Do Something Different: A Leadership Podcast

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Many people struggle maintaining motivation to achieve their goals. It's why so many people don't achieve their New Year's resolutions. In this episode you will discover a powerful perspective shift that can transform how you approach change - whether in your career, health, or relationships.

Perfect for:

• Professionals feeling stuck in unproductive routines
• Anyone struggling with New Year's resolutions
• Leaders wanting to create lasting change
• Those seeking more satisfaction and less comfort-seeking

Key themes:

• Why habits are hard-wired into our brains
• The trap of seeking comfort over satisfaction
• How traditional goal-setting can backfire
• A practical framework for sustainable change

Listen to learn a simple but profound mental shift that could finally help you break free from limiting patterns and create lasting positive change.

Duration: 22 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. 

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Are your New Year's resolutions setting you up for another unfulfilling year? This episode tackles the common pitfall of traditional goal-setting that keeps ambitious professionals stuck in patterns of busyness and disconnection. Through examining holiday reflections and end-of-year planning, learn why focusing solely on achievements and to-do lists undermines the potential for meaningful growth and joy.

Perfect for:

• High achievers seeking a fresh approach to annual planning
• Professionals feeling disconnected from their goals
• Leaders wanting to break free from outcome-focused thinking
• Anyone craving more meaningful experiences in their work and life

Key themes:

• Why traditional resolution-setting often leads to disappointment
• The trap of prioritizing future rewards over present experiences
• Breaking free from achievement-focused planning
• A new framework for creating fulfilling goals

Listen to discover how shifting your perspective on goal-setting could transform your approach to personal and professional growth in the coming year.

Duration: 13 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

High achievers often get trapped by their own success.

Learn why the mindsets and behaviors that fueled early career wins often become barriers to reaching senior leadership roles. Discover why the relentless drive to do more, better, and faster can actually limit growth, and why stepping out of your comfort zone and changing those habits may be exactly what's needed to advance.

Perfect for:
 - Rising leaders feeling stuck despite strong performance
 - High performers struggling with burnout
 - Managers ready to shift from tactical to strategic
 - Ambitious professionals seeking sustainable success

Key themes:
 - Why "more of the same" stops working at senior levels
 - The hidden cost of perfectionism
 - Breaking free from the execution mindset
 - The counterintuitive path to greater impact

Listen to learn why your biggest career breakthrough might require doing less, not more.

Duration: 22 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

Smart, high achieving leaders often make sub-optimal decisions. 

In this episode, learn how our brain's built-in bias toward risk and safety can derail confident decision-making, and uncover the biological reason why focusing on potential problems feels so natural. Through an exploration of brain science and behavioral patterns, the episode reveals why traditional "pros and cons" analysis may actually increase paralysis rather than lead to clarity.

Perfect for:
* High achievers who find themselves stuck when facing key decisions
* Leaders who tend to overanalyze choices
* Professionals who want to move past fear-based decision making
* Anyone seeking to make faster, more confident choices

Key themes:
* Why our brains are wired to focus on risk over opportunity
* How stress chemistry impacts decision quality
* The trap of endless analysis
* 5 Rules for more confident decisions

Listen to discover why your natural instincts around decision-making might be holding you back - and what to do about it.

Duration: 22 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

Struggling to command respect at work? This episode tackles why blaming external factors - like company culture or difficult colleagues - completely misses the point. The discussion explores how habitual behaviors, particularly those of high achievers, can actually undermine authority and influence.

Through 3 simple yet powerful new habits, professionals can learn to command the respect they deserve without compromising relationships or authenticity. The episode reveals why some "good" professional habits might secretly sabotage leadership presence - and how to transform them into genuine authority.

Perfect for:
* Professionals feeling undervalued at work
* Leaders struggling to establish authority
* Team members wanting stronger influence
* Anyone seeking to enhance their professional presence

Key themes:
* Why external blame blocks growth
* The hidden cost of "high achiever" habits  
* Breaking free from approval-seeking behaviors
* Simple techniques for commanding respect

Listen to discover how small changes in daily work habits could transform how others perceive and respond to leadership.

Duration: 16 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

Meetings with senior leaders are a prime opportunity to demonstrate executive presence. But they make many leaders anxious. In this episode, we tackle the uncomfortable truth about why capable professionals often stay silent in high-stakes conversations. From claiming introversion to avoiding vulnerability, discover the five hidden barriers that may be limiting your impact and visibility when it matters most.

Through concrete examples and real client experiences, we explore why "supporting the team" or "having nothing to add" might actually be self-sabotaging behaviors. Learn why your discomfort in these situations could be rooted in deeper psychological factors - and how shifting your mindset about meetings could transform your leadership presence.

Perfect for:

• Rising leaders who want more executive visibility
• Professionals who feel hesitant to speak up
• Team leaders balancing personal visibility with team empowerment
• Anyone looking to increase their impact in meetings

Key themes:

• The true cost of staying silent in important meetings
• How "supporting others" can become career-limiting
• The psychology behind meeting participation
• Why preparation alone isn't enough

Listen to discover how your next executive meeting could become a pivotal moment in your leadership journey.

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

On Thanksgiving, most of us practice gratitude. It's easy during the holidays, but finding gratitude in the midst of difficulties requires a fundamental shift in perspective that can transform how we experience and overcome obstacles.

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

Has your career progression slowed down? In this episode of Do Something Different, we tackle promotion and career advancement - specifically why many high achievers hit a plateau and struggle to reach the next level. Learn why the behaviors that made you successful early in your career may now be holding you back, and how the "A Trap" can limit your growth.

Through practical strategies and real-world examples, discover how to shift from pure execution to true leadership, why focusing solely on deliverables can backfire, and how to demonstrate executive presence without losing your authenticity. Find out why vague feedback like "be more strategic" or "read the room better" is so common - and what to actually do about it.

Perfect for:

• Ambitious professionals seeking their next promotion
• High achievers feeling stuck at their current level
• Leaders who want broader organizational impact
• Anyone transitioning from individual contributor to leadership roles

Key themes:

• The "A Trap" that holds back smart, successful people
• Why relationships matter more than work products at senior levels
• How to be strategic without losing effectiveness
• Breaking free from people-pleasing patterns

Listen to discover why your drive for excellence might be the very thing keeping you from reaching the next level.

Duration: 21 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

Is performance review season making you anxious? In this episode, Rusty Gaillard tackles the elephant in the room: why most leaders either avoid giving feedback or do it poorly. He reveals why treating feedback as a time management problem completely misses the point, and shares a personal commitment that transformed how he approaches difficult conversations.

Through the simple but powerful COIN framework (Context, Observation, Impact, Next Steps), Rusty demonstrates how to turn feedback from a dreaded obligation into an opportunity for team growth. Learn why your discomfort with giving feedback might actually be a good sign – and how to use it to become a better leader. 

Perfect for:
* Managers preparing for performance reviews
* Leaders who avoid difficult conversations
* Team members struggling with peer feedback
* Anyone who wants to build a stronger feedback culture

Key themes:
* Why feedback avoidance is an emotional, not time management, issue
* How "positive culture" can become a feedback barrier
* The hidden cost of office gossip
* A practical framework for delivering effective feedback

Listen to discover why your next uncomfortable conversation could be your biggest leadership breakthrough.

Duration: 9 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

Are you a high achiever who's built your career on being smart and avoiding mistakes? In this episode, Rusty tackles the paralyzing pressure that successful professionals face when it comes to making mistakes, especially in high-stakes situations.

Through a revealing client story about "Steve," who struggles with a seemingly unfixable situation, Rusty challenges the common belief that avoiding mistakes is the path to success. He introduces a simple but powerful framework called BEAR (Beliefs, Emotions, Actions, Results) that could transform how you handle high-pressure situations.

Learn why the very mindset that made you successful might be holding you back from reaching the next level, and discover why true leadership isn't about having all the right answers. (Hint: It's about asking better questions!)

Perfect for:

• Senior leaders feeling pressure to always get it right
• High achievers struggling with perfectionism
• Executives preparing for high-stakes presentations
• Anyone who fears making mistakes in front of higher-ups

Key themes:

• The hidden cost of avoiding mistakes
• Why confidence matters more than competence
• How to shift from problem-solver to solution-guide
• A fresh perspective on executive presence

Listen to discover why your next "failure" might actually be your biggest opportunity for growth.

Duration: 17 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.