You’re the Boss, Now What? with Desiree Petrich | Leadership and Team Development for Managers and Team Leaders
A leadership podcast for managers who want stronger teams, less drama, and more trust at work.
If you are a manager of people, this podcast is your playbook for the real challenges of leadership!
Each week, your host Desiree Petrich shares practical tools and frameworks from Working Genius, DISC, and The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team to help you:
- Hold employees accountable without micromanaging
- Handle conflict at work before it turns into drama
- Build trust and respect as a confident, credible leader
- Fix a toxic culture and create a team that takes ownership
- Lead effective team meetings that inspire engagement and action
Whether you’re leading a small team or an entire department, you’ll learn actionable strategies to create better communication, deeper trust, and a workplace people actually enjoy showing up to.
You’ll also get quick takeaways from bestselling leadership books, so you can skip the fluff and apply what works!
You’re the Boss, Now What? is your weekly dose of coaching for managers who want to do more than manage, they want to lead.
Popular Topics Include:
One-on-one meeting frameworks, handling team conflict, addressing passive-aggressive behavior, rebuilding trust after drama, navigating difficult employees, setting expectations without micromanaging, improving accountability conversations, fixing toxic communication patterns, leading effective team meetings, delegation strategies for overwhelmed managers, increasing team buy-in, coaching underperforming employees, giving feedback that lands, managing impostor syndrome at work, and creating a healthier, more human-centered culture.
You’re the Boss, Now What? with Desiree Petrich | Leadership and Team Development for Managers and Team Leaders
5 Levels of Leadership That Shape How Your Team Sees You | Heather Italiano
Guest - Heather Italiano, High-Energy Speaker and Facilitator
Book - The 5 Levels of Leadership by John Maxwell
Are your employees following you because they want to, or because they have to? In this episode, Heather Italiano unpacks the Five Levels of Leadership and how new managers can build trust, increase influence, and avoid falling into the trap of positional leadership.
Have you ever felt like your team only listens because they have to, not because they want to?
That’s the reality for many first-time managers. In this Leadership Podcast for New Managers, guest Heather Italiano joins me to explore how to build trust as a manager and move beyond positional leadership into real influence. We’re talking about team dynamics, managing up, and the moment your title stops being enough.
Heather breaks down John Maxwell’s Five Levels of Leadership and explains how even experienced leaders can fall back to level one when trust erodes. Plus, she shares her practical CARES framework to help you connect with your team in a way that builds loyalty, commitment, and results.
If you’re trying to fix a toxic culture, handle conflict at work as a manager, or simply become a better leader, this episode is your blueprint.
By the time you finish listening, you’ll learn:
- The difference between positional leadership and people-first leadership
- How to rebuild trust after it’s been lost
- A simple, 5-part framework to increase your influence as a new leader
If you loved this conversation with Heather, scroll down and leave a 5-star rating and review! Then share it with a colleague or friend who’s trying to grow their confidence as a new manager.
Guest & Additional Links:
Check out the People Warriors Podcast
Listen to the episode
Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead
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Desiree Petrich (00:03.374)
If you've ever felt like your team only listens to you because of your title and not because they actually trust or respect you, then this episode is a must listen. I'm joined by high energy speaker and facilitator Heather Italiano to unpack John Maxwell's five levels of leadership and what it takes to move from positional authority to genuine influence. We're going to explore why some managers stay stuck at level one, how quickly trust can erode, and the intentional shifts that help your team actually want to
follow you. And near the end of the conversation, Heather shares her CARES framework, a practical tool for building trust and connection by focusing on five key things that every one of your team members wants you to know. And if you're not asking these things, you're probably stuck at level one without even realizing it. So I wanna welcome you back to You're the Boss, Now What? And I'm your host, Desiree Petriec. Our goal here is to help you lead yourself and your team better. So lean in and let's get started.