Episodes

#14. This is - probably - the final episode of Practice Leading. I created the podcast to chart my journey growing Superware, the Microsoft partner business I founded in 2020. But my time at Superware has come to an unexpected end. A huge thanks to all the guests who joined me for the lessons they shared: Mohamed Mostafa, Joel Lindstrom, Ben Vollmer, Areti Iles, Bob Bell, Edit Kapcari, Kathrine Hogseth, Chris McNulty, Nancie Calder, Lucy Bourne and Ole Gjerde. 👋 LET'S CONNECT 🌐 Subscribe to Pra...

#13. Ole Gjerde, CEO of TruNorth Dynamics, Ole built a custom software business, before running a managed services business, before running a business applications business so he’s seen run the full gamut of business models. Ole shared lessons from years of building, merging, and separating MSPs, and why focus and clear division of teams are crucial for success. We discussed when it’s smart to outsource your own internal technology support for any Microsoft partner, and if you’re going to launch...

#12. We just wrapped up our latest round of strategic planning at Superware—and it was a game-changer using the approach outlined in Richard Rumelt’s Good Strategy, Bad Strategy . Here’s what stood out from our process and why it made such a difference for us. After landing a major consulting win, we still hadn’t cracked product market fit for our industry apps. Instead of more generic goals and vision statements, we dove into Rumelt’s practical framework and it completely reset how we tackled s...

#11. Lucy Bourne is the cofounder and director of Oaka Studio in the UK. Oaka Studio, which just celebrated its second birthday, helps Microsoft partners level up their Microsoft alliance in their marketing, sales, their Microsoft alliance and in the operation of their Microsoft practice. Lucy is a former partner development manager from Microsoft, and she dives deep into what it takes to thrive in your alliance with Microsoft. As you’ll hear in this episode, this is an area where I’m still stru...

#10. Nancie Calder is a Senior Vice President and Global Consulting Practice Lead at Avanade, based in Toronto, Canada. From her start as a freelance consultant to leading a global team of 3,000 people, Nancie brings three decades of experience driving innovation at scale. Nancie shares her hard-won insights about what it really takes to nurture innovation and continuous learning across a 3,000+ person global practice—especially in the fast-changing Microsoft ecosystem. Her emphasis on combining...

#9. Welcome to Practice Leading, the podcast for ambitious and curious Microsoft partner leaders who are passionate about growth, innovation, and building high-performing teams—with no tolerance for BS. I’m your host, Neil Benson, and in this special retrospective episode, I’m sharing the biggest lessons learned from the show’s first eight guests. We’ll revisit insights on creating a culture-over-hierarchy, hiring for industry expertise, empowering teams, pricing strategies, empathetic leadershi...

#8. Chris McNulty heads Strategic Markets at Synozur. For almost ten years, he was Senior Director of Product Marketing for Microsoft 365 at Microsoft. Chris’s prior experience as CTO includes companies such as Dell and Quest Software. He is the co-host of The Intrazone and host of the Polaris podcasts. KEY LESSONS Understand the Microsoft field. Navigating Microsoft requires you to “study up in your abbreviations” and truly understand the distinct roles (ATU, STU, PDMs, etc.) within the Microso...

#7. Kathrine Hogseth is the CEO of CRM-Konsulterna (CRMK), a Swedish Microsoft partner business that she has led for 10 years. Kathrine has a master’s in electrical engineer and held several roles in telecommunications before achieving her MBA and then venturing into the technology industry. Today, CRM-K is one of the most highly regarded business applications partners in Sweden with a team of 40 people that has recently expanded into Germany. KEY LESSONS Building teams through values & genuine...

#6. Edit Kapcari is the Head of Solutions Development at ORBIS SE in Germany where she has built her career since 2017. Initially a software engineer in the CRM practice, Edit pitched the concept of starting a Power Platform practice to her leadership and now leads that business unit. Edit shares her perspectives and experience as a people manager, being a great mentor and coach to the people in her team that I was keen to learn from. communication and collaboration for career progression, and ...

#5. Today, I'm learning from Bob Bell, CEO of boutique technology services firm ITK Consulting in Canada. Bob is an expert in business administration and has a track record of leading business in several different industries before cofounding ITK in 2016. Bob shares how his superpower lies in his attention to administrative details—a skill that allows his team to focus on essential tasks like sales and delivery. We explore how Bob prioritizes tasks, his strategies for keeping overhead costs lean...

#4. Today I'm learning from Areti Iles. She's the Head of Professional Services for Enterprise Applications at Telefonica Tech in the UK. Having started in technology with end-user organisations transitioned into consulting in 2016 and joined Telefonica Tech in 2021. She's active in her local user group community, and committed to helping others advance their career, especially women and people from underrepresented backgrounds. Areti shares her unique perspective on leadership, broadening it be...

#3. Ben Vollmer is a Senior Vice President at RSM US responsible for growing their Power Factory offering. He is probably best known in the Microsoft community as the former global director of Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Field Service business. Ben’s a prolific presenter at Microsoft conferences with a reputation for helping partners level up their pricing and delivery models. Ben and I have a fascinating discussion about the evolution of pricing and how Microsoft partners and customers might excha...

#02. Today I'm learning from Joel Lindstrom. Joel is a senior director at Hitachi Solutions America, where he oversees the Power Platform, Low-Code and Automation team. Before joining the Microsoft channel as a solution architect with Customer Effective, Joel sold office equipment. Customer Effective was acquired by Hitachi Solutions seven years later, and Joel has been building his career there for over a decade. Joel has a long history with the Microsoft MVP program and he also played a pivota...

#1. Mohamed Mostafa is the founder and managing director of TechLabs London, the company behind iProperty Cloud, the housing management platform build on the Microsoft cloud. He has been recognised as a Microsoft MVP since 2016, a Microsoft FastTrack Solution Architect, and holds an MBA from Henley Business School. KEY LESSONS Join the Practice Leading mailing list to get sent a PDF summary of the key insights and lessons from every episode. Visit practiceleading.com and enter your first name a...

Welcome to Practice Leading, the show for emerging and curious practice leaders of Microsoft partner businesses. I’m Neil Benson and, if you’re anything like me with an unquenchable curiosity and zero tolerance for BS, you’ve come to the right place. Together we’ll learn from innovators and investors, executives and entrepreneurs, and business leaders and business coaches that have already left their stamp on the world and those that are exploring new and smarter ways building their businesses. ...