Let's Just Start Podcast with Laura Racky and Christian Cunningham

Being good at your job doesn't guarantee you'll get ahead. And being yourself at work might not always be the smartest move either.This week on Let's Just Start, Christian and Laura get into the small things that can make an MASSIVE difference to your career, and how we can get on the radar of decision makers. Want to stand out? Find the problem nobody wants to fix. Become the person who understands the systems everyone else avoids. Ask the question everyone else is too embarrassed to ask. And for goodness' sake, turn up to meetings properly prepared.Then we get into a more uncomfortable question: should you really be yourself at work?Laura argues that revealing too much of your personality before you've established your professional reputation can be a dangerous move, particularly for women. Christian wonders whether we should all be a little more deliberate about which parts of ourselves we bring into the workplace.Then we have a parent maxxing conversation after dropping their eldest off for his first Year 12 exam, Laura reflects on just how quickly childhood disappears, and whether any parent ever really feels they've done enough.We also cover Usman Khawaja and Australian cricket's sandpaper scandal, Victoria's Royal Commission, Russell Brand, NVIDIA, power and accountability, and the tough question...When you know something is wrong, how much should you be prepared to sacrifice to speak up?And is staying silent understandable when speaking out could cost you everything? Or does responsibility increase with power, seniority and financial security?In Short: Getting promoted. Standing out at work. The authenticity trap. Workplace stereotypes. Parenting and growing up. Career ambition. Usman Khawaja and the sandpaper scandal. Russell Brand. Victoria's Royal Commission.NVIDIA. Whistleblowing. Power, bad behaviour and brutal accountability.Find us here:Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.comInstagram: @letsjuststartpodcastTiktok: @letsjuststartpodcastYoutube: @LetsJustStartPodcastLaura Insta: @laura.rackyLaura Tiktok: @laurarackyChristian Insta: @leaderbiltacademyChristian Tiktok: @leaderbiltLeadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co

A terrible boss. A brilliant judge. A senior executive who had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. And an AI-generated email that nearly sent Laura over the edge.Welcome to another perfectly normal episode of Let's Just Start.This week we're talking about the lessons people teach us, sometimes deliberately, sometimes accidentally, and sometimes bad examples of how to behave.Christian learned that a strong relationship can get you through a meeting even when nobody in the room knows what's going on. Laura learned that the person constantly telling you you're not good enough might be the one who secretly relies on you the most.There's the deceptively simple rule about never putting recipients into an email until you've finished drafting it, the importance of taking ownership of your team, and why genuine authority doesn't require making other people feel small.Laura also reflects on her time working in the courts, where she watched judges demonstrate extraordinary patience and respect towards people who had no legal representation.Then Christian announces he's had something of an AI revelation. After seeing what people are building in just days, he's convinced some businesses are about to become dramatically more productive.Laura's less enthusiastic about receiving emails written by robots pretending to be people.And before we get there, Christian delivers a passionate economic address on inflation, interest rates and the Reserve Bank, while Laura does her best to keep him calm.Naturally, we end up discussing the great mysteries of marriage: why ice-cream spoons are so loud, how one kitchen can generate so many dishes, and why the word “buddy” is apparently unacceptable.In Short: Brilliant career lessons. Awful bosses. Leadership accountability. The power of relationships. Courtroom humanity. AI breakthroughs. Robot-written emails. The RBA. Marriage irritations. And the one word you must never call Laura.Find us here:Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.comInstagram: @letsjuststartpodcastTiktok: @letsjuststartpodcastYoutube: @LetsJustStartPodcastLaura Insta: @laura.rackyLaura Tiktok: @laurarackyChristian Insta: @leaderbiltacademyChristian Tiktok: @leaderbiltLeadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co

How many things in your life are making you miserable that you could actually do something about?The news you watch, the phone we can't stop checking, the people you keep comparing yourself to. The habits we know are making us feel worse, the commitments you don't even want to keep.And how much of your energy goes into all of that instead of the things you genuinely care about?This week, Christian and Laura are staging an intervention. For themselves, for each other and, apparently, for the entire Australian population.Five ways to get out of a rut without turning your whole life upside down.We talk about identifying what really matters, cutting off the things that drain your energy, and why choosing just one to three improvements is infinitely more useful than announcing a complete personal reinvention.We also get into the uncomfortable truth about change: the things that work best are often the most boring.Small decisions. Repeated consistently. For longer than you feel like doing them.Laura admits she's still fighting a two-year battle with her phone. Christian admits he gets more satisfaction from learning things than actually putting them into practice. And both acknowledge that knowing what to do and doing it are very different propositions.There's reading, exercise, food, a mouse with a block of cheese, and a rather revealing conversation about children's lunchbox chips.But the biggest idea is saved for last.Get small.When you're overwhelmed, stop trying to do everything. Work out what genuinely has to happen, put everything else aside for a few days, and give yourself room to recover.Because sometimes you're not stuck because you need to do more.You're stuck because you're trying to do too much.In Short: Getting out of a rut. Identifying priorities. Comparison and negativity. Building better habits. The boredom of consistency. Phone addiction. Learning versus action. Reading, food and exercise. Why doing less might be exactly what you need.Find us here:Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.comInstagram: @letsjuststartpodcastTiktok: @letsjuststartpodcastYoutube: @LetsJustStartPodcastLaura Insta: @laura.rackyLaura Tiktok: @laurarackyChristian Insta: @leaderbiltacademyChristian Tiktok: @leaderbiltLeadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co

Something feels off in Australia right now.People are agitated, businesses are hesitant, households are under pressure. And there's a growing sense that everyone's running out of patience.And we're hearing it from across the country. This week we start with the mood of Australia, why confidence matters more than people realise, and what happens when millions of small financial pressures start changing how we behave towards each other.Then we get into one of the great career traps: mistaking the prestige of your employer for the value of your career.Is working for a massive multinational actually better? Are you developing better skills, building stronger relationships and getting ahead? Or have you just got a fancy office, a recognisable logo and a very expensive breakfast buffet designed to keep you at work?And finally, marriage maxxing.Can you marry someone who doesn't share your ambition?What happens when one person wants to build an empire and the other wants to clock off at five? What happens when the woman is the high-flyer and the man isn't? And how much of the tension comes from what we actually want versus what we've been conditioned to expect?We get into ambition, insecurity, traditional gender roles, resentment, parenting, money and the conversations couples really need to have before their careers, and their lives, start pulling in different directions.Because the wrong career decision might cost you a few years.The wrong partnership decision could cost you a whole lot more.In Short: Australia's angry energy. The cost of losing confidence. Big companies versus small businesses. Career prestige and corporate vanity. The skills that actually matter. Career ambition in relationships. High-flying women and traditional gender roles. Marriage maxxing. Why you need to keep checking that you're building the same life.Find us here:Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.comInstagram: @letsjuststartpodcastTiktok: @letsjuststartpodcastYoutube: @LetsJustStartPodcastLaura Insta: @laura.rackyLaura Tiktok: @laurarackyChristian Insta: @leaderbiltacademyChristian Tiktok: @leaderbiltLeadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co

How many of the things stopping you are actually stopping you?This week we start with limitations, the real ones, the imagined ones, and how to find the space in between.Laura has a theory: before you call something a limitation, you need to work out whether it's genuinely impossible, an excuse you've built around yourself, or simply a choice you're not yet willing to own.Because “I can't do it” and “I could do it, but I'm not willing to pay the price” are two very different things.We talk about paper walls, turning over every rock, accepting the choices you've made without judging yourself for them, and why sometimes the healthiest thing is decide you're not going to do something, put it down, stop blaming yourself or everyone else, and get on with your life.Kochie takes on the RBA (and really the Government) David Koch has written an open letter challenging the RBA over inflation, government spending and whether the Reserve Bank should be doing more to explain what's actually happening to Australians.Government spending, inflation, interest rates, the independence of the RBA, whether Australians are being properly told what's going on, he quality of our political leadership. These are some of the topics we hit here. Then a trip to the local YMCA reminds us why we're arguing about Australia in the first place. Because despite these issues, we're extraordinarily lucky to live here. (This is why we have to defend it)In Short: Real limitations. Fake limitations. Excuses versus choices. Paper walls. Kochie versus the RBA. Government spending and inflation. Political apathy. Australia's squandered opportunities. And remembering how bloody good we've still got it.Find us here:Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.comInstagram: @letsjuststartpodcastTiktok: @letsjuststartpodcastYoutube: @LetsJustStartPodcastLaura Insta: @laura.rackyLaura Tiktok: @laurarackyChristian Insta: @leaderbiltacademyChristian Tiktok: @leaderbiltLeadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co

Say less.That might be one of the simplest ways to immediately sound more confident.This week we start with speaking confidently, and why trying to remove every “um”, pause or filler word probably misses the point.Confidence is a collection of cues.We talk about slowing down enough to let your brain catch up with your mouth, getting to the point earlier, preparing properly, using the conversation before the conversation to settle your nerves, and why sometimes the most confident answer you can give is simply: “I don't know.”We also get into some of the habits that quietly undermine otherwise capable people: pre-rejecting your own ideas, continuing to talk after you've already made the point, over-explaining, pretending to know things you don't and using 300 words where 30 would do.Then we move into something much bigger: fatherhood.What effect do good fathers really have? Not just memories, money or advice, but an invisible infrastructure that children carry into rooms you'll never be in.We talk about the values children absorb from watching their parents, the standards fathers model for sons and daughters, why telling children how to behave matters far less if you're modelling something completely different, and why good parenting isn't about appearing perfect.Your children are watching how you work, how you treat people, how you treat their mother or father, how you deal with pressure — and even what you do after you get it wrong.Some of those lessons might not show themselves for 25 years.But they'll be there.In Short: Speaking confidently. Saying less. Learning to say “I don't know.” Fatherhood. Modelling behaviour. Raising children without pretending to be perfect. The invisible infrastructure we leave behind.Find us here:Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.comInstagram: @letsjuststartpodcastTiktok: @letsjuststartpodcastYoutube: @LetsJustStartPodcastLaura Insta: @laura.rackyLaura Tiktok: @laurarackyChristian Insta: @leaderbiltacademyChristian Tiktok: @leaderbiltLeadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co

Nobody cares how stressed you are. Harsh, but true. This week we answer a listener asking how to detach from a stressful job.We talk about the difference between being a serious professional and carrying responsibility for everything that happens around you. How to push back on impossible targets without sounding like you’re making excuses. How to make trade-offs visible. And why accepting an unrealistic expectation without challenging it can leave you carrying stress that was never yours to begin with.But we also turn the question back on ourselves.Sometimes the company isn’t creating all the stress. We are.We wear exhaustion like proof that we matter. We replay conversations at home, worry about problems we can’t currently solve and sacrifice time with people we love for an imaginary audience that isn’t watching.If the job is broken, or the career is wrong, you can change it.If you’re the one creating the problem, get your act together.Then we lighten things up with books, discover just how high our screen time actually is, argue about whether every book needs to make you smarter or more successful, and talk Seven Powers, Joan Didion, Frank Body, branding, entrepreneurship and reading simply because something is worth reading.Professional at work.Present at home.And occasionally, put the damn phone down.In Short:Work stress. Unrealistic expectations. Taking responsibility without carrying the whole world. Knowing when to put the problem down. Seven-hour screen times. Books for work. Books for pleasure. And remembering who actually deserves the best parts of you.Find us here:Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.comInstagram: @letsjuststartpodcastTiktok: @letsjuststartpodcastYoutube: @LetsJustStartPodcastLaura Insta: @laura.rackyLaura Tiktok: @laurarackyChristian Insta: @leaderbiltacademyChristian Tiktok: @leaderbiltLeadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co

We’re back after a mini hiatus, answering your questions.First up, is there a growing trend of senior people being iced out at work until they eventually resign rather than being made redundant?We look at why companies might do it, the complexity of Australia’s industrial relations system, why good employee protections can still become overly complicated, and why some senior leaders would rather slowly exclude someone than have an honest and difficult conversation.More importantly, how do you know when it’s happening to you?We break down three places to look for the warning signs: below you, beside you and above you. Are your team hiding information? Have your peers stopped asking for your opinion? Are senior leaders making important decisions without you?Because sometimes you don’t need to be told you’re being iced out. The behaviour around you is already telling you.Then we tackle a brilliant question, what do you do when your career has no direction because you haven’t taken responsibility for it?Our answer is somewhere different.Before asking how to take control of your career, work out what you actually want from it.What does work mean to you? How important is ambition? What are you good at? What kind of life are you trying to build? And perhaps most importantly, are you even on the right ladder?There’s nothing wrong with wanting to reach the top. There’s also nothing wrong with deciding work simply funds the life you actually care about.The problem is never making the decision at all.In Short:Getting iced out at workAustralian IRDifficult conversationsCareer driftAmbitionFinding directionFiguring out whether you’re climbing the right ladder in the first place.Find us here:Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.comInstagram: @letsjuststartpodcastTiktok: @letsjuststartpodcastYoutube: @LetsJustStartPodcastLaura Insta: @laura.rackyLaura Tiktok: @laurarackyChristian Insta: @leaderbiltacademyChristian Tiktok: @leaderbiltLeadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co

Marriage is not just about finding the right person.It is also about having the conversations that most couples assume they will 'work out later'.In this episode, we talk through six areas that couples should discuss before marriage, before children, and then revisit as life changes:• Money• Kids and parenting• Day-to-day life• Ambitions and dreams• Values• Extended familyHow much do you want to save?What kind of life are you actually trying to build?Do you want children?What does parenting look like when both people work?Whose career takes priority when opportunities collide?How involved will extended family be?What are the values you simply will not compromise on?The point is not that couples need identical answers.The point is that resentment grows when expectations remain unspoken.We talk about the assumptions people carry into relationships from childhood, traditional roles, money fears, family dynamics and previous experiences, and why some of the most important conversations in a marriage are MISALIGNMENTS in expectations.Because it is much better to have the difficult conversation six years before the problem arrives than six weeks after.In Short:Marriage maxxing.Money, parenting, careers, ambition, lifestyle, values, extended family, resentment, expectations and the conversations that make a relationship stronger before life puts it under pressure.Find us here:Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.comInstagram: @letsjuststartpodcastTiktok: @letsjuststartpodcastYoutube: @LetsJustStartPodcastLaura Insta: @laura.rackyLaura Tiktok: @laurarackyChristian Insta: @leaderbiltacademyChristian Tiktok: @leaderbiltLeadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co

Nobody cares about your career as much as you do.That might sound harsh, but it's one of the most empowering lessons you can learn.In this episode we discuss why so many people spend years working hard without ever clearly defining what success in their role actually looks like.If your company hasn't set meaningful KPIs, how do you know whether you're succeeding?How do you demonstrate your value?How do you build a case for a pay rise or promotion?Waiting for someone else to create the framework is often a mistake, and taking ownership of your own performance can completely change the trajectory of your career.We then tackle one of the trickiest workplace situations of all: reporting to a weak leader.Not every poor manager is the same, some are simply inexperienced or overwhelmed. Others are political, self-serving or willing to protect themselves at your expense.Understanding the difference dictates how you will approach. We discuss how to build influence, protect your reputation, navigate organisational politics and make decisions that keep your career moving forward, even when your manager isn't.Career maxxing, building your own KPIs, negotiating promotions, identifying weak leadership and taking responsibility for your own career progression.In short:Career maxxingWhy most companies don't define success wellBuilding your own KPIsCreating meaningful performance measuresDemonstrating your valuePreparing for pay rise conversationsPromotions and career progressionWeak managers versus dangerous managersBuilding influence outside your reporting lineOrganisational politicsProtecting your reputationPaper trails and accountabilityLong-term career strategyFind us here:Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.comInstagram: @letsjuststartpodcastTiktok: @letsjuststartpodcastYoutube: @LetsJustStartPodcastLaura Insta: @laura.rackyLaura Tiktok: @laurarackyChristian Insta: @leaderbiltacademyChristian Tiktok: @leaderbiltLeadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co