Practice Leading
Practice Leading is for emerging and curious practice leaders of Microsoft partner businesses. If you’re anything like me with an unquenchable curiosity and zero tolerance for BS, you’ve come to the right place. Find Practice Leading on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts and learn from the bosses you wish you had earlier in your career.G'day, I'm Neil Benson. I'm the CEO of Microsoft business apps ISV, Superware.ai in Brisbane, Australia. Welcome to Practice Leading, my own journey of discovery and learning as I build Superware. Together we’ll learn from innovators and investors, executives and entrepreneurs, 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.
Practice Leading is for emerging and curious practice leaders of Microsoft partner businesses. G'day, 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.
Recent
14
Oct. 8, 2025
Practice Leading Finale - I Quit Superware
#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
July 21, 2025
Wins and Challenges in Growing a Managed Services Practice (MSP)
#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
July 4, 2025
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: Forming Superware's Strategic Plan
#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
June 16, 2025
Forging a Modern Microsoft Alliance with Lucy Bourne
#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
June 2, 2025
Scaling Innovation and AI at Avanade with Nancie Calder
#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
May 19, 2025
Leadership Lessons from Microsoft Partner Innovators: My Practice Leading Retrospective
#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
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