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"I shouldn't have to explain this." Sound familiar? A lot of leaders feel this way about making clear requests of people. It creates a destructive cycle: vague directions lead to poor results, which fuel resentment and reinforce the belief that explanation shouldn't be necessary.

The hidden cost is teams divided between mind-readers and the confused, while everyone wastes time "spinning," trying to guess what leaders actually want. What feels like giving creative freedom often creates anxiety and inefficiency instead.

We explore how cultural pressure to move fast reinforces communication shortcuts, yet spending time on clear requests upfront saves massive time fixing problems later. We'll challenge you to ask yourself: "Am I more committed to my belief that I shouldn't have to explain this, or to getting the result I want?"

Whether you're a frustrated leader or someone constantly guessing what your boss wants, this episode offers practical insights to break the cycle. Notice your own "shoulding" and consider whether it's serving you and your team.

We want to thank the team that continues to support us in producing, editing and sharing our work. Jonah Smith for the heartfelt intro music you hear at the beginning of each podcast. We LOVE it. Hillary Rideout for writing descriptions, designing covers and helping us share our work on social media. Chad Penner for his superpower editing work to take our recordings from bumpy and glitchy to smooth and easy to listen to episodes for you to enjoy. From our hearts, we are so thankful for this team and the support they provide us.

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What happens when we trust life enough to put down our armour and show up authentically? Poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer takes us on a journey through the transformative power of creative practice and how it builds the muscle of trust - in life, in ourselves - that we need in our most challenging moments.

Rosemerry opens our conversation with her powerful poem "Growing Trust," asking why we would ever "slip back into armour" when life itself is waiting to move through us. She shares how her commitment to writing poems daily completely shifted her relationship with creativity, moving from perfectionism to valuing truth and authenticity above all else. This daily practice became about cultivating a way of being present with whatever arises.

The parallels between creative practice and leadership emerge throughout our discussion; when leaders do their own inner work, others can sense it, creating psychological safety without effort. As one of Rosemerry's students expressed, "I trust you because I can tell you've done your work." This embodied authenticity allows leaders to create spaces where vulnerability and creativity can thrive.

Rosemerry's wisdom offers a powerful invitation to trust what emerges when we get out of our own way and open ourselves to the inherent creativity of life itself.

We want to thank the team that continues to support us in producing, editing and sharing our work. Jonah Smith for the heartfelt intro music you hear at the beginning of each podcast. We LOVE it. Hillary Rideout for writing descriptions, designing covers and helping us share our work on social media. Chad Penner for his superpower editing work to take our recordings from bumpy and glitchy to smooth and easy to listen to episodes for you to enjoy. From our hearts, we are so thankful for this team and the support they provide us.

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What truly makes a good leader? We dive into this question by challenging ourselves to identify the qualities that matter most – and then getting real about how we're actually doing.

We share some of our own leadership strengths and blind spots, but the conversation quickly evolves into something more interesting: How do you even know if you're leading well? Turns out, your body might have more answers than you think.

We wrestle with some of the trickier aspects of leadership – like how to balance your time and energy across your team, when to make tough calls about people, and why the idea of the all-knowing leader is pretty much a myth.

Leadership isn't something you figure out once or on in solitude. It's an ongoing practice that requires honest self-reflection, building the right support network, and a willingness to call for support when needed. And trust? It's woven into everything; trust in ourselves, in thought partners, in sources of feedback and in the feedback they offer, in our bodies, and our emotions.

We wrap up with a challenge, actually a "Double Dog Dare," that might sound simple but could change how you think about your leadership. Ready to take it on? We'd love to hear what you discover.

We want to thank the team that continues to support us in producing, editing and sharing our work. Jonah Smith for the heartfelt intro music you hear at the beginning of each podcast. We LOVE it. Hillary Rideout for writing descriptions, designing covers and helping us share our work on social media. Chad Penner for his superpower editing work to take our recordings from bumpy and glitchy to smooth and easy to listen to episodes for you to enjoy. From our hearts, we are so thankful for this team and the support they provide us.

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Have you ever felt that weighty silence in a team meeting when dissatisfaction hangs in the air but remains unspoken? That silence might be eroding trust beneath the surface of your relationships and organizations.

In this conversation, we explore how dissatisfaction manifests across different contexts - from personal relationships to large organizations, with special focus on team dynamics when remaining quiet creates invisible barriers.

We discuss how leaders can recognize the signs of team dissatisfaction before it undermines culture and introduce ideas for addressing it productively. The conversation also touches on our challenging relationship with self-disappointment and why we often avoid confronting uncomfortable emotions.

Join us as we unpack this universal experience that affects every relationship but rarely gets the attention it deserves and discover how properly addressing dissatisfaction can be the catalyst for rebuilding trust and connection in your most important relationships.

We want to thank the team that continues to support us in producing, editing and sharing our work. Jonah Smith for the heartfelt intro music you hear at the beginning of each podcast. We LOVE it. Hillary Rideout for writing descriptions, designing covers and helping us share our work on social media. Chad Penner for his superpower editing work to take our recordings from bumpy and glitchy to smooth and easy to listen to episodes for you to enjoy. From our hearts, we are so thankful for this team and the support they provide us.

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Could love be the key to workplace innovation, productivity, and social change? Amy Elizabeth Fox, CEO of Mobius Consulting, thinks so. We have a fascinating conversation with her in which she advocates integrating healing practices and psycho-spiritual transformation into organizations, challenging the idea that caring connection and high performance are mutually exclusive.

Amy believes our current reality (which she describes as brittle, anxious, nonlinear, and incomprehensible) requires stronger emotional connections within organizations, yet most workplaces remain stuck in outdated models that view emotions and vulnerability as weaknesses.

Tune in to hear how embracing love in business and recognizing others' inherent dignity, organizations can become powerful catalysts for broader social change.

We want to thank the team that continues to support us in producing, editing and sharing our work. Jonah Smith for the heartfelt intro music you hear at the beginning of each podcast. We LOVE it. Hillary Rideout for writing descriptions, designing covers and helping us share our work on social media. Chad Penner for his superpower editing work to take our recordings from bumpy and glitchy to smooth and easy to listen to episodes for you to enjoy. From our hearts, we are so thankful for this team and the support they provide us.

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Psychologist Dr. Jody Carrington joins us to discuss the paradoxical nature of being human: we are biologically wired for connection, yet struggle to truly see each other. Drawing from her work with first responders and children, she explains how emotional regulation builds trust and why distrust often stems from trauma rather than choice.

We explore how digital connectivity, sleep deprivation, and fractured attention hijack our nervous systems, undermining our capacity for trust and empathy. Dr. Carrington offers simple yet transformative practices that serve as neurobiological interventions and suggests that humanity's purpose may be helping each other navigate life with greater calm and compassion.

Listen to discover how practicing emotional regulation might be the revolution our disconnected world needs most.

We want to thank the team that continues to support us in producing, editing and sharing our work. Jonah Smith for the heartfelt intro music you hear at the beginning of each podcast. We LOVE it. Hillary Rideout for writing descriptions, designing covers and helping us share our work on social media. Chad Penner for his superpower editing work to take our recordings from bumpy and glitchy to smooth and easy to listen to episodes for you to enjoy. From our hearts, we are so thankful for this team and the support they provide us.

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Trust-building isn’t just a nice concept; it can be identified as a key performance indicator that can reshape how consistently people build and maintain trust within an organization and even with external stakeholders.

We're joined by Sandra Rose and Leonie von Uthmann from NRICHED, who introduce their groundbreaking tool, TrustY - an innovative product that puts a number on trust in your organization. Together, we break down the four essential pillars of trust - sincerity, reliability, competence, and care - and explore how each one impacts workplace dynamics and how each can be measured to pinpoint opportunities for strengthening.

Sandra and Leonie share real-world stories that show how companies can measure and improve trust levels, leading to more engaged teams and less turnover. And we tackle the shift from seeing trust as a "soft skill" to recognizing it as a vital business metric that drives success.

We want to thank the team that continues to support us in producing, editing and sharing our work. Jonah Smith for the heartfelt intro music you hear at the beginning of each podcast. We LOVE it. Hillary Rideout for writing descriptions, designing covers and helping us share our work on social media. Chad Penner for his superpower editing work to take our recordings from bumpy and glitchy to smooth and easy to listen to episodes for you to enjoy. From our hearts, we are so thankful for this team and the support they provide us.

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In our latest episode, we talk about the often-overlooked but game-changing aspect of flexible leadership with Kevin Eikenberry, a well-known author and leadership expert. As leadership gets more complex, knowing how to be flexible gives leaders the tools they need to handle uncertainty. Kevin shares how leaders can develop an adaptive mindset based on intention and awareness, helping them respond to challenges on the fly.

You'll hear Kevin's take on self-reflection, understanding context, and why moving away from rigid answers creates a more collaborative environment. As always, our conversation blends theory with practical approaches, showing that flexibility isn't about abandoning your values; it's about enhancing how you respond to different situations while staying true to yourself.

Kevin has generously offered a unique gift for our listeners: KevinEikenberry.com/gift

Join us for a great conversation about building trust and vulnerability in leadership roles and how these elements help create resilient, high-performing teams. Whether you're a veteran leader or just starting out, this episode offers insights that can transform your leadership approach.

We want to thank the team that continues to support us in producing, editing and sharing our work. Jonah Smith for the heartfelt intro music you hear at the beginning of each podcast. We LOVE it. Hillary Rideout for writing descriptions, designing covers and helping us share our work on social media. Chad Penner for his superpower editing work to take our recordings from bumpy and glitchy to smooth and easy to listen to episodes for you to enjoy. From our hearts, we are so thankful for this team and the support they provide us.