#254: Tom Hale, CEO of Oura – Be a balancing force

How Leaders Lead with David Novak

David Novak Leadership

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management

4.8 • 596 Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What does it take to grow a breakthrough product … without losing your balance as a leader? Tom Hale, CEO of Oura, shares how he’s scaling one of the most innovative wellness companies out there—the one behind the popular (and powerful) Oura Ring. See how he’s constantly calibrating to offer the right blend of support and challenge, value and pricing, innovation and trust. You’re going to love this one, especially if you’re developing a product or running a subscription-based business. You’ll also learn: A simple (but game-changing) formula for running a subscription-based business The management move you need to make if your tech team is lagging How to think about product value in a fresh (and profitable) way The #1 skill to develop if you want to be better at everything else Take your learning further. Get proven leadership advice from these (free!) resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The How Leaders Lead App⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: A vast library of 90-second leadership lessons to stay sharp on the go ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Daily Insight Emails⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: One small (but powerful!) leadership principle to focus on each day Whichever you choose, you can be sure you’ll get the trusted leadership advice you need to advance your career, develop your team, and grow your business.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's like being on a boat.
0:01.4	Because if things are going great, everyone goes to one side of the boat and it's like, things are going great. And the boat sort of kind of tips this way. And only the leader can go to the other side and kind of balance and say, hey, here's some ways that it's not going great or that it could go better. As a leader, it can feel like you get pulled in a million different directions. So how do you balance it all? And what does balance really look like?
0:24.7	Welcome. in a million different directions. So how do you balance it all? And what does balance really look
0:23.2	like? Welcome to How Leaders Lead. I'm David Novak. And every week, I have conversations with the
0:29.0	very best leaders in the world to help you become the best leader that you can be. My guest today is
0:33.9	Tom Hale, the CEO of ORA. Orra makes one of the most innovative health and wellness wearables out there, the
0:41.3	ORA ring. And under Tom's leadership, the company is scaled rapidly while staying focused on
0:47.7	helping people live healthier, more balanced lives. And that word, balance, really captures how Tom leads. He's always
0:56.9	calibrating between vision and execution, innovation and trust, supporting his team and challenging
1:03.6	them. And in this conversation, you'll see what it looks like to lead from the place of balance.
1:12.8	Because let me tell you, the world is moving faster than ever. And the leaders who thrive in it are the ones who bring a balancing
1:18.0	force to their people and their priorities without losing their center. So here's my
1:24.6	conversation with my good friend and soon to be yours.
1:28.3	Tom Hale.
1:39.7	You know, before we get into ORA, I've got to ask you, I mean, how much sleep did you get last night?
1:42.0	And what was your readiness score this morning?
1:42.9	Let me check.
1:43.6	Let me check.
1:44.1	So it would appear that I got about almost seven hours, which is pretty good for me.
1:50.6	And my readiness is 91, which is extremely good, I'm going to say.
1:54.5	And that's because it's Sunday night, you know, to Monday night.
1:56.9	I get a good night sleep in on a Sunday night.
	...

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