diff --git a/man/stackctl.1.ronn b/man/stackctl.1.ronn
index 5f9ec2f..8863fb2 100644
--- a/man/stackctl.1.ronn
+++ b/man/stackctl.1.ronn
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ stackctl(1) - manage CloudFormation Stacks through specifications
 ## OPTIONS
 
   * `-d`, `--directory`=<PATH>:
-    Where to find specifications. Default is `.`.
+    Use the stack collection located at <PATH> (default: current working
+    directory).
 
   * `--filter`=<PATTERN[,PATTERN]>:
     Restrict specifications to those whose paths match any given <PATTERN>.
diff --git a/package.yaml b/package.yaml
index 7cd0871..865ec01 100644
--- a/package.yaml
+++ b/package.yaml
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ library:
     - monad-logger
     - mtl
     - optparse-applicative
+    - prettyprinter
     - resourcet
     - rio
     - semigroups
diff --git a/src/Stackctl/DirectoryOption.hs b/src/Stackctl/DirectoryOption.hs
index a156a84..9acb7d9 100644
--- a/src/Stackctl/DirectoryOption.hs
+++ b/src/Stackctl/DirectoryOption.hs
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ instance HasDirectoryOption DirectoryOption where
 envDirectoryOption :: Env.Parser Env.Error DirectoryOption
 envDirectoryOption =
   Env.var (Env.str <=< Env.nonempty) "DIRECTORY"
-    $ Env.help "Operate on specifications in this directory"
+    $ Env.help directoryHelp
 
 directoryOption :: Parser DirectoryOption
 directoryOption =
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ directoryOption =
       [ short 'd'
       , long "directory"
       , metavar "PATH"
-      , help "Operate on specifications in PATH"
+      , help directoryHelp
       , action "directory"
       ]
+
+directoryHelp :: String
+directoryHelp =
+  "Use the stack collection located at PATH (default: current working directory)"
diff --git a/src/Stackctl/Subcommand.hs b/src/Stackctl/Subcommand.hs
index eb84864..ec7d33c 100644
--- a/src/Stackctl/Subcommand.hs
+++ b/src/Stackctl/Subcommand.hs
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import Stackctl.Prelude
 
 import qualified Env
 import Options.Applicative
+import Prettyprinter (pretty, vsep)
+import Prettyprinter.Util (reflow)
 import Stackctl.AWS (handlingServiceError)
 import Stackctl.AutoSSO
 import Stackctl.CLI
@@ -46,7 +48,9 @@ runSubcommand' title parseEnv parseCLI sp = do
   (options, act) <-
     applyEnv
       <$> Env.parse (Env.header $ unpack title) parseEnv
-      <*> execParser (withInfo title $ (,) <$> parseCLI <*> subparser sp)
+      <*> customExecParser
+        (prefs helpShowGlobals)
+        (withInfo title $ (,) <$> parseCLI <*> subparser sp)
 
   act options
  where
@@ -78,4 +82,15 @@ runAppSubcommand f subOptions options =
     $ f subOptions
 
 withInfo :: Text -> Parser a -> ParserInfo a
-withInfo d p = info (p <**> helper) $ progDesc (unpack d) <> fullDesc
+withInfo d p =
+  info (p <**> helper)
+    $ progDescDoc
+    $ Just
+    $ vsep
+      [ pretty d
+      , ""
+      , reflow
+          $ "By default, this will operate on the entire stack collection. To"
+            <> " operate on a specific stack or set of stacks, use the --filter"
+            <> " argument to filter the collection by file path."
+      ]
diff --git a/stackctl.cabal b/stackctl.cabal
index 7d0a84c..c920407 100644
--- a/stackctl.cabal
+++ b/stackctl.cabal
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 cabal-version: 1.18
 
--- This file has been generated from package.yaml by hpack version 0.37.0.
+-- This file has been generated from package.yaml by hpack version 0.38.1.
 --
 -- see: https://github.com/sol/hpack
 
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ library
     , monad-logger
     , mtl
     , optparse-applicative
+    , prettyprinter
     , resourcet
     , rio
     , semigroups