Renée Giarrusso is the founder & director of RG Dynamics, as well as a leadership expert and speaker. She also recently published her book, Gift Mindset.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
After 12 years in senior leadership roles within a global organisation I founded RG Dynamics in 2006. We work with leaders, teams and organisations to energise mindset and accelerate communication and leadership to lift performance and culture.
We do this through transformational workshops, coaching programs and speaking engagements. I have also published three books to assist in sharing my message.
2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
Every day is so different and diverse, which I love. For example, yesterday I woke at 5am and did 30 minutes of meditation before driving to the CBD to run a 4-hour leadership program.
After lunch on the run I zoomed in to coach a client and straight after that I was interviewed on a podcast. From there I had a sales meeting by phone and then spent 2 hours writing an article and a blog for next week finishing at 8pm.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
Remote work has been part of my life for 15 years and something I have embraced and adapted to. I am running live virtual workshops from my home studio and run webinars and mentoring sessions via my home office and shared office.
In conjunction with this I work onsite with clients and can be found in cafes & libraries writing and catching up in between sessions. I love remote work so much I created an online course for people called: Supercharge Working Remotely.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
It’s all about work life integration for me. Bringing in daily habits and rituals and protecting these. Being extremely driven and passionate I need to diarise “me time”.
A “bookend” habit I created is to start and close the day with a walk first and last thing and shut the office door at night. I tap into doing what lights me up and energises me and this includes: cooking, yoga, reading and connecting with people.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
Yes, I’ve transitioned my entire business to online and this forced me to evaluate many routines. I’ve stopped driving to meetings that can be done virtually and I’ve converted most coaching to online.
I block time to exercise first thing in the morning and where a screen isn’t required for interactions, I will do a walk and talk. I’ve also scheduled 1 day a month to have up to 5 meetings or coaching sessions in the Botanical garden, people love it.
I also do different tasks in different places around the house, this helps me rezone and focus.
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
I absolutely love Atomic Habits by James Clear, such a well-structured and easy to apply book.
Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart is another great read all around mindset and intention and is a true story set in a magic shop.
Oprah’s Soul Conversations as a podcast is insightful and refreshing and you can’t go past Seth Godwin’s simple yet impactful newsletter.
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
As an avid reader I love the app Blinkist that allows you to read or listen to key insights from books, great as an overview if you are time poor and can help you choose what to read next.
Voxer is a great app to audio record thoughts and ideas and I used this to capture key thoughts for my books. I have recently purchased the Remarkable Tablet; it looks and feels like paper and is a design and writing vehicle with no links to social media so you can really focus.
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
There are so many people I can think of, but I think what I find inspirational is someone who is juggling a business or senior role, travelling, kids and still maintaining energy and focus to make a difference or someone transitioning a side hustle into a full time focus whilst in another role.
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
I think it’s about integrating small things each day as the thought of balance can sometimes create a visual of scales and an imbalance which can lead to guilt. Create 1-2 small habits and expand on these.
To stay re-energised, know and do what lights you up and gives you a pep in your step. In the workplace bring this in as much as you can especially on a Monday morning as this can set the tone for the week.
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