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

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.com
Instagram: @letsjuststartpodcast
Tiktok: @letsjuststartpodcast
Youtube: @LetsJustStartPodcast
Laura Insta: @laura.racky
Laura Tiktok: @lauraracky
Christian Insta: @leaderbiltacademy
Christian Tiktok: @leaderbilt
Leadership 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 work
Australian IR
Difficult conversations
Career drift
Ambition
Finding direction
Figuring out whether you’re climbing the right ladder in the first place.

Find us here:

Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.com
Instagram: @letsjuststartpodcast
Tiktok: @letsjuststartpodcast
Youtube: @LetsJustStartPodcast
Laura Insta: @laura.racky
Laura Tiktok: @lauraracky
Christian Insta: @leaderbiltacademy
Christian Tiktok: @leaderbilt
Leadership 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 family

How 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.com
Instagram: @letsjuststartpodcast
Tiktok: @letsjuststartpodcast
Youtube: @LetsJustStartPodcast
Laura Insta: @laura.racky
Laura Tiktok: @lauraracky
Christian Insta: @leaderbiltacademy
Christian Tiktok: @leaderbilt
Leadership 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 maxxing
Why most companies don't define success well
Building your own KPIs
Creating meaningful performance measures
Demonstrating your value
Preparing for pay rise conversations
Promotions and career progression
Weak managers versus dangerous managers
Building influence outside your reporting line
Organisational politics
Protecting your reputation
Paper trails and accountability
Long-term career strategy

Find us here:

Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.com
Instagram: @letsjuststartpodcast
Tiktok: @letsjuststartpodcast
Youtube: @LetsJustStartPodcast
Laura Insta: @laura.racky
Laura Tiktok: @lauraracky
Christian Insta: @leaderbiltacademy
Christian Tiktok: @leaderbilt
Leadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co

If someone handed you a blank notebook and asked you the 5 traits you need to be crystal clear about as a successful leader, what would you say?

In this episode, Christian opens the "magic book" to share the five leadership principles he believes separate good managers and leaders from the average, and it can change your trajectory.

We discuss perception, understanding your vulnerabilities, knowing your values, developing commercial awareness and deliberately building relationships over the course of your career. None of these happen by accident, and all of them are within your control.

We then discuss the very tricky world of how we make difficult decisions together, particularly in a marriage.

Should you take the promotion?
Move cities?
Prioritise career progression?
Spend more time with your children?

How do you weigh money family, ambition, presence, or opportunity?

When you know who you are and what matters most to you, what you actually VALUE, many of life's hardest decisions become much clearer.

In Short:

The five traits of respected leaders
Why perception matters
Identifying and managing your vulnerabilities
Building values that people can trust
Commercial awareness and business thinking
Relationships that shape your career
The "magic book" framework
How to make difficult life decisions
Career versus family
Money versus integrity
Parenting and long-term priorities
Building a decision-making filter
Why values come before choices

Find us here:

Digital Resources: Therackycunninghamcollective.com
Instagram: @letsjuststartpodcast
Tiktok: @letsjuststartpodcast
Youtube: @LetsJustStartPodcast
Laura Insta: @laura.racky
Laura Tiktok: @lauraracky
Christian Insta: @leaderbiltacademy
Christian Tiktok: @leaderbilt
Leadership training and coaching: Leaderbilt.co