Through stories from the workplace, the luxury industry, and a simple paper airplane, he argues that the real value of leadership is found in the messy middle, the questioning, judgment, and decision-making that AI can't replace.

The episode offers practical ways to pressure-test AI-generated work and serves as a reminder that while technology can assist the work, leaders still have to do the thinking.

References:

1. https://impact.economist.com/technology-innovation/enterprise-ai-in-action/rewiring-the-maison
2. https://www.instagram.com/kevinboxstudio/?hl=en

Because even in an AI-first world, you still get to choose how you lead.

In this episode, Ryan explores a massive shift in leadership identity where functional authority is no longer the leadership currency. Drawing on insights from a recent LinkedIn discussion with leaders like Tonya Witherspoon and Alex Formey, Ryan investigates what happens when we start managing digital "interns" and overseeing complex workflows we have never personally executed which makes the "what" and "how" less important than the "why" and "who".

In this episode, Ryan's differentiates each type of leader and dives into why nearly 45% of AI initiatives fail due to frontline exclusion and how you can take the reins of your own leadership. We’ll discuss how to stop waiting for corporate permission and start using the organization in your pocket to move from merely managing the business to leading it.

Reference Links

1. New Study from PwC, MI Finds Frontline Leaders Play a Key Role in Manufacturing AI Adoption
2. Organizational Learning - Single and Double Loop

In this episode, he breaks down what AI actually is, how it’s shifting from a tool to something that can act alongside you, and why that changes what it means to be valuable at work.

The focus is on a simple but uncomfortable shift, moving from being the one who gets the work done to the one who leads how the work gets done. It’s a practical starting point for frontline leaders trying to stay human and relevant as everything around them starts to change.

This episode looks at how systems, not people, usually cause the slide, rigid rules, busy work that doesn’t use your brain, and losing your say in how things run. It also gets into the shift happening right now with technology, where holding onto the old work can actually keep you stuck.

The challenge is simple: step out of the “machine work” and get back to the part of leadership only a human can do.

This episode unpacks how easily leaders can fall into the same trap, asking for results without creating understanding. When numbers become the focus, behavior starts bending to protect the metric instead of improving the work. Teams work harder, but not always better. Short-term fixes start to chip away at long-term performance.

Drawing on ideas like “line of sight,” systems thinking, and the reality of pressure on the frontline, this episode challenges leaders to slow down and really understand what’s driving their numbers before reacting.

The shift is simple, but not easy: stop leading the number, and start leading the work behind it.

Because when you help people understand the work, the numbers usually follow.

The real shift is learning to see numbers as signals and symptoms, not causes. Every metric is the result of human behavior shaped by the environment leaders create.

Through simple root cause thinking and the “5 Whys,” this episode helps leaders move from reacting to numbers to understanding what’s actually driving them, so they can lead behavior instead of chasing outcomes.

This one is also a small tribute to Bob Chapman, whose work in Everybody Matters shaped how many of us think about leadership and human dignity at work. Bob believed the way we lead impacts the way people live, and that shows up most clearly in the day-to-day moments between a frontline leader and their team.

We get into what that looks like in real life. Not in big ideas, but in everyday leadership choices: how you train someone on their first shift, whether you take time to listen, whether people feel like they belong or like they’re just filling a spot.

The episode closes with a simple reflection, imagine your 85th birthday and all the people you’ve led over the years showing up. What would you hope they say about working with you?

That answer is being shaped right now, one shift at a time.

In this episode, Ryan explores what it really means to lead a turnaround. Drawing on ideas from Spiral Dynamics and real-world examples like Barry-Wehmiller and Ford, we look at how leaders shift not just performance, but the way a team thinks, communicates, and operates under pressure.

We also go into the harder side of leadership, what to do when some people don’t move with the new environment. At that point, the question shifts from capability to alignment, and leaders are faced with a decision that impacts the entire team.

If you ever inherit(ed) a mess, this episode will help you see it more clearly and lead it more intentionally.

In this episode of Your Preshift, we explore a powerful question: What kind of organization are you growing?

Drawing on the work of Frederic Laloux and the Spiral Dynamics framework, we walk through five common ways organizations operate: Red, Amber, Orange, Green, and Teal, and the leadership beliefs behind each one. From fear-driven environments to rule-based systems, performance cultures, relationship-focused teams, and organizations that function more like living systems, each stage reflects a different assumption about people and how work gets done.

You’ll hear how these dynamics show up in everyday in your leadership through how decisions get made, how mistakes are handled, what gets rewarded, and how people experience your presence as a leader.

One important reminder: most organizations aren’t just one stage. Different teams, departments, and leaders often operate from different mindsets at the same time. The real opportunity for leaders is not labeling their organization, but noticing the environment their leadership is creating.

This episode invites you to reflect on three simple questions:

1. What currently motivates the people on your team?
2. What behaviors does your leadership reinforce?
3. And how might you help your environment move one healthier step forward?

Every leader is cultivating something, and the environment we create shapes how people grow.

If you lead a shift, a classroom, a department, or a team, this conversation will help you better understand the culture you’re building and the role your leadership plays in shaping it.

This episode takes a look at one of the truths of leadership: your presence, your reputation, 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.

In this opening episode, Ryan explores how leaders don’t just disagree on solutions, they disagree on what the actual problem is. One sees accountability. Another sees burnout. Another sees broken systems. Same facts. Different stories.

Drawing on Spiral Dynamics and Karl Weick’s research on sensemaking, the episode unpacks how we don’t react to reality itself, we react to the story we build about it. And under pressure, we double down on the lens that has worked for us before.

The invitation is simple and practical: before arguing about solutions, ask, “What problem do we believe we’re trying to solve?”

That question alone can create connection and change how you lead.

Before you recalibrate trust, adjust structure, or change your level of involvement, you have to know where you’re actually standing. Not on your best day. Not in theory. In pressure.

This episode explores three mirrors that help you locate yourself as a leader over time: pressure, which reveals your reflex, repetition, which exposes the edge of your strengths, and your wake, which shows what your leadership consistently produces.

Because when you lead people over time, your defaults compound. And you cannot intentionally develop others if you don’t know where you are starting from.

Stability keeps stuff from falling apart and unfortunately become the goal. Leaders start protecting what’s steady instead of improving what’s possible. Standards get softened. Feedback gets delayed. Rescue replaces development. The team functions, but it doesn’t get better.

This episode challenges you with two questions:

1. What are you compromising to keep things stable?
2. What are you willing to risk to make things more effective?

The goal isn’t to blow anything up. It’s to protect what’s working while making small, intentional moves that improve performance over time.

Nothing is wrong. Performance often looks fine. But development stalls.

In this episode, Ryan helps leaders spot when they’re on autopilot with people they know well, understand why trust without attention creates distance, and learn how to reopen familiar relationships with clarity, presence, and intention.

You’ll learn why consistent performers often receive the least intentional leadership, how assumptions replace curiosity over time, and why development stalls when leaders stop asking present-tense questions. The episode introduces practical ways to interrupt autopilot using a healthy view of the 9-box and Trust, Structure, and Involvement.

If you’ve ever been surprised by a performance dip, disengagement, or loss of momentum from someone you “know well,” this episode helps you see why, and what to do before drift turns into frustration.

Link to TSI inspired 9-Box

This episode challenges the idea that great leaders have a single leadership “style.” Instead, it makes the case that effective leadership adjusts as people grow and the work changes. When leaders stay fixed: friction and frustration follow.

Using Trust, Structure, and Involvement alongside a healthy take on the 9-box, this episode helps leaders see where someone is right now and make small, intentional adjustments instead of reactive swings.

If leadership has been feeling tougher than it should, this episode explains why, and shows how to realign without lowering standards or starting over.

In this episode, we talk about a core issue in leadership development: binary thinking. Leaders are often taught to choose between trust or structure, involvement or empowerment, autonomy or accountability, when real development requires holding these together.

This episode introduces a practical way to think more clearly about how people grow through the work, not outside of it. You’ll be introduced to Trust, Structure, and Involvement as a lens for noticing how you’re already leading, and how to adjust intentionally as people grow, stall, or step into new responsibility.

We also reframe the 9-box, not as a label or verdict, but as a snapshot in time that helps leaders locate where someone is right now, so they can choose how to show up next.

This isn’t about new tools or fixing people.

It’s about helping leaders stop guessing, stop swinging between extremes, and start leading with clarity over time.

If you’ve ever thought, “Something’s off, but I don’t know what to change,” this episode gives you the map before the journey.

In this opening episode of Leading Over Time, we talk about how development is relational. Over time, people become more like the leaders who lead them, not because of formal training, but because of proximity, observation, and repeated interaction. How you show up shapes how others think, decide, and grow.

This episode explores why developing people in real life is so difficult, even for good leaders. Growth is uneven. Life doesn’t pause. Confidence, ownership, and capability fluctuate. And most leadership systems focus on evaluating people instead of helping leaders adapt their approach as individuals and situations change.

Leading Over Time is about closing that gap. Instead of asking only “Where is this person?”, the series shifts the focus to a more useful question: “How should I be showing up now?” It’s about moving from static assessments to leadership that adjusts over time, responding to growth, pressure, and change with greater clarity and intention.

This episode invites you to bring one real person, one real situation, and one real development question with you as the series unfolds. Not to fix anyone, but to lead more intentionally, one shift at a time.

The transition from peer to leader isn’t awkward because you’re not good at it, it’s awkward because your identity, relationships, responsibilities, and expectations are all shifting at once. In this final episode of the From Buddy to Boss series, we pull together the most shaping ideas from each of those shifts and talk what actually helps leaders find their footing.

You’ll hear why imposter syndrome is a normal, not a flaw, how relationships change when roles change, why leadership work is about cultivating people and capabilities rather than doing tasks, and how organizations are counting on you to grow.

More than anything, this episode offers ideas and encouragement for leaders who are in the middle of becoming, reminding them that their steadiness, honesty, and small daily choices matter more than confidence or polish.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”, this episode is for you!

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.

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.

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.

We talk about how imposter syndrome isn’t a flaw but a sign you’re standing between two versions of yourself, and why honoring those internal nudges toward leadership is part of growing into the role. We revisit the “pool” metaphor and unpack how teams naturally push back when your role changes, and why friendships don’t disappear when you become a leader.

Then we get practical about responsibility: why leadership isn’t about doing the work anymore but cultivating the conditions for others to do it well, and why credibility, not perfection, is the real currency. We close with the expectation that's easy to miss but is always there: you’re expected to help things get better. We explore what growth actually means, how to learn the business you’re part of, and why your development becomes growth for your team.

This final episode is honest, encouraging, and a reminder that leadership is built through small choices that add up over time, and that this is how you become a leader.

You walk through three surprising starting points: growth by subtraction (removing friction, clutter, and outdated habits that weigh your team down), growth by noticing (paying attention to people, patterns, and small signals that reveal where the real opportunities are), and growth by understanding the business (learning which numbers actually matter so your decisions move the needle, not just the paperwork).

This episode gives you simple ways to put this into motion right where you are by asking better questions, clearing one barrier, spotting one overlooked strength, and learning one key metric, so growth becomes less about pressure and more about creating space for your team, and yourself, to move forward together.

Building on the last two episodes, Ryan talks about how time slips away through small, well-intentioned moments, a meeting you didn’t need, a “quick favor” that turns into 30 minutes, and how reclaiming it begins with choice. Using the “See it. Own it. Solve it. Do it.” framework from The Oz Principle, he walks through how leaders can recognize where their time’s really going and start making intentional changes.

He also shares three simple, powerful tools for structuring your week:

• Ben Hutton’s Weekly Planning Rhythm — a four-quadrant chart to prioritize what must, should, could, and can wait. (You can check out Ben’s With Purpose podcast here).
• The Eisenhower Matrix (with a twist) — redefining what’s important by asking, “Important to who?”
• The Pomodoro Technique (leadership version) — reclaiming focus through short, present work blocks instead of constant firefighting.

The message: time management isn’t just about doing more, it’s about choosing better.

Ryan explores four common patterns that create chaos on teams: constant firefighting, hesitation and delay, overcommitting out of good intentions, and neglecting rest. Each one starts from a well-meaning place like caring, helping, wanting to do good, but when left unchecked, they leave teams reactive, exhausted, and unsure of what really matters.

You’ll learn how to replace urgency with intention, trade hesitation for clarity, say no with kindness, and protect your own rest as an act of leadership.

Because the way you spend your minutes becomes the way your team spends theirs, and that's where culture is created.

Most leaders don’t waste time because they’re careless. They waste it because they care. The instinct to help, include, and stay available comes from good intentions, but over time, those same habits start to cost energy, focus, and clarity.

Ryan explores the hidden ways leaders misuse time and how each one, though well-meaning, ends up holding teams back instead of moving them forward. You’ll learn how to step back without disengaging, protect your focus without becoming unavailable, and use your time in ways that actually build capacity in others.

You can’t manage others well if you can’t manage your own reactions, time, and focus. And for most new leaders, that starts with emotions. Ryan breaks down the difference between regulating, suppressing, and reacting, and why calm leadership isn’t about hiding emotion but handling it with intention.

Drawing from Emotional Intelligence, Bowen Theory, and Nonviolent Communication, he explains how emotions move through teams, how to keep yours from taking over, and how to clear tension before it builds.

You’ll walk away with practical tools for staying grounded in stressful moments, repairing when you lose your cool, and creating a team climate that feels steady, even when things aren’t.

Because leadership maturity starts here: learning to lead yourself before you lead anyone else.

Over the past few episodes, we’ve covered responsibility, self-accountability, and accountability. But none of those mean much without follow-through. When consequences aren’t clear or consistent, standards slip, trust fades, and good people end up frustrated.

This episode breaks down what consequences actually are, and what they’re not.

You’ll learn the difference between punishment (about control and compliance) and consequence (about trust and restoration), plus how to make accountability feel fair, not fearful.

Ryan walks through four simple practices that make consequences both effective and human:

1. Connect the consequence to the behavior.
2. Communicate expectations up front.
3. Use autonomy and dignity.
4. Follow through consistently.

It’s a practical look at how follow-through builds trust, teaches ownership, and keeps your culture healthy.

Because at the end of the day, accountability only works when people know their commitments actually mean something.

He breaks down how each plays out on the frontline:

• Responsibility is what you’re for, t’s clarity of ownership and outcomes.
• Self-accountability is what you’re to yourself, owning your gaps before someone else has to.
• Accountability is what you’re with others, the shared follow-through that keeps teams healthy and honest.

Ryan also riffs on Dan Davies idea of The Unaccountability Machine, a system that quietly runs on blame, excuses, confusion, and waiting. He shows how to shut it down by turning blame into curiosity, excuses into ownership, confusion into clarity, and waiting into action.

We say it all the time, “hold them accountable”, but most leaders can’t clearly define what that means. In this episode, Ryan breaks down three connected but very different ideas: responsibility, self-accountability, and accountability.

They get used interchangeably all the time, but they’re not the same, and when leaders blur the lines, trust erodes, expectations get fuzzy, and teams stall.

You’ll learn:

• Why responsibility is what you’re for: the commitments and outcomes you’ve said yes to
• How self-accountability is what you’re to yourself: the honesty and integrity that keep you aligned
• How accountability is what you’re with others: the trust, clarity, and follow-through that hold teams together

These ideas shape your leadership, your team, every relationship, and every culture you are a part of - let this episode help you do it more intentionally.

You’ll hear the story behind NVC and get practical tools to use in your own leadership, relationships, and even at home. Ryan walks step by step through the four moves of NVC:

• Observation – describe what you saw without judgment
• Feeling – name the impact it had on you
• Need – identify the value or standard at stake
• Request – make a clear, respectful ask

It’s not about softening accountability. It’s about leading conversations that reduce defensiveness, build trust, and create a path forward, whether with your team, your kids, or your closest relationships.

Here are some resources to help you on your NVC journey:

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Resources

Official & Core Resources

Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC)

• The official international organization founded by Marshall B. Rosenberg.
• Link: https://www.cnvc.org/

PuddleDancer Press Free Resources

• Offers free printable handouts on the 4-Part NVC Process, and essential Feelings and Needs lists.
• Link: https://nonviolentcommunication.com/resources/

Learning & Training

NVC Academy

• A major online learning hub with courses, a resource library, and free introductory materials.
• Link: https://nvcacademy.com/

BayNVC – Basics of NVC

• A concise and helpful article explaining the core concepts of Nonviolent Communication.
• Link: https://baynvc.org/basics-of-nonviolent-communication/

Foundational Book

• Book: Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall B. Rosenberg, PhD. (Available wherever books are sold or via link above.)

But silence doesn’t solve the problem, it stockpiles it. And when it finally blows, it’s usually bigger, messier, and more expensive than if the conversation had happened earlier.

This episode introduces a simple framework that helps leaders step into hard conversations with clarity and less defensiveness: Nonviolent Communication (NVC):

1. Observation – “Here’s what I’ve noticed…”
2. Feeling – “Here’s how it impacts me/the team…”
3. Need – “Here’s what we need moving forward…”
4. Request – “Can we work on this together?”

The point isn’t to soften accountability, but to create space for honesty that builds trust instead of breaking it.

In this episode, Ryan shares his own 15-year experience of working for a close friend and what it taught him about building friendships that don’t just survive leadership shifts but grow stronger through them. He explores three hard-earned practices—resetting expectations, keeping short accounts through daily forgiveness, and respecting organizational structure—that make friendships both life-giving and sustainable when one of you becomes the boss.

You’ll also hear why blurred friendships so often lead to favoritism, resentment, or burnout—and how the same principles that make for healthy relationships outside of work are exactly what keep workplace friendships from breaking under the weight of leadership.

By the end, you’ll be challenged to take one step toward clarity, honesty, or respect in a friendship at work—so your relationships can give life back to you, not drain it from you.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to recognize and reset your team’s system in a healthy way. We use the image of a pool to help you visualize what happens when the current changes and how your role affects the entire flow.

You’ll explore:

• How promotions shift the dynamics of everyone on the team
• What functional vs. dysfunctional resets actually look like
• The difference between people problems and system problems
• Four simple steps to guide a healthy reset
• What happens if you don’t guide the reset and how that creates lasting dysfunction

Before you focus on fixing relationships, you’ve got to make sure the water you’re all swimming in is clear. This episode talk about how.

Through stories, research, and practical reflection, this episode shows how to:

• Build credibility through consistency
• Create trust through experience
• Uncover how your own beliefs about leadership shape your team's performance

Whether you’re new to the role or trying to reset after a rocky start, this episode offers a clear path to becoming the leader your team wants to follow—by paying attention to the experience you create every single day.

In this episode of Your Preshift, we talk about the internal shift new leaders face when the work that used to define them is no longer theirs. From imposter syndrome to over-functioning, this transition can shake your confidence, and your sense of self.

We’ll explore:

• Why “I am” statements shape our leadership story
• How imposter syndrome shows up for new leaders (and what it’s really saying)
• What Leadership and Self-Deception teaches us about ignoring the inner nudge
• Three practices that help leaders stay grounded in their real identity.

So, whether you’re stepping into leadership for the first time or supporting someone who is, this episode will help you lead with more clarity, humility, and steadiness—without losing yourself in the process.

We’ll unpack what real leadership responsibility looks like—how to stop being the fixer, start being the coach, and build the kind of credibility your team can count on. Plus, we’ll talk about pacing, burnout, micromanagement, and how to redefine what “helping” really means now.

Whether you’re newly promoted or trying to grow as a seasoned frontline leader, this one’s for you.

In this kickoff to our From Buddy to Boss series, we’re talking about what really changes when you get promoted—how people see you, what they expect, how much you doubt yourself, and what you’re suddenly responsible for.

We’ll walk through the four big shifts new leaders face (responsibilities, relationships, identity, and expectations), why they hit so hard, and how to show up with presence instead of panic.

Whether you’re new to leadership or you’re helping someone step into their first role, this episode will help you see the moment for what it is—and lead through it with more clarity, care, and self-awareness.

You’ll hear:

• Why the transition from peer to boss feels so disorienting
• What new leaders often miss—and how to avoid that trap
• A personal story of what not to do when stepping into your first people leadership role
• A practical challenge to help you adjust your approach for where you are now

This series is for new promotes—and the leaders supporting them. Because when we understand this shift better, we lead better.

And if you lead on the frontline, helping someone else take that step might be one of the most rewarding, enjoyable and important parts of your role.

This new Your Preshift series, From Buddy to Boss, is for both the newly promoted leader trying to figure out how to lead, and the seasoned leader guiding someone else through that shift.

Because this transition isn’t just a title change. It’s a full-body, whole-brain shift in how someone is seen, trusted, and expected to show up.

And here’s the thing: if we can better understand this moment, both as the person stepping in, and the one offering support, we can help people take that next step with more steadiness, and a sense of what’s actually changing.

We can help them lead better, sooner.

We can create healthier connection and team dynamics.

We can build workplaces where people feel supported as they grow.

This kickoff episode sets the stage. We name what actually changes when you go from part of the team to leading it—and why that moment matters more than most people realize.

Whether you’ve just been promoted, or you’re promoting someone else—this one’s for you.

Let’s get into it.

This capstone episode traces one leader’s full growing season—from the urgency of early decisions, through the quiet work of tending, pruning, and waiting, all the way to harvest and rest. It’s a story about choosing presence over pressure, care over control, and how the hardest leadership work is often the most human.

As the season unfolds, so does the leader herself—becoming more grounded, more intentional, more like a gardener.

Because in the end, leadership isn’t just about what we get done.

It’s about who we’re becoming—and what we help others become—along the way.

If you’ve been growing with us through this series, this one brings it all home.

We look at three powerful practices from gardening and what they teach us about leadership:

• Grafting: how to bring new energy and perspective onto what’s already rooted and strong—without tearing everything down
• Controlled burning: how to intentionally let go of old meetings, traditions, or emotional weight that no longer serves the team
• Cutting back: how to scale down even good things so something better can grow—including things you’re great at but may need to do less of

Whether you’re leading through a season of growth, fatigue, or transition, this episode offers a grounded, practical approach to making change with purpose. Because the healthiest next season starts with the choices you make now.

Reflection and Team Discussion Questions

When one season ends and the next hasn’t yet begun, there’s an in-between space. In the garden, it’s when the soil rests. In leadership, it’s where you catch your breath. But more than that, it’s where you begin to notice who you’re becoming.

This episode explores:

• How becoming isn’t about adding more—but about unlearning what no longer serves
• Why other people’s growth can stir up fear, and how to respond with presence instead of protection
• What your default reactions under pressure reveal about your patterns—and how to change them
• Why personal growth doesn’t happen in isolation, and how the right relationships help you grow
• How overfunctioning as a leader can step on the very growth you’re trying to cultivate

This isn’t about pushing to the next thing. It’s about noticing what’s shifting in you—and choosing to let it take root.

Reflection and Team Discussion Questions

We often think of rest as a break we earn after burnout. But real rest—the kind that happens between seasons—isn’t passive. It’s not time off. It’s intentional, human work.

In this episode, Ryan talks about:

• Why rest is productive, not wasteful
• How good leaders build space into transitions instead of rushing through
• What it looks like to create breathing room on the frontline
• And how rest reconnects us—to ourselves, our values, and the people we lead

This isn’t about stopping. It’s about tending the soil so the next season can actually grow something worth harvesting.

Reflection and Team Discussion Questions

But harvest is also about endings. And how we end a season says a lot about the kind of leaders we are.

In this episode of Your Preshift, we explore how our mindset—scarcity or abundance—shapes the way we let go:

Of people.

Of processes.

Of plans that no longer serve.

Scarcity says:

“Hold on. There might not be enough.”

“Don’t risk the loss.”

“Keep what’s working—even if it’s no longer right.”

Abundance says:

“There is enough for all of us.”

“What I release creates room for something/someone new.”

“Letting go can be an act of care.”

We’ll walk through:

🌾 What it looks like to lead from each mindset in real leadership moments

🌿 Why letting go with intention builds trust—even when the decision is hard

🧭 Three practical ways to help things end well:

1. Let go with care
2. Leave something nourishing
3. Reflect before replanting

Because leadership isn’t just about starting strong.

It’s about closing with clarity, courage, and heart.

Click here for personal reflection and team discussion questions.

Inviting others into the moment.

Because harvest isn’t meant to be a solo act.

It’s a time to ask for help, share the work, and recognize that what we’ve grown—we’ve grown together.

In this episode, we explore:

🌾 Why asking for help isn’t a weakness, but a sign of trust and shared purpose

🌱 How inviting others in can combat loneliness—for your team and yourself

🍽 A story about farmers, shared meals, and how simple traditions can create deep connection

🧠 And why people feel most loyal to what they’ve helped build

If you’ve been carrying a lot on your own—or leading like you have to—this episode is a reminder:

You don’t have to do it all alone.

The harvest is better when it’s shared.

Click here to download personal reflections and team discussion questions.

Because whether you notice it or not, your leadership creates results. The way people show up. The tone of a shift. How your team handles stress. How you handle stress. That’s the fruit.

This episode helps you pay attention to:

• What’s growing around you—and why
• How your leadership habits shape the people you work with
• What you’re becoming through the way you lead
• And how to work on the root—not just the outcome—when something feels off

We also share the story of a farmer who grows apples with incredible care and patience—not because he’s chasing results, but because he knows the process shapes him too.

If you're leading a team and want to understand what you're really growing, this one's worth your time.

Because once something’s growing, you don’t walk away. You prune, shape, and protect.

In Part 2, we talk about:

✂️ Pruning – making space for healthy growth by removing what no longer serves

🏗 Structure – how boundaries can free people instead of boxing them in

🛡 Protecting Vulnerable Growth – offering support without enabling or coddling

This episode reminds leaders that tending isn’t just gentle—it’s deliberate.

And sometimes, what looks like limitation is actually love.

In Part 1 of Tending What You’ve Planted, we explore what it means to stay present with your team after the role is assigned and the shift has started. Like gardeners, leaders have to tend—through attention, encouragement, and care.

This episode covers:

👀 Observation – how noticing patterns, effort, and energy helps you lead better

💧 Watering – why everyday recognition matters more than we realize

🌿 Weeding – how small corrections early on can prevent bigger problems later

Because what you don’t deal with grows just as fast as what you do.

You can’t outsource this part. Leadership shows up in the daily tending.

“What am I cultivating here?”

Because like a garden, your team culture doesn’t grow by accident. It grows from what—and who—you plant.

We explore how planting isn’t just about putting people in roles—it’s about why you put them there, and what you expect to grow.

You’ll hear:

• Why intentional leaders don’t just fill spots—they shape ecosystems
• How seemingly small decisions (like who trains a new hire or greets at the front door) have lasting ripple effects
• How to recognize what you're really planting—clarity or confusion, support or pressure
• And why patience, timing, and internal growth matter more than quick fixes

Whether you’re leading a restaurant team, a project group, or a classroom—this episode reminds you that every planting decision is a cultural one.

It’s not just about getting the job done.

It’s about building the kind of place where people can grow.

Because even in a mechanic-first world, you still get to choose how you lead.

Great leaders don’t force growth. They create the conditions for people to thrive.

This episode lays the foundation for the series and invites listeners to rethink how they lead: not by tightening bolts, but by tending the soil

We unpack what healthy curiosity looks like—and how unhealthy curiosity can subtly erode trust. You’ll learn how curiosity is rooted in trust, agency, and hope—and why cultivating it makes leadership easier, not harder. We offer practical ways to model and inspire curiosity on the frontline, including how to turn reactive moments into reflective ones.

Plus, we dig into how humility powers curiosity, and how staying open as a leader helps your team grow. Because when you lead with curiosity, you don’t just solve problems—you develop people.

Resources:

1. Workplace Stability by Ruth Weirich

Agency is more than motivation or job clarity—it’s the deep, internal belief that I can act, I can decide, and what I do matters. We’ll talk about how leaders inspire agency by giving trust, not just tasks—and why believing in someone’s judgment is what actually helps them grow.

You’ll learn how to spot the difference between low-agency and high-agency language, why connecting work to human impact is essential, and how the way you describe a job can either flatten or elevate a person’s sense of purpose.

Plus, we offer three practical challenges you can try this week to build agency on your team—one step, one conversation, one shift at a time.

Research Links:

1. Center for Self Determination Theory
2. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101860

Resources:

The Thin Book of Trust by Charles Feltman

Toseef M, Kiran A, Zhuo S, Jahangir M, Riaz S, Wei Z, Ghauri TA, Ullah I, Ahmad SB. Inspirational Leadership and Innovative Communication in Sustainable Organizations: A Mediating Role of Mutual Trust. Front Psychol. 2022 Jul 28;13:846128. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.846128. PMID: 36003091; PMCID: PMC9394427.

Martino J, Pegg J, Frates EP. The Connection Prescription: Using the Power of Social Interactions and the Deep Desire for Connectedness to Empower Health and Wellness. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2015 Oct 7;11(6):466-475. doi: 10.1177/1559827615608788. PMID: 30202372; PMCID: PMC6125010.

Vagisha, P S J, Iyer V. Mapping inspiration in human resources: A systematic review of themes and approaches. F1000Res. 2023 Jun 16;12:694. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.128853.1. PMID: 37635944; PMCID: PMC10448870.

Legood, A., van der Werff, L., Lee, A., & Den Hartog, D. (2021). A meta-analysis of the role of trust in the leadership-performance relationship. European Journal of Work andOrganizational Psychology, 30(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2020.1819241

Some of Ryan's favorite inspirational talks from real life:

I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown

and from movies: (some have explicit language)

Any Given Sunday Pre-Game Speech (Al Pacino)

Barbie - America Ferrera's Speech

Miracle Speech Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell)

In this kickoff episode, host Ryan Bond—Chief People Officer at Thrive Restaurant Group—shares why frontline leaders are the true game-changers in any organization. With nearly 8,000 team members across 185 restaurants, Ryan brings real-world insight into what it really takes to lead people on the frontlines of work.

💥 If you’re leading a shift, managing a team, or just trying to make it through a busy day—this episode is your reminder that what you do matters.

🎯 In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why frontline leadership is the most influential role in the business
• How every business result traces back to people—and their leaders
• Why real change starts with human connection, not spreadsheets
• What makes the relationship between a person and their leader the most powerful force in the workplace

This podcast is your space to recharge, refocus, and reconnect with what matters. Insight. Encouragement. Action. All in under five minutes.

📝 Got feedback or a story to share? Email us at hello@yourpreshift.com

👍 Like what you hear? Follow, subscribe, and leave a review to help more frontline leaders find their way here.

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Your Preshift

Showing up human. Leading with heart.