Mike Soutar: The PISA Framework, Strategic vs Tactical Decisions and Why Everything You Know About Leadership Is About to Expire

Everything you know about leadership is about to expire. AI, generational change and geopolitics are rewriting the rules faster than most CEOs can keep up, and the leaders who survive will be the ones who validate every orthodoxy instead of inheriting it.

Mike Soutar joins Oliver Bruce on The Unlock to break down the frameworks behind his book Next Gen CEO. Mike went from writing horoscopes at 17 to editing FHM, running Kiss FM with zero radio experience, co-founding Shortlist Media and grilling candidates on The Apprentice. Along the way he turned down a million pounds from YouTube, nearly died from a chicken wrap and built a business on a freemium model the industry said could never work.

This is a practical leadership episode. Mike walks through the PISA Framework (Pause, It's not about me, Separate the issues, Am I the only person who can solve this) that stops leaders wasting time on low value problems. He explains the one distinction that would have saved his early mistakes at Kiss FM: strategic decisions are the ones you cannot reverse, tactical decisions are the ones you can. He also makes the case for reasonable leaders acting unreasonably, for telling people bad news early enough that they can do something about it, and for why nobody feels qualified, most CEOs just keep going.

Key topics covered:

Why everything you know about leadership is about to expire
The PISA Framework for delegating problems and protecting CEO time
Strategic vs tactical decisions and why the difference matters
How to get into an industry when AI is eating entry level roles
Why acronyms and jargon block challenge inside organisations
How leaders should handle bad news they cannot yet share
Bringing your whole self to work vs curated authenticity
Reasonable leaders acting unreasonably and the Elon Musk timeline
The believable pathway as an alternative to 30, 60, 90 day plans
Why a fifty fifty co-founder split needs a nominated final decision maker
The freemium magazine model behind Shortlist and Stylist
How a near death experience in 2006 pushed Mike into founding his own company

Key takeaway: The best leaders solve only the problems nobody else can, make tactical decisions fast, give strategic decisions time, and validate every orthodoxy before they inherit it.

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