Burn The Rules with Chet Hirani

Chet Hirani
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Burn The Rules with Chet Hirani is where performance, and mindset meet and where we will rewrite the rules of modern leadership together. Hosted by leadership expert, TEDx speaker, and bestselling award winning author Chet Hirani, this podcast brings you direct conversations with people rewriting what success looks like from business leaders and athletes to entrepreneurs and creators. Each episode breaks down how high performers think, adapt, and lead from within without the over-complication. You’ll hear honest stories, straight talk, and proven habits that help you take control of how you lead, work, and live. If you’re ready to stop playing by outdated rules and start defining your own version of leadership and success this is your place.

  1. Aug 11

    They Called It a Quick Chat. It Ended 15 Years.

    They called it a quick chat. Marisa Kamall was on maternity leave. Still recovering from pneumonia that had nearly killed her. Her newborn was in the next room. And HSBC the company she'd given 15 years to, the one where she'd grown from analyst to Managing Director, leading teams of thousands across four continents called to restructure her role. Over Zoom. When she cried, her manager said: 'I didn't think you'd react like this.' That moment taught her something that no performance review, no promotion, and no amount of over-delivering ever would: no company will care about your career the way you do. The system wasn't built to make room for her. And the life she has now GAIA, the leadership community, the coaching, the mission only exists because she stopped waiting for it to. This is one of the most honest conversations we've had on Burn The Rules. Chapters 00:00 — Welcome + Marisa’s journey into the conversation 04:05 — The inside reality of corporate success 10:10 — Why Gaia exists and the mission behind it 20:43 — The “quick chat” call that changed everything 26:02 — Rebuilding identity, confidence, and leadership after corporate 31:48 — Stop rehearsing the person you think you should be 38:08 — What it really means to lead from within 42:55 — The triple hit: motherhood, illness, and restructuring 47:07 — Fitness, discipline, and regulating mind, body, and soul 57:13 — Why the system doesn’t make room for you 58:48 — How Gaia grew from an idea into a real community 64:29 — ChatGP She and women shaping the AI era 68:12 — The questions every leader should ask themselves 69:09 — Ten and Done quickfire round 72:35 — Who Gaia is for + how to connect 73:54 — Final message: speak up and take care of yourself Connect with Marisa: LinkedIn GAIA: www.GaiaRises.com For more information about me go to: chethirani.com Get my 2 x Award Winning Bestselling book: Burn The Rules Here Connect, Follow & Subscribe: LinkedIn Youtube Instagram Facebook TikTok

    They Called It a Quick Chat. It Ended 15 Years.

  2. Jun 23

    The Cost of Being Liked.

    How many of your decisions this week were shaped by what you actually believe and how many were shaped by what you wanted other people to think of you? This is the most camouflaged leadership trap I know. It doesn't look like weakness. It looks like being collaborative. Like being emotionally intelligent. Like being a good person. But it's approval-seeking and it's costing you more than you know. And for the first time in the series, it doesn't just diagnose. It shows you a way through. I share my parents' story a love marriage that cost them everything the community approved of, and gave them everything that actually mattered. And a 2012 workshop that fell apart completely and taught me the most important thing I know about what happens when you finally drop the mask. The version of you that stops trying to be liked is the version that finally starts to lead. Chapters 00:00 Introduction: The leadership trap of approval seeking 02:54 How approval seeking manifests in leadership behaviors 04:48 The story of the speaker's parents and leadership values 08:21 The importance of authenticity and dropping the mask 10:14 Action steps to overcome approval seeking in leadership 14:51 Redefining Leadership 15:20 The Practice of Leadership More on me: Take the Pressure Pattern Check For more information about me go to: chethirani.com Get my Award Winning Bestselling book: Burn The Rules Here Connect, Follow & Subscribe: LinkedIn Youtube Instagram Facebook TikTok

    The Cost of Being Liked.

  3. Jun 2

    She Scheduled Her Own Breakdown. Here's What She Found on the Other Side.

    Most high-performing leaders spend years building a life that looks exactly like success is supposed to look. The title. The salary. The house. The holidays. The family photo that belongs on the front of a magazine. Deepika Sandhu had all of it. And she still felt profoundly, quietly empty. So she did something that almost nobody does. She scheduled her own breakdown. Put it in her calendar. Showed up for it. And in the space that created the slowing down, the silence, the sitting with herself she found the clarity that 25 years of relentless performance had never given her. Today, Deepika is the founder of Soul Sparks Press North America's fastest growing publishing house, built to over 106 authors in 21 months. She's a six-time award-winning bestselling author, CEO of the Year at the Unicorn Summit, and someone who now describes her life not by what it looks like but by how it feels. This conversation is between two people who are genuinely inside each other's worlds. Which is exactly why it goes to places most podcast conversations don't. Chapters 00:00 The Pressure of Silicon Valley Leadership 04:45 Transitioning from Corporate to SoulSparks Press 07:41 Redefining Success and Impact 10:26 The Journey of Self-Discovery 13:07 The Power of Scheduled Breakdowns 15:51 Dismantling Old Beliefs 18:45 Taking Risks and Embracing Entrepreneurship 21:48 Managing Pressure and Doubt 24:24 The Importance of Support and Community 27:11 Flow vs. Deadlines in Creativity 30:01 The Evolution of Self and Business 32:56 Navigating Pressure Moments 35:42 Overcoming Doubt and Inner Critic 39:38 Trusting the Process 45:44 Owning Your Choices 50:36 Lessons from Life Transitions 56:24 Finding Your Authentic Voice 59:31 The Power of Storytelling 01:10:29 Redefining Leadership 01:10:57 The Practice of Leadership Connect with Deepika: Instagram Soul Sparks Press on Instagram Soul Sparks Press Website More on me: Take the Pressure Pattern Check For more information about me go to: chethirani.com Get my Award Winning Bestselling book: Burn The Rules Here Connect, Follow & Subscribe: LinkedIn Youtube Instagram Facebook TikTok

    She Scheduled Her Own Breakdown. Here's What She Found on the Other Side.

  4. May 26

    The Office Debate Is A Distraction. And Your Leaders Know It.

    The return-to-office debate has nothing to do with culture, collaboration, or productivity. It has everything to do with control. And the leaders mandating it mostly can't tell you why beyond 'we need people back in the building.' But before the remote work crowd starts cheering this episode comes for you too. Because flexibility isn't automatically freedom. And a green dot on Slack isn't the same as doing your best work. The real problem isn't where people sit. It's whether your leaders can actually lead regardless of where anyone is. If that question makes you uncomfortable, this episode is for you. Chapters 00:00 The Real Debate Behind Return to Office 02:53 The Leadership Quality Problem 05:41 Key Factors for Team Success 08:30 Building Trust and Connection More on me: Take the Pressure Pattern Check For more information about me go to: chethirani.com Get my Award Winning Bestselling book: Burn The Rules Here Connect, Follow & Subscribe: LinkedIn Youtube Instagram Facebook TikTok #BurnTheRules #LeadFromWithin #ReturnToOffice #RTO #RemoteWork #Leadership #HybridWork #ExecutiveLeadership #Podcast #OrganisationalCulture #Trust

    The Office Debate Is A Distraction. And Your Leaders Know It.

  5. May 21

    Why the Best People in the Room Get Overlooked.

    Most high performers aren't stuck because they're not good enough. They're stuck because they've outgrown the version of themselves that got them there. And the system keeps rewarding the old version. Anam Irfan has spent 16 years inside the GCC's most complex organisations leading HR for 37,000 people at Majid Al Futtaim, shaping AI hiring as CPO at Bytespark, and now advising leaders and talent on how to navigate the market and build real pull. In this conversation, she says the things the HR world usually keeps quiet: that great talent doesn't always rise on merit, that the traditional hiring funnel is a trap, and that AI isn't coming for leaders who think it's coming for the ones who were never really leading. ▶ IN THIS EPISODE Why great talent doesn't always rise on merit and the two things that actually determine who gets promoted in the GCCAccess mapping: Anam's methodology for navigating career growth from 'what jobs are available' to 'who are the decision-makers and how do I get in front of them'The expat pressure nobody talks about and why it changes how people behave at work in ways that don't serve themThe worst thing you can do for your CV and what a top recruiter actually wants to see insteadHow AI has changed what gets you noticed and what gets you filtered out before a human ever sees your nameWhat high performers need to unlearn and why the system rewarding your current behaviour is the exact thing holding you backWhy vulnerability was the skill she learned last and what finally changed when she stopped needing to have all the answers Connect with Anam: LinkedIn Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction and Personal Updates 03:37 - Navigating Career Growth in the GCC 05:55 - The Importance of Relationship Building 08:49 - Challenges of Expat Life in the GCC 11:27 - Career Transitions and Personal Growth 14:03 - The Role of AI in Recruitment 16:34 - Visibility and Access in Career Advancement 19:09 - Leadership in the Age of AI 22:01 - Strategies for Career Growth 24:44 - Networking and Relationship Building 27:04 - The Value of a Strong CV 31:01 - Crafting a Standout CV 36:07 - The Importance of Visibility and Communication 39:26 - Navigating High-Stakes Decisions with Empathy 43:42 - Embracing Vulnerability in Leadership 50:56 - Leveraging AI in the Hiring Process 54:47 - Taking Action: Building Your Personal Brand 01:01:19 - Redefining Leadership 01:01:47 - The Practice of Leadership More on me: Take the Pressure Pattern Check For more information about me go to: chethirani.com Get my Award Winning Bestselling book: Burn The Rules Here Connect, Follow & Subscribe: LinkedIn Youtube Instagram Facebook TikTok

    Why the Best People in the Room Get Overlooked.

  6. May 12

    Your Team Is Quietly Breaking. And It's Your Fault.

    I want to tell you about the worst thing I ever did as a leader. I was running a global payments transformation. High stakes. Executive oversight. Something went wrong, targets slipped, and I was under pressure. So I called a team meeting and I lost it. I called out each person individually. In front of everyone. No coaching. No questions. A performance interrogation. The room went silent. Not the productive kind. The kind where you can feel people shutting down in real time. After that meeting, my team stopped pushing back. Stopped challenging. Stopped bringing ideas. They just complied. And I mistook that compliance for alignment. For months. That's what this episode is about. Your team might be compliant. Your team might be hitting targets. Your team might be saying the right things in meetings. And they might still be quietly breaking. The question is would you even notice? IN THIS EPISODE - The data that should keep every leader awake and why the gap between what the C-suite perceives and what's actually happening on the ground is the real crisis - My first leadership role in 2007 how I nearly destroyed a high performer by looking at spreadsheets instead of the person sitting right in front of me - The three words that changed everything and why the most powerful leadership question isn't a framework - Four signs your team is quietly breaking and you're completely missing them compliance, silence, checked-out high performers, and the open door nobody's walking through - The rebuild at the bank in the Middle East what actually works when trust is gone and how long it takes to earn back - Why you cannot demand trust, mandate psychological safety, or email engagement into existence - Three moves you can make this week and why the first one will tell you everything about the temperature you've been setting Chapters 00:00 The Worst Leadership Mistake 00:28 The Silence in Meetings 00:56 Breaking Trust and Safety 01:25 Compliance vs. Alignment 02:18 Global Engagement Data 03:12 Manager Disengagement and Burnout 04:35 Personal Reflection on Leadership 06:56 Signs Your Team is Quietly Breaking 08:20 High Performers Giving Up 08:46 The Last to Know 09:40 Emotional Inconsistency 10:37 Rebuilding Trust and Culture 12:37 Practicing Reflective Questioning 13:33 One-on-One Feedback 14:29 Measuring Honesty Over Output 15:16 The People State in Leadership 16:15 Taking Action as a Leader More on me: Take the Pressure Pattern Check For more information about me go to: chethirani.com Get my Award Winning Bestselling book: Burn The Rules Here Connect, Follow & Subscribe: LinkedIn Youtube Instagram Facebook TikTok #burntherules #leadfromwithin #leadership #TeamPerformance #psychologicalsafety #employeeengagement #executiveleadership #management #burnout #podcast

    Your Team Is Quietly Breaking. And It's Your Fault.

  7. May 5

    The Moment Your Team Decided to Stop Telling You the Truth.

    When you present something important and the room goes quiet most leaders feel relieved. They read the silence as agreement. They're wrong. Susanna Romantsova is the creator of the Safe Challenger Method™ a framework built at the intersection of psychological safety and high performance. She's a Forbes 30 Under 30, TEDx speaker, and former DEI leader at IKEA, with a track record inside Deloitte, ABB, DHL, Puma, and ING. In this conversation, we get into why psychological safety has nothing to do with comfort, why a quiet room is a warning sign and not a calm one, and the single behaviour she discovered in practice never in any book that determines whether your team ever brings their real thinking to you again. She also burns the golden rule. The one most leaders would defend with their lives. One of the best conversations we've had on this show. IN THIS EPISODE What Susanna notices in the first five minutes of walking into any senior leadership team and what most people completely missThe pressure nobody sees from the outside: how to balance credibility with deep empathy while challenging people at the same timeGrowing up across three countries and speaking four languages and how that kind of background changes how you read a roomThe Matthew Effect: how the initial advantages people receive early in their careers distort how leaders assess potential and what to do about itThe silence question: what to ask when a room goes quiet after you've presented something importantThe behaviour no book has written about three ways leaders unknowingly destroy safety the moment someone is first brave with themThe Safe Challenger Method™: Trust, Insight, Clarity and which one is hardest to hold under real pressureWhy self-trust is the foundation of everything and how asking 'why don't I trust myself' reveals exactly what your team is missingThe golden rule she burned and the new one she uses insteadThe leadership paradox: how to stop thinking in opposites and start leading in the tension Connect with Susanna: LinkedIn YouTube Instagram Safe Challenger Kit More on me: Take the Pressure Pattern Check For more information about me go to: chethirani.com Get my Award Winning Bestselling book: Burn The Rules Here Connect, Follow & Subscribe: LinkedIn Youtube Instagram Facebook TikTok

    The Moment Your Team Decided to Stop Telling You the Truth.

  8. Apr 28

    Being Busy Is Not Leadership.

    Think about yesterday. Your entire day. From the moment you woke up to the moment your head hit the pillow. Now tell me how much of that day was genuinely productive? Not busy. Productive. How many of those meetings actually needed you? How many of those emails moved the needle? And how many hours were spent doing things that felt like work but changed absolutely nothing? Be honest. Because I already know the answer. Most of it was noise. This episode is called Being Busy Is Not Leadership. And before you think this is another anti-hustle, work less and meditate conversation it's not. I'm going after both sides today. Because hustle culture is a lie. But so is the idea that doing less is automatically doing better. Most leaders are trapped somewhere in between. Exhausted and ineffective at the same time. Let me show you a way out. ▶ IN THIS EPISODE - The 90-minute inbox trap: how I spent the best hours of every day on other people's priorities and called it a good start - Why hustle culture is self-destruction with a motivational quote on top and what the research actually says about productivity past 55 hours - Why the anti-hustle movement has a problem too and why 'protecting your energy' has become code for avoiding discomfort - The season everything fell apart: the business, the personal challenges, the decision to get busier instead of facing what was real - The five-minute morning practice that rebuilt my clarity, my focus, and my sense of direction and why it works when nothing else did - Three signs your busyness is noise and not leadership: you're the bottleneck, you're confusing presence with impact, and you're using busyness to hide - Three moves you can make this week and why the time audit result will shock you ▶ KEY MOMENTS 00:00 The Illusion of Productivity 03:46 The Dangers of Busyness 06:30 Finding Alignment in Leadership 09:42 Identifying the Bottlenecks 12:32 Taking Control of Your Time 15:16 Redefining Leadership 15:44 The Practice of Leadership More on me: Take the Pressure Pattern Check For more information about me go to: chethirani.com Get my Award Winning Bestselling book: Burn The Rules Here Connect, Follow & Subscribe: LinkedIn Youtube Instagram Facebook TikTok Keywords: #BurnTheRules #leadfromwithin #leadership #productivity #busyness #focus #burnout #timemanagement #executiveleadership #clarity #podcast

    Being Busy Is Not Leadership.
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Burn The Rules with Chet Hirani is where performance, and mindset meet and where we will rewrite the rules of modern leadership together. Hosted by leadership expert, TEDx speaker, and bestselling award winning author Chet Hirani, this podcast brings you direct conversations with people rewriting what success looks like from business leaders and athletes to entrepreneurs and creators. Each episode breaks down how high performers think, adapt, and lead from within without the over-complication. You’ll hear honest stories, straight talk, and proven habits that help you take control of how you lead, work, and live. If you’re ready to stop playing by outdated rules and start defining your own version of leadership and success this is your place.

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