This is our most-listened-to episode for a reason.

Frontline leaders don’t need hype, they need something more eduring. This episode breaks down real hope, not optimism or cheerleading, but the belief that the future can be better and that your actions matter in bringing it to life.

You’ll hear why hope is a practical leadership skill, especially in hard seasons, and how it’s built through trust, agency, and honest conversations, not slogans. We explore how leaders can inspire hope without ignoring reality, and why pairing truth with belief is often the most powerful thing you can offer your team.

If you’re leading tired, stretched people, or feeling that weight yourself, this episode gives you language and a way to help people keep moving forward, including you.

This isn’t feel-good leadership.

It’s hope that actually works.

When you walk into the room, your team expects what your presence brings.

In this episode of Your Preshift, we focus on what it means to be a “here comes help” leader, someone whose presence makes work clearer, steadier, and more doable.

A “help” leader doesn’t rush in to fix or take over. They show up focused on people, not just tasks. They listen before deciding, bring context others don’t have, and use their authority to help bring clarity and insight instead of pressure.

This episode explores how helpful leadership looks in real life: staying present with people, doing the work only a leader can do, and using power in ways that keep responsibility with the team.

How does your team feel when they see you coming? Do they breathe easier, or brace for impact?

This episode takes a look at one of the truths of leadership: your presence arrives before your words do, and your team already has a reputation for you, whether you’ve named it or not.

We explore how your internal view of leadership shapes the way you show up either from the “mechanic” mindset of correcting and tightening to the “gardener” mindset of teaching and growing. Then we break down some patterns that often determine whether leaders get experienced as help or trouble: the Fix-It Reflex, emotional whiplash, and chronic urgency. And yes, we name the infamous “Swoop and Poop”—the habit of flying in, dropping criticism and direction, and disappearing before any help or support can take root.

This episode is about awareness of patterns that aren’t character flaws; simply learned habits. And because they’re learned, they can be unlearned.