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A hallway door thumps shut, a six-year-old freezes, and a lifetime relationship with fear begins. That moment—watching his grandfather die and feeling abandoned in the aftermath—didn’t just mark Andrew Poles; it wired him. Today, Andrew coaches founders and CEOs with a rare mix of empathy and edge, and he’s candid about the cost of running on fear. We go deep into the psychology of performance, where “dirty fuel” can drive impressive results while quietly burning your inner life, and how to swap it for a cleaner engine without losing ambition.

We unpack the realities of coaching at the highest levels: fundraising pressure, shrinking runways, investor scrutiny, and the invisible strain that can swallow leaders whole. Andrew explains why the best CEOs are diagnosticians—people who see the world as it is, separate ego from evidence, and pivot fast. He breaks down a three-part framework to prevent burnout: management literacy for first-time leaders, upgrading motivation from fear to meaning, and killing the habit of mistaking motion for progress. Along the way, he shares a raw story about missing his daughter’s prom—a moment that exposed how success had turned him into a coward—and the boundary shift that followed.

You’ll also hear a grounded take on the coaching industry’s promise and pitfalls, from confidentiality to professionalism, and a counterintuitive leadership reset: you don’t need all the answers; you need the courage to say, “I’m uncertain—let’s figure it out together.” We close with an unexpected vision about reducing conflict at scale, not through noise, but through empathy that humanizes the “other” and makes solutions possible.

If you’re a builder or an aspiring one, consider this your nudge: the dream chose you because it wants to enter the world through your hands. Listen, share with a friend who’s close to burnout, and leave a review to tell us what fuel you’re running on today.

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