Drew Knowles

Drew Knowles, director of Influential You with 25 years in human behaviour and performance coaching, brings the mental health crisis in construction into sharp focus. Construction has the most suicides and most divorces of any industry. Drew works with CEOs and senior leaders who come to him at their most broken, marriages failing, doctors pushing medication, not seeing their kids. The conversation explores the root causes of stress in construction, how leaders become robots grinding through the machine, and what "being influential" really means: helping people get along better.

Key Topics Discussed

• Mental Health in Construction. Highest suicide rates, most divorces of any industry. Senior leaders come to Drew when they're "most broken", marriages failing, medication, not seeing kids. They've become robots who never stopped to ask "what am I doing?"
• Stress and burnout. The construction industry is "stressed out as [ __ ]." Leaders crush it professionally but their personal lives collapse. Andy: "Sounds a bit like me."
• Influence vs authority. Drew's work: "How do you get better buy-in? How do you help people get along better?" Not Instagram influence, real influence through human connection.
• Leadership Development. Leaders often don't know how to deal with the issues piling up. They've reached senior positions by being machines, never stopping to reflect.

Notable Quotes

• Drew: "The best clients that would come to me, CEOs of New Zealand's largest companies, was when they were the most broken."
• Drew: "Construction has the most suicides and the most divorces of any industry."
• Andy: "Sounds a bit like me."

Guest Background

Drew Knowles has 25 years in human behaviour and performance. He's trained, coached, and advised tens of thousands of people across all areas of life. In the last decade, he's specialised in mental performance around stress. His company Influential You focuses on helping business leaders get better buy-in and help people get along better.