Do Something Different: A Leadership Podcast

Send us Fan Mail

Executive presence is stubbornly difficult to define. This episode breaks down the critical connection between communication style and executive presence, and challenges the common belief that being smart is enough to lead effectively.

Whether you're naturally collaborative, soft-spoken, or conflict-averse, your style may be holding you back more than you realize. The key? Evolve how you communicate without losing who you are — and unlock the version of yourself that’s already capable of commanding a room.

Key takeaways:

• Why being “nice” can unintentionally make you forgettable
• How personality is more about past habits than future potential
• The danger of blending in with corporate norms — and how to stand out
• The mindset shift from authenticity-as-you-are to authenticity-as-you’re-becoming
• Five powerful “P” tools to boost executive presence

This episode is a masterclass in transforming your presence — not by becoming someone you’re not, but by expanding who you already are. Listen in and start crafting the leader you’re meant to become.

Rusty Gaillard is an executive coach, helping mid-level corporate leaders create more career success while working less and enjoying it more. That's real freedom.

Get more leadership tips to grow your skillset and mindset at rustygaillard.com, and follow Rusty on LinkedIn. 

Send us Fan Mail

When leaders build teams they can trust, they unlock not only organizational impact—but personal freedom. In this powerful episode, Eric Bensley, Head of Global Product Marketing at Asana, breaks down what it truly takes to lead a high-performing team you can count on, even during critical launches and high-stakes moments.

This conversation goes beyond theory. It’s a practical, honest look at the tension between control and empowerment, and the kind of leadership mindset required to scale trust, quality, and ownership across a team.

Key Points:

• Why the ultimate cost of a low-performing team is borne by the leader
• How to climb the “trust ladder” with your team—from run-rate tasks to high-stakes, ambiguous initiatives
• The mindset shift from doing the work to empowering others to lead and own outcomes
• A practical framework for coaching independence without sacrificing quality
• How to balance asking vs. telling when developing emerging leaders
• The hidden cost of perfectionism and how to replace control with purpose
• Why vulnerability is the gateway to growing your people—and your impact

This is a must-listen for leaders ready to elevate their team’s performance without burning out or bottlenecking progress. Unlock a new level of leadership by learning how to delegate trust, not just tasks.

Connect with Eric on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericbensley/

Rusty Gaillard is an executive coach, helping mid-level corporate leaders create more career success while working less and enjoying it more. That's real freedom.

Get more leadership tips to grow your skillset and mindset at rustygaillard.com, and follow Rusty on LinkedIn. 

Send us Fan Mail

High performers often double down on results—but that mindset alone ultimately leads to  failure. Sustainable leadership requires more than performance. 

In this episode, discover why prioritizing personal and professional growth is not optional—it’s essential for long-term success. The difference between those who thrive and those who plateau comes down to one thing: growth.

Key takeaways:

• Why delivering results isn’t enough to succeed as a leader in today’s fast-paced world
• The hidden cost of valuing performance over personal development
• A mindset shift that sets the stage for exponential impact
• The three critical components of a growth strategy
• How to improve in just 90 seconds a day
• Why specificity is the secret to consistent action and real change

Growth isn’t about grand gestures—it’s about deliberate steps taken consistently. Learn how to shift your focus, unlock new levels of leadership, and ensure you're evolving as fast as the world around you.

Rusty Gaillard is an executive coach, helping mid-level corporate leaders create more career success while working less and enjoying it more. That's real freedom.

Get more leadership tips to grow your skillset and mindset at rustygaillard.com, and follow Rusty on LinkedIn. 

Send us Fan Mail

Smart, successful professionals often assume that career growth is about learning new skills. But the real unlock isn’t about your skillset—it’s about your mindset. In this episode, discover why redefining how you see yourself can be the most powerful move you make in your professional life.

Key Takeaways:

• The most common mistake ambitious people make in career development—and how to avoid it.
• Why asking “What do I want?” is more transformational than learning another new skill.
• How self-perception silently limits your potential—and how to break free.
• Why "authentic leadership" can be a trap that prevents future growth.
• The mindset shift that turns a $100K earner into someone who believes they can thrive in a $500K role.
• What it really means to adopt a growth mindset—and how it shapes your choices, confidence, and outcomes.

Listen now to discover the hidden factor that determines your success—and how to start seeing yourself differently, today.

Rusty Gaillard is an executive coach, helping mid-level corporate leaders create more career success while working less and enjoying it more. That's real freedom.

Get more leadership tips to grow your skillset and mindset at rustygaillard.com, and follow Rusty on LinkedIn. 

Send us Fan Mail

Your quality of life as a leader is directly tied to how well you leverage your team. 

Two real client stories illustrate this concept, one of which demonstrates the Success Trifecta—being more successful at work, working less, and actually enjoying your job.

But how do you get there? This episode dives deep into the essential skillset and mindset needed to delegate effectively, empower your team, and create sustainable success without burnout. You'll discover why the goal isn’t just delivering high-quality work—it’s building a high-performing, empowered team that lifts the whole organization.

What You’ll Learn:

🔺 What the Success Trifecta is—and why most leaders believe it's impossible.

🔧 The two critical skills every leader must master: Setting Clear Expectations and Holding Accountability.

🧠 How your mindset and beliefs about performance, failure, and control could be limiting your growth.

🚫 Why "fixing it yourself" undermines your team (and what to do instead).

🔄 The role of resilience in becoming a more strategic, less reactive leader.

🔁 How to rewire your beliefs for sustainable success—both for you and your team.

Key Quote:
"Your job is not to deliver perfect work. Your job is to build a team that can." — Rusty Gaillard

Rusty Gaillard is an executive coach, helping mid-level corporate leaders create more career success while working less and enjoying it more. That's real freedom.

Get more leadership tips to grow your skillset and mindset at rustygaillard.com, and follow Rusty on LinkedIn. 

Send us Fan Mail

Is it possible to be too nice as a leader? We examine this question using the tension between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively as a real-world lens into leadership challenges.  Explore how excessive niceness can become a barrier to strength, clarity, and effectiveness in leadership.

Listen to learn four key truths about leadership and the pitfalls of prioritizing likability over strength:

1. Being nice is not the same as being strong.
2. Pleasing others leads to leadership failure.
3. People-first leadership requires tough conversations.
4. Accountability needs systems, not just personality.

This episode will inspire you to rethink your leadership style and find the courage to pair kindness with clarity, strength, and structure.

Key Takeaways:

• Why trying to be liked can cost you respect—and results.
• How to lean into hard conversations while maintaining high EQ.
• The shift from solving problems for your team to helping them solve their own.
• The importance of systems in creating fair and consistent accountability.

Shows Referenced in the Podcast

Liked or Respected? Five Questions to See Which You Secretly Prefer.

Delivering Effective Feedback.

Rusty Gaillard is an executive coach, helping mid-level corporate leaders create more career success while working less and enjoying it more. That's real freedom.

Get more leadership tips to grow your skillset and mindset at rustygaillard.com, and follow Rusty on LinkedIn. 

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of Do Something Different, Rusty Gaillard sits down with Erin Mantz, VP of Marketing at Zeno Group and founder of Gen X Girls Grow Up. They dive into the importance of your first boss, how generational traits shape leadership styles, and what Gen X can learn from Gen Z in today’s workplace. 

From latchkey resilience to mentoring the next generation, this conversation is packed with insights on navigating careers, building strong teams, and adapting as a modern leader.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why your first boss can shape your entire career
• How Gen X’s upbringing influences their work ethic and leadership style
• What Gen Z values at work—and why it matters
• Tips for creating better intergenerational communication at work
• The power of vulnerability and authenticity in leadership
• How to mentor and be mentored across generations

Follow Erin on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinmantz/

And at Gen X Girls Grow Up:

https://www.facebook.com/GenXBlog/

Rusty Gaillard is an executive coach, helping mid-level corporate leaders create more career success while working less and enjoying it more. That's real freedom.

Get more leadership tips to grow your skillset and mindset at rustygaillard.com, and follow Rusty on LinkedIn. 

Send us Fan Mail

Ever feel like your corporate experience is just a little too similar to dystopian fiction?

From emotional avoidance to culture as control, Severance hits uncomfortably close to the reality of corporate life—and offers a blueprint for leading with more authenticity, presence, and connection.

Learn to stop operating like “outies”—detached, numb, and running from discomfort—and start showing up like “innies”—fully engaged, human, and real. You’ll walk away with fresh insights and one big challenge: Bring more of your whole self to work.

What you'll discover:

• Why most leaders are running away from the real work of leadership (just like the "outies")
• The surprising power of showing up as your full, messy, authentic self
• How well-intentioned company culture can morph into a control mechanism
• The dangerous line between finding meaning at work and work becoming your religion
• Why splitting your "work self" from your "real self" creates chaos

Whether you've watched Severance or not, these insights will transform how you think about leadership in today's corporate world.

Ready to stop "severing" parts of yourself at work and lead with your whole being? Listen now and discover how to do something different that actually moves the needle.

Rusty Gaillard is an executive coach, helping mid-level corporate leaders create more career success while working less and enjoying it more. That's real freedom.

Get more leadership tips to grow your skillset and mindset at rustygaillard.com, and follow Rusty on LinkedIn. 

Send us Fan Mail

Leaders often find themselves with competing decision-making frameworks: impact vs. optics, managing risk vs. capturing potential, what you want vs. what you should do. This is a recipe for bad decisions.

There's also a fundamental problem with analytical decision-making. Even the most rigorous frameworks can be manipulated to justify the outcome you secretly want. Meanwhile, some of the greatest business breakthroughs in history—think Steve Jobs or Elon Musk—weren't driven by data but by intuitive leadership.

You'll learn:

• Why stress sabotages your decision-making biology
• How to escape the trap of short-term thinking
• A surprising technique using a coin flip to reveal your true preferences
• The 10-10-10 framework that transforms how you evaluate choices

Learn to make more confident decisions even with imperfect information, and position yourself as the kind of leader who drives meaningful change rather than simply turning the crank on daily minutiae.

Duration: 15 minutes

Rusty Gaillard is an executive coach, helping mid-level corporate leaders create more career success while working less and enjoying it more. That's real freedom.

Get more leadership tips to grow your skillset and mindset at rustygaillard.com, and follow Rusty on LinkedIn. 

Send us Fan Mail

There's a big gap between how most managers lead their teams and how the best CEOs drive organizational success. A good CEO builds a team that makes strategic decisions, executes independently, and continuously improves. Many mid-level leaders remain trapped in cycles of micromanagement, approval-seeking, and task-oriented direction.

This episode explores why managing like you're the smartest person in the room limits your impact, and introduces a powerful framework to help you bridge this  leadership gap.

You'll learn:

• Why having all the answers undermines your team's effectiveness
• The shift in mindset required to develop your team into thought partners
• What separates managers who merely assign tasks from leaders who inspire results
• The uncomfortable but necessary step that transforms team accountability
• How to build a culture where continuous improvement happens naturally

Discover the three fundamental principles that the best CEOs use to build exceptional teams—and how implementing these approaches can dramatically increase your impact while actually reducing your workload.

Duration: 19 minutes

Rusty Gaillard is an executive coach, helping mid-level corporate leaders create more career success while working less and enjoying it more. That's real freedom.

Get more leadership tips to grow your skillset and mindset at rustygaillard.com, and follow Rusty on LinkedIn.