Behind The Mandate: Joe Taylor, CEO of Smartways

Joe Taylor, CEO at Smartways, joins James Curtis, Practice Lead at Allura Partners, for a candid conversation on nearly two decades of experience across corporate logistics, executive leadership, and three private equity-backed businesses.

In this episode, Joe shares what it truly means to lead in a PE environment, from carving out of a listed parent to scaling a purpose-driven healthcare logistics business from 120 to 450 people in three years.

Joe covers:

• The biggest shift moving from a listed to a private equity-backed business.
• Why recruitment is the most critical skill in transformational growth.
• How to build credibility quickly and why trust takes longer.
• The discipline of knowing when to lead hands-on and when to step back.
• How to evaluate a PE firm, a board, and a team before saying yes.
• The principles that guide decision-making under pressure.
• Why routine and the corporate athlete mindset underpin high performance.

Behind The Mandate is a private equity leadership series hosted by Allura Partners, featuring Australia's leading investors and senior executives behind some of the country's most recognised brands.