Dreamers don’t fail because they lack ideas. They fail because they don’t have a Driver owning execution.

Today, Phil talks with Stephanie Brackett, COO of Gobundance and a lifelong operations leader who has spent decades turning vision into finished work.

From her early years at Home Depot to scaling real estate teams and executive partnerships, Stephanie has thrived in the second-in-command seat.

The discussion centers on the “dreamer and driver” relationship, why hiring leverage too late quietly taxes growth, and how execution breaks down when founders refuse to give up control.

Stephanie lays out her personal operating system for getting things done (including inbox discipline, task capture, and decision filters) while also naming the emotional and relational realities that make operations work or fail.

A few practical takeaways:

• Why the “dreamer and driver” relationship matters more than org charts or titles

• How waiting to hire operations costs more than the salary itself

• The C-CORE framework for capturing and executing work without mental overload

• Why inbox zero is about decision making, not email management

• How to tell whether a task deserves attention now, later, or never

• The difference between being busy and being dollar productive

• Why great operators are wired to serve, not dominate

If you’re carrying the vision and feeling buried by execution, this episode gives language to what’s missing and how to fix it.

…and if you’re an operator, this conversation will fire you up!

0:00 Intro

0:40 Stephanie’s career path

2:57 Differentiator for success and traits to hire

7:27 Why the Dreamer & Driver relationship matters

9:29 When a small business should hire an operations leader

15:41 Getting things done using C-CORE

19:19 Prioritizing tasks

25:00 Inbox zero

29:56 Calendar categories

33:27 Who her book is for

38:40 The secret sauce: desire to serve

43:04 Zones and matching work to energy

46:49 Bringing operations to the forefront

Resources Mentioned:

📚 Getting Things Done by David Allen

https://gettingthingsdone.com

📚 The One Thing by Gary Keller

https://www.the1thing.com

📚 At Your Best by Carey Nieuwhof

https://careynieuwhof.com/atyourbest

📚 Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters

https://www.eosworldwide.com/rocket-fuel-book

Todoist

https://todoist.com

WHY.os Assessment

https://whyinstitute.com/

Second In Command Club

https://secondincommandclub.com

GoBundance

https://gobundance.com

Follow @PhilOnPurpose

https://www.instagram.com/philonpurpose

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