Sacking the Inner Critic: How to avoid chaos and build confidence | #42

How RTT practitioner and former corporate leader Richard Stokes turned personal crisis into a mission to help others challenge limiting narratives and rediscover confidence.In this deeply honest Voices of Leadership episode, Dave sits down with Richard Stokes, RTT Practitioner and former senior corporate leader, to explore what happens when a successful life begins to unravel, and how it can lead to a richer, more grounded kind of leadership.Rich shares his candid story of high-pressure corporate success, burnout, and eventual rehab, and how that experience led him to retrain as a Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) practitioner. Together, he and Dave explore how uncovering and rewiring limiting beliefs can transform not only personal wellbeing but also leadership performance, confidence, and team culture.This is a conversation about humility, honesty, and rediscovering your inner cheerleader, a reminder that impactful and connected leadership starts with a healthy mindset.Key Talking Points:Richard’s corporate journey and the early mentors who ignited his passion for people developmentHow unconscious beliefs and inner narratives quietly limit performance, even among senior and experienced leadersThe moment of hitting rock bottom and the lessons from rehab that reshaped Richard’s approach to life and leadershipWhy humility and self-reflection are cornerstones of sustainable leadershipUnderstanding RTT, what it is, how it works, and how it applies in non-therapeutic, business settings“Lie, cheat and steal”: reframing self-talk and reclaiming the confidence you were born withHow reframing fear as energy can turn anxiety into purposeful action RTT’s role in building engagement, reducing presenteeism, and unblocking team potentialThe simple truth: before you can fully unleash positive impact on others, you have to quieten the inner critic and unlock yourself