You're the Boss, Now What? | Team Emotional Intelligence for Managers and Leaders

If your team isn’t speaking up, it’s easy to think it’s a communication issue.

But most of the time… it’s not.

It’s a safety issue.

Have you ever been on a team where…

People are nice… but not always honest?
Meetings happen… but nothing really changes?
Something feels off… but no one’s saying it out loud?

This is one of the most common challenges in teams right now.

Not because people don’t care.
Not because they aren’t capable.But because it doesn’t always feel safe to speak up at work.

In part one of this three-part “we read so you don’t have to” series on The Culture Code, we’re breaking down psychological safety at work and how it impacts team communication, leadership, and overall team performance.

Key Takeaways

• Why your team isn’t speaking up at work
•  What psychological safety actually looks like on a team
•  How leaders impact team communication without realizing it
•  Simple ways to build trust and improve team performance

Read The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle 

Sign up for Desiree's Weekly newsletter

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

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 anoth...

Have you ever felt like if you can’t give 100%, it’s not worth showing up at all?

As a leader, it’s easy to fall into the trap of all-or-nothing thinking. You think you need to be fully energized, fully prepared, and fully “on” to show up well for your team. But the reality is, some days your energy just isn’t there.

And when that happens, most people either push themselves into burnout… or they don’t show up at all.

In this episode, I’m sharing a simple lesson from a workout that completely shifted how I think about effort, energy, and consistency. Because leadership development isn’t about being perfect every day. It’s about showing up with what you have and building trust with yourself over time.

This is your reminder that you don’t need 100% to make progress. You just need to start.

Key Takeaways

•  You don’t need 100% energy to show up and make progress 
•  Consistency in leadership matters more than perfection 
•  Being honest about your energy builds trust with yourself and others 

Check out Millionaire Hoy on Youtube!

Sign up for Desiree's Weekly newsletter

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

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 anoth...

 Struggling to fill leadership roles on your team? The answer might not be hiring - it might be developing. In this episode, learn how to turn your current team into confident leaders through intentional leadership development. 

Have you ever looked at your team and thought… we just don’t have anyone ready for leadership?

Not because they’re not capable.
 But because no one feels quite ready yet.

This is one of the most common conversations happening in organizations right now. Teams are looking outside for leadership… while overlooking the potential already sitting in the room.

And to be fair, this isn’t something most teams are doing wrong.
 It’s just something most teams haven’t been shown how to do intentionally.

Because leadership development doesn’t happen by accident.
 It happens when we slow down long enough to see people differently.

In this episode, I’m sharing two real conversations I’ve had with executive teams recently. Both were facing leadership gaps. Both assumed they needed to hire.

But what shifted everything…
 was realizing they already had the people.

They just needed a more intentional approach to developing them.

Key Takeaways

• Why leadership gaps often come from a lack of development, not a lack of talent
• How to identify leadership potential on your current team, even if no one feels ready yet
• What intentional leadership development actually looks like in real teams

Do you want help developing a Leadership Development strategy? 

Email: [email protected] or visit intentionalaction.net 

Sign up for Desiree's Weekly newsletter

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

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 anoth...

It’s easy to underestimate the impact of small actions.

A smile.
 A compliment.
 A simple “thank you.”

But those moments don’t stop with the person in front of you. They carry.

In this episode, I share a real-life story that reminded me how quickly positivity can spread and how one interaction can completely shift the tone of a day.

The question becomes:

What kind of ripple effect are you creating?

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

• How small actions create a positive ripple effect in life and leadership
• Why your energy impacts more people than you think
• Simple ways to create more positivity in your everyday interactions

Sign up for Desiree's Weekly newsletter

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

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 anoth...

Do you ever feel like the emotional thermostat of your team?

If you're stressed, they feel it.
 If you're overwhelmed, it spreads.

Most leaders think happiness at work is about perks.

Ping pong tables.
 Free lunches.
 Better benefits.

But what if workplace happiness is actually a leadership skill?

In this episode, Greg Kettner, founder of WorkHappy, shares how happiness directly impacts productivity, stress levels, and team performance.

With 27 years in sales and leadership at companies like Nike, SAP, and the NHL, Greg now helps organizations reduce stress and create healthier team cultures.

This conversation is practical.
 It’s human.
 And it’s leadership development at its core.

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

• Why happiness increases productivity and reduces burnout
• Three simple strategies to lower stress as a leader
• How to support mental health at work without becoming the therapist

If you lead people, this one is for you.

Connect with Greg Kettner 

Sign up for Desiree's Weekly newsletter

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

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 anoth...

In this week’s leadership tips episode, we’re talking about something simple that many leaders overlook: checking your surroundings.

Whether you’re at work, leading a meeting, interacting with customers, or simply talking with coworkers, social awareness matters. The conversations we have and the way we include (or unintentionally exclude) the people around us can shape how others experience our leadership.

Sometimes it’s as small as noticing when someone is being left out of a conversation. Other times it’s recognizing when a conflict or discussion might be happening in the wrong place or at the wrong time.

Strong leadership isn’t just about what you say. It’s about being aware of how your actions affect the people around you. Taking a moment to check your surroundings can help you build better communication, stronger relationships, and a more thoughtful workplace. 

Check back every week for your weekly leadership tips on life and leadership.

Sign up for Desiree's Weekly newsletter

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

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 anoth...

You hired someone with huge potential. You trained them. You invested in them. Six months later, they’re gone.

If turnover feels constant, the issue might not be talent. It might be how your culture is being experienced.

In this episode, Desiree sits down with global keynote speaker and bestselling author Eric Termuende to unpack what’s actually driving turnover in today’s workplace.

They explore why high turnover is often a symptom of a dysfunctional relationship between employees and companies—and how leaders can shift that dynamic.

You’ll hear:

• Why generic mission, vision, and values statements fail to attract the right people
• How to differentiate your culture so the right talent opts in (and the wrong talent opts out)
• Why alignment in how work gets done matters more than perks or flexibility
• How misalignment quietly drives away your best performers
• Why small, one-degree shifts build trust faster than massive culture overhauls
• How healthy conflict, built on trust, is required for high-performing teams

If you’re frustrated by disengagement, misalignment, or constant turnover, this conversation will change how you think about culture—and how you lead.

 ● Eric Termuende’s Book: Rethink Work 

●Connect with Eric on LinkedIn

●Eric's Website

Books Recommended by Eric:

● The Culture Code — Daniel Coyle
● Predictably Irrational — Dan Ariely
● Range — David Epstein

Sign up for Desiree's Weekly newsletter

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

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 anoth...

In this week’s leadership tip, we’re redefining humility at work. After hearing Seth Rogen describe Catherine O’Hara as someone who was both a genius and kind, it sparked an important reminder: confidence and humility are not mutually exclusive.

Somewhere along the way, we started confusing humility with shrinking. Downplaying strengths. Pretending we’re not good at something so we don’t seem “too much.” But true humility isn’t thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less. It’s secure leadership. It’s knowing your value without needing to announce it.

As a leader, you don’t have to choose between being confident and being humble. You can bring strength, generosity, and self-awareness to your team at the same time.

Check back every week for your weekly leadership tip on life and leadership.

Watch the Instagram Reel that sparked this week's tip!

Sign up for Desiree's Weekly newsletter

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

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 anoth...

If everything feels urgent, nothing improves.

In this episode, we break down how to prioritize what actually matters at work by asking two simple questions:

Is it important?
Is it urgent?

You’ll learn how to:

• Stop reacting to every email and request
• Reduce distractions and protect deep work
• Set boundaries with your boss and team
• Avoid doing everything at 50%

We walk through real-life examples, including last-minute meetings, “quick” report requests, forgotten school lunch money, and the 23-minute refocus cost of interruptions.

Intentional prioritization isn’t about doing less. It’s about placing your energy where it actually moves the needle.

And once you learn to do this for yourself, it becomes easier to do it as a team.

—

Key Takeaways

• Not everything that feels urgent is actually important.
• Interruptions cost momentum, not just time.
• Clarity at the individual level creates clarity at the team level.

Sign up for Desiree's Weekly newsletter

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

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 anoth...

Have you ever felt ready to step up as a leader… but worried that others didn’t see you that way?

In this week’s leadership tip, we’re talking about doubt, yours and theirs. The Titanic was built by professionals, and it still sank. Confidence isn’t a prerequisite for leadership. It’s built through consistent action, ownership, and showing up before you feel fully ready.

Check back every Monday for your weekly leadership tip.

Sign up for Desiree's Weekly newsletter

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

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 anoth...