIz5pEMM9vigbYOxK2Kw SIMON WHITEHOUSE LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-whitehouse-a065472/ Instagram: @simonsrockyroad - https://www.instagram.com/simonsrockyroad/?hl=en ECO-AGE LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ecoage/ Instagram: @ecoage - https://www.instagram.com/ecoage/?hl=en EBIT™ Instagram: @enjoybeingintransition - https://www.instagram.com/enjoybeingintransition/?hl=en MARIA HVOROSTOVSKY: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/ Instagram: @MariaHvo - https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/?hl=en Clubhouse: @MariaHvo - https://www.clubhouse.com/@mariahvo HVO Search: www.hvosearch.com Get in touch if you need help HIRING your senior leadership team LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Subscribe, Rate, and leave a REVIEW. The best review will get a mention in the next episode!
No persons identified in this episode.
This episode hasn't been transcribed yet
Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.
Popular episodes get transcribed faster
Other recent transcribed episodes
Transcribed and ready to explore now
#2425 - Ethan Hawke
11 Dec 2025
The Joe Rogan Experience
SpaceX Said to Pursue 2026 IPO
10 Dec 2025
Bloomberg Tech
Don’t Call It a Comeback
10 Dec 2025
Motley Fool Money
Japan Claims AGI, Pentagon Adopts Gemini, and MIT Designs New Medicines
10 Dec 2025
The Daily AI Show
Eric Larsen on the emergence and potential of AI in healthcare
10 Dec 2025
McKinsey on Healthcare
What it will take for AI to scale (energy, compute, talent)
10 Dec 2025
Azeem Azhar's Exponential View