May 17, 2026
“If you've got good relationships and you're building alliances around ideas and issues, you can get things done.”
This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode.
This Mini Chief episode features David Borger, Executive Director for Business Western Sydney and former NSW Politician.
His full episode is titled Building alliances with your enemies, finding your executive courage, and championing legacy projects.
You can find the full audio and show notes here:
🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/386 👂
DISCOVER HOW THE CHIEF MAKER MINI MBA WILL DRIVE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IN REAL-TIME. JOIN THE WAITLIST: chiefmaker.com/minimba
David is the Executive Director of Business Western Sydney, where he champions the growth, infrastructure and innovation precincts shaping one of Australia’s most important regions.
A former Lord Mayor of Parramatta (the youngest ever at just 30), David has also been the State Member for Granville and Minister for Roads and Housing, and has has spent his career bringing people together around big ideas and getting things done.
He has served on a range of Boards across government, business, transport, culture and urban development, including NRMA and the Powerhouse Museum.
David is still as passionate as ever about ensuring that all communities are great places to live, regardless of where they are located.
In the full Relationship-building Masterclass, we talk about:
✅ Building alliances around ideas, by communicating even with your enemies.
✅ Finding the courage to speak up when you first get elevated to a senior position.
✅ Advocating for large projects in small decision time windows, and
✅ Championing Western Sydney’s infrastructure, innovation precincts and legacy projects.
Stay epic,
Greg
Connecting with David Borger
You can connect with David via LinkedIn.
Books and Resources
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Freedom's Forge - by Arthur Herman
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The New Geography of Jobs - by Enrico Moretti
Similar Episodes from Business NSW
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Paula Martin, Executive Director, Regional NSW and Visitor Economy, on Learning from everyone, adapting to shorter strategy cycles, and genuinely receiving feedback
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Paul Nicolaou, the Executive Director of Business Sydney, on The 3Ps of building an insanely valuable network, daring to be different, and making people happy
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Zaklina Craig, Executive Director – People, Culture & Workplace, on Optimising role design for peak performance, managing differences in confidence between men and women, and navigating the decision to fire someone
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