This week's tip is simple: stop waiting for permission to enjoy your own life. Desiree shares a personal story about her garden, some ceramic mushrooms, and the "mad libs excuse" that almost kept her from adding a little joy to her everyday.

• Why "when this happens, I'll do that" is a trap (aka the mad libs excuse)
• The moment after her mom passed that changed how she looks for joy
• A simple, low-effort way to bring more whimsy into your daily life
• The question to ask yourself about what you're waiting for permission to do

What's one small thing you've been putting off just for you? Add it this week. Let it make you smile.

Links & Resources

• Buy Desiree's Book - Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead
• Connect with Desiree on Linkedin

This podcast for managers is here to help you:

• Grow your leadership development
• Navigate team management with confidence
• Learn how to handle conflict at work
• Apply real, practical leadership tips

If this episode helped you:

Share it with another manager
Leave a 5-star review
Follow along for more support

Take the DISC or Working Genius Assessment and get a FREE 20 minutes debrief with Desiree

Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead

Connect: Linked In | Instagram | Website

Do you avoid hard conversations, or handle them so bluntly they backfire?

In this episode, Desiree read the book Radical Candor by Kim Scott, so you don't have to.

This episode breaks down the framework from Kim Scott's Radical Candor, the one Desiree teaches more than almost anything else with the leaders she coaches.

In this episode:

• The four types of feedback, and which one is quietly wrecking your team's trust
• Why "good intentions don't erase bad impact"
• The order most leaders get backwards when resolving conflict at work
• Rock stars vs superstars at work - is it a season, or a category?

One question to try before your next hard conversation: am I about to avoid this, or am I about to be harsh about it?

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Radical Candor Framework
• Buy Radical Candor on Amazon
• Podcast Episode on the Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni
• Sign up for the newsletter at desireepetrich.com under the resources tab

This podcast for managers is here to help you:

• Grow your leadership development
• Navigate team management with confidence
• Learn how to handle conflict at work
• Apply real, practical leadership tips

If this episode helped you:

Share it with another manager
Leave a 5-star review
Follow along for more support

Take the DISC or Working Genius Assessment and get a FREE 20 minutes debrief with Desiree

Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead

Connect: Linked In | Instagram | Website

Right now you're leading up to five generations on the same team, and most of what's getting lost between them has nothing to do with personality.

In this episode, Desiree sits down with workplace teacher Liz Carlson to unpack why communication breaks down across generations, what shaped the way each generation shows up at work, and how leaders can start closing the gap without walking on eggshells.

Liz shares what she's learned spending years inside real teams, including why 93 percent of communication is nonverbal, how Gen Z is misunderstood rather than broken, and why Gen X, millennials, and boomers each bring their own hardwired communication style to the table.

Key Topics Covered:

• Why the basics of communication get skipped in favor of new programs and assessments
• The breakdown of nonverbal communication and why tone and body language carry more weight than words
• What's really going on with Gen Z's communication habits
• How each generation was shaped, by parenting, technology, and the workplace they came into
• Practical ways to lead people who process the world differently than you do
• Why culture is defined by the worst behavior tolerated, not the best intentions

About Liz Carlson:

Liz Carlson is a workplace teacher who spends her time inside real teams, helping leaders close the communication gaps that get in the way of trust and culture. She spent 12 years teaching in higher education, including designing and delivering business communication courses, and now brings that same lens to workplaces navigating five generations under one roof.

Connect with Liz on Linkedin

Intentional Leader Summit 2026 — Liz is a featured speaker.

Find more information at intentionalleadersummit.com

This podcast for managers is here to help you:

• Grow your leadership development
• Navigate team management with confidence
• Learn how to handle conflict at work
• Apply real, practical leadership tips

If this episode helped you:

Share it with another manager
Leave a 5-star review
Follow along for more support

Take the DISC or Working Genius Assessment and get a FREE 20 minutes debrief with Desiree

Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead

Connect: Linked In | Instagram | Website

What if the most powerful thing you could do as a leader has nothing to do with strategy, systems, or having all the answers?

In this episode, I'm joined by Money Mindset and Life Alignment Coach Kristen Miller for a conversation that started in the comments of a LinkedIn post and was too good to leave there. This isn't a framework episode. There's no tidy checklist at the end. What there is is an honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversation about what it actually looks like to show up as a whole person in your leadership role -- and why that's exactly what your team needs from you.

We talk about:

Why sharing the behind the scenes of your life makes you a more credible leader, not less professional

The leadership cringe confession -- what we both did early on that we'd never do now, and why talking about it matters

The real cost of hiding your humanity from your team, even when you think you're protecting them

The one question shift that gets you honest answers instead of defensiveness

Your team doesn't need a perfect boss. They need a human one.

Connect with Kristin Miller on Linkedin
Follow Kristin's Substack: https://worthknowing25.substack.com

This podcast for managers is here to help you:

• Grow your leadership development
• Navigate team management with confidence
• Learn how to handle conflict at work
• Apply real, practical leadership tips

If this episode helped you:

Share it with another manager
Leave a 5-star review
Follow along for more support

Take the DISC or Working Genius Assessment and get a FREE 20 minutes debrief with Desiree

Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead

Connect: Linked In | Instagram | Website

At some point, we all find ourselves holding on to something we know isn't working.

A habit. A relationship. A team member.

And we have really good reasons for it. Fear, convenience, comparison, not wanting to rock the boat.

But what if the cost of holding on is higher than the cost of letting go?

In this episode, I sit down with Jacob Brown, author of Avocado Leadership and one of the speakers at this year's Intentional Leader Summit. We dig into a principle he calls slow to hire, quick to fire, and we take it way beyond the workplace.

In this episode we talk about:

Why leaders hold on to toxic team members longer than they should, and what it's actually costing them

How the behavior you tolerate as a leader defines the culture you create

The "I know, I'm not, I'm open" framework for having courageous conversations

Why boundaries aren't rules you set for other people

How to stop holding on out of fear, convenience, or sunk cost

Connect with Jacob Brown:

Avocado Leadership Book: https://failforwardbrown.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobaaronbrown/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialjakebrown/

Intentional Leader Summit:

Jacob is speaking this year. Grab your ticket: www.intentionalleadersummit.com

This podcast for managers is here to help you:

• Grow your leadership development
• Navigate team management with confidence
• Learn how to handle conflict at work
• Apply real, practical leadership tips

If this episode helped you:

Share it with another manager
Leave a 5-star review
Follow along for more support

Take the DISC or Working Genius Assessment and get a FREE 20 minutes debrief with Desiree

Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead

Connect: Linked In | Instagram | Website

Have you ever wondered if feeling like a fraud might actually be a sign you're doing something right? In this episode of You're the Boss, Now What?, host Desiree Petrich takes on one of the most common experiences in leadership, imposter syndrome, and reframes it completely.

Imposter syndrome was first identified in 1978, and nearly 50 years later, it still shows up in every industry, every experience level, and every area of life. Whether you're a new manager questioning if your team respects you, a parent wondering if you're doing enough, or a leader eyeing your next promotion, the feeling that you're not as capable as others think you are is more universal than most people admit.

In this episode, Desiree walks through seven questions that get to the root of what imposter syndrome actually is, where it comes from, and why eliminating it might not be the goal.

Here's what she covers:

Where imposter syndrome really comes from — and why comparison, societal expectations, and leadership intimidation all play a role

The difference between humility and imposter syndrome, and why confusing the two keeps leaders stuck

The rubber band theory of personal growth — and why the stretch is exactly where you want to be

How to use comparison as a tool for leadership development instead of a trap that holds you back

Why borrowing someone else's belief in you is one of the most underrated leadership skills available to new managers

Whether we can ever fully overcome imposter syndrome — and what it says about you if you think you already have

The difference between hiding your competence and desperately wanting others to see it — and why both come from the same place

If you're a new manager trying to figure out what good leadership actually looks like, this episode is for you.

This podcast for managers is here to help you:

• Grow your leadership development
• Navigate team management with confidence
• Learn how to handle conflict at work
• Apply real, practical leadership tips

If this episode helped you:

Share it with another manager
Leave a 5-star review
Follow along for more support

Take the DISC or Working Genius Assessment and get a FREE 20 minutes debrief with Desiree

Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead

Connect: Linked In | Instagram | Website

You've heard it your whole life. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

And most of the time? That's good advice.

But in this week's tip, Desiree challenges the idea that you always have to find the positive spin — and introduces a concept that might give you the permission you didn't know you needed.

Sometimes the most self-aware thing you can do is just eat the lemon.

In this episode, you'll hear:

Why forcing positivity can actually be a form of avoidance — and what that costs you as a leader

The difference between reframing a hard situation and actually moving through it

Why skipping the disappointment doesn't make it go away — it just shows up later

What it looks like to feel the hard thing on purpose so you can move forward with honesty

This one is short, personal, and hits differently if you've ever been in a season where the silver lining just wasn't what you needed.

This podcast for managers is here to help you:

• Grow your leadership development
• Navigate team management with confidence
• Learn how to handle conflict at work
• Apply real, practical leadership tips

If this episode helped you:

Share it with another manager
Leave a 5-star review
Follow along for more support

Take the DISC or Working Genius Assessment and get a FREE 20 minutes debrief with Desiree

Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead

Connect: Linked In | Instagram | Website

Why does feedback feel so uncomfortable at work?

Why do annual reviews often feel unhelpful?
Why do employees get defensive?
And why do leaders wait so long to address issues that by the time they finally say something, it feels overwhelming?

In this episode, Desiree walks through real workplace scenarios involving feedback, accountability, leadership development, and communication in the workplace. From employees asking for growth feedback and receiving a giant list months later, to managers giving the same feedback year after year without follow-up, this conversation is all about creating a healthier feedback culture on your team.

This episode is especially helpful for:

• new managers
• leaders trying to build trust
• high performers who want to grow
• anyone struggling with difficult conversations at work

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU’LL LEARN:

• Why feedback feels emotionally charged for both managers and employees
• How to give feedback without damaging trust or confidence
• Why soft skills and executive presence matter more than most leaders realize

If this episode gave you a new perspective on leadership development, team management, or how to handle conflict at work, take a screenshot while listening and share it to your Instagram stories. Tag me @desireepetrich so I can hear your biggest takeaway.

And if you know a manager who struggles with feedback conversations, send this episode their way.

Apply for the next Intentional Leader Accelerator cohort

IntentionalLeaderAccelerator.com

This podcast for managers is here to help you:

• Grow your leadership development
• Navigate team management with confidence
• Learn how to handle conflict at work
• Apply real, practical leadership tips

If this episode helped you:

Share it with another manager
Leave a 5-star review
Follow along for more support

Take the DISC or Working Genius Assessment and get a FREE 20 minutes debrief with Desiree

Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead

Connect: Linked In | Instagram | Website