The Heart Attack That Changed Everything - Dave Harris

In this inspiring episode of the Onward Shift Podcast, Vishal Narbheram sits down with Dave Harris to explore a journey shaped by adversity, resilience and personal growth. Dave reflects on growing up after his parents separated, never quite feeling like he belonged and spending much of his early life searching for identity and purpose from travelling the world to building a career in construction leadership, he shares the lessons learned through pressure, responsibility and discovering where his true strengths lay. 

The conversation takes a powerful turn as Dave opens up about experiencing a stress-induced heart incident while managing a high-pressure construction project. He explains how that moment forced him to question what "normal" really looked like and why returning to the life that nearly broke him was never going to be the answer. Together, Vish and Dave discuss leadership, respect, trust, mental health, self-awareness and why building authentic relationships is just as important as delivering successful projects. They also explore practical ways construction professionals can better monitor both their physical and mental wellbeing before reaching crisis point. This is an honest conversation about pressure, purpose and becoming the person you were always meant to be.

💬 Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions around mental health, stress, heart health and emotional wellbeing.

Key Topics

• Growing up after parental separation
• Searching for identity and purpose
• Leadership lessons from construction
• Building trust and authentic relationships
• Managing pressure in high-performance environments
• Dave's stress-induced heart incident
• Recognising the warning signs of stress
• Mental and physical health in construction
• Self-awareness and personal growth
• Why respect is the foundation of great leadership

Chapters

00:00 David's Upbringing and Early Life06:08 The Search for Identity and Escape13:33 Transitioning into Construction20:01 Navigating the Construction Industry26:02 The Importance of Relationships in Construction32:07 The Power of Authentic Conversations35:33 Facing Pressure: A Personal Journey44:33 The Impact of Stress on Health55:27 Principles for Life and Work

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Learn more about the mental health support Onward Shift offers: ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.onwardshift.com⁠⁠

Follow the host and founder of Onward Shift - Vishal Narbheram on LinkedIn here: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishal-narbheram-56bb3a194/⁠⁠ 

You can find Dave Harris here: 

Linkedin - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-harris-a6178a139/

Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/0JDdXuJ802VWZ4lFCAH2Vs?si=dd52b87074d04bf5