Making connections as an adult feels harder than ever, especially at work.

But the problem usually isn’t networking.
It’s discomfort.
It’s phones.
It’s staying in our comfort zones.

In this episode, Desiree sits down with Nichelle Lund to talk about communication in the workplace, workplace loneliness, and why relationship-building is one of the most overlooked leadership skills for managers and professionals today.

They discuss awkward networking events, making people feel included, building trust at work, and simple ways to create more genuine connections without feeling fake or forced.

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

• Why making connections as an adult feels so uncomfortable
• How to build better work relationships and stronger workplace communication
• Small ways leaders and managers can help people feel seen and included at work

When you finish listening, I’d love to hear your biggest takeaway from today’s episode. Take a screenshot while listening, share it to your Instagram stories, and tag me @desireepetrich!

While you’re there, make sure you follow me for more leadership development conversations, new manager tips, and practical leadership skills you can apply immediately at work.

CONNECT WITH NICHELLE LUND:

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
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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

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Have you ever thought, “I’ll do it later”… and then never did?

You’re not lazy. You’re not unmotivated.
You’re experiencing the law of diminishing intent.

The longer you wait to do something you know you should do, the less likely you are to do it.

It starts small.
One delay. One excuse. One “I’ll get to it later.”

Then your brain steps in to protect you.
You justify it.
You overthink it.
You talk yourself out of it.

And now the thing you knew you needed to do… doesn’t get done.

This shows up everywhere in leadership:
Avoiding a tough conversation
Not giving feedback when it matters
Waiting too long to delegate
Delaying decisions that impact your team

And here’s the problem…
It doesn’t go away.

It actually creates more stress, more guilt, and starts to chip away at your confidence.

Because now you’re reinforcing a belief:
“I don’t follow through.”

If you’re a manager trying to build trust, improve team management, and grow in your leadership development, this matters more than you think.

The fix isn’t complicated.
You don’t need more time.
You need less delay.

By the time you finish listening, you’ll learn:

• Why the law of diminishing intent keeps leaders stuck
• How delaying action impacts your confidence and team trust
• A simple way to stop procrastinating and follow through faster

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

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“My employee doesn’t seem to care anymore… what do I do?”

They used to be reliable.
Motivated.
Easy to manage.

And now?

You feel like you’re micromanaging just to get the bare minimum.

It’s frustrating.
And honestly… a little confusing.

Because nothing “big” happened.

Here’s the shift most managers miss:

It’s not always that they’re lazy.
It’s that something changed.

And if you keep treating everyone the same…
you’ll keep losing your best people without realizing it.

In this episode, we break down what your employees actually crave from you as a manager.

Not theory.
Not more work.

Simple shifts that help your team feel understood, valued, and motivated again.

Because different people need different things.

And when you miss that…
you unintentionally shut them down.

Links mentioned in the episode

Take your Working Genius assessment

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

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The Last Letter - Rebecca Yarrows

Last week we talked about what it looks like when you hit survival mode.
This week is one simple step to get yourself out of it.

What’s the thing you keep putting off?

The appointment you haven’t made.
The email you haven’t sent.
The task that keeps popping into your head… over and over again.

It feels small.
It feels like a minor inconvenience.
So you keep pushing it to “later.”

But here’s the problem… it doesn’t go away.

It follows you.
It sits in the back of your mind.
It turns into mental clutter that you carry into your work, your leadership, and your time at home.

In this episode, I’m sharing a personal story about finally making an appointment I had avoided for over a year… and what changed the moment I stopped guessing and just got the answer.

Because whether it’s your health, your work, or something simple on your to-do list…

It’s better to know.
And it’s even better to be done.

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

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Have you ever had an employee where you think…
“Do you even care anymore?”

They used to show up early
They used to go above and beyond
And now… something feels off

You try to motivate them
But nothing seems to work

Here’s the shift:
You can’t make someone care
But you can make it easier for them to stop caring

And most managers do it without realizing it

In this episode, we’re breaking down a few mindset shifts to help you look at this differently

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

• Why “they don’t care” is often an assumption
• How disengagement can be a form of protection
• What might actually be causing the shift in motivation

Additional episodes to catch-up on

Using The 5 Love Languages at Work to Build Loyal Teams

How to Stop Your Newhires from Checking Out Early

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

Get your copy of Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead

Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything feels hard… and you’re just trying to make it through as a manager?

The kind of week where your energy is low, your team needs more from you, and your workload keeps growing?

This is one of the biggest challenges in leadership development.
Most managers wait until things get hard to figure out how to handle it.

But by then, it already feels overwhelming.

Because mental strength isn’t built in the hard moments.
It’s revealed in them.

In this episode of the podcast for managers, I’m sharing a simple concept that can completely shift how you approach stress, pressure, and team management.

It’s the idea of “walking into the wind.”

And it’s about choosing to do hard things before you have to… so when challenges hit—whether it’s conflict, overwhelm, or difficult employees—you’re ready for it.

This is especially important when it comes to how to handle conflict at work.
Because the managers who navigate tough conversations well aren’t the ones avoiding hard things…

They’re the ones who have built the capacity for them.

We’re talking about how to build resilience as a leader, how to strengthen your mindset, and how this shows up in your day-to-day leadership and team management—even when nothing feels urgent.

By the time you finish listening, you’ll learn:

• How leadership development actually happens in the small, everyday moments
• How to build mental strength so you can handle stress and conflict at work
• What “walking into the wind” looks like in real life and team management

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

If you don’t have energy, you can’t lead well.

And yet… most managers are trying to push through exhaustion instead of fixing it.

You finish your workday drained.
You go home with nothing left to give.
And the things you want to do? They keep getting pushed to the bottom of the list.

So you tell yourself you’ll rest more.
You’ll take a break.
You’ll “fill your cup.”

But nothing actually changes.

Because the problem isn’t that you’re not trying.
It’s that you’re trying to fix burnout the wrong way.

In this episode, we break down the 4 buckets that actually help you get your energy back—without adding more to your plate. This is real-life leadership development for busy managers who want to show up better at work and at home.

By the time you finish listening, you’ll learn:

• The 4 buckets that help managers rebuild their energy without burnout
• Why most “self-care” advice doesn’t work (and what actually does)
• Simple ways to improve your energy, focus, and team management starting today

This episode is your reminder that being a great leader isn’t about doing more.

It’s about having enough energy to lead the people around you well.

Read Desiree's Book Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life You Lead

Additional Episodes

Manager Tips for Better Sleep

Secret to All Day Energy (Glucose episode)

Mindset Shifts for Sustainable Goals

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 felt like you’re doing everything “right”…
but still running on empty?

As a manager, it’s easy to think the answer is to do more.
More routines. More habits. More discipline.

But what if that’s not the problem?

A lot of leaders are already overwhelmed.
Their schedules are full. Their energy is low.
And their default solution is to keep adding.

More meetings. More expectations. More pressure.

This is where leadership development gets missed.
Because energy isn’t built by adding more…
it’s often built by removing what’s draining you.

In this episode, we’re flipping that mindset.

Instead of asking what you should add,
we’re asking what you need to take away
so you can show up better for your team.

By the time you finish listening, you’ll learn

• How to increase your energy as a manager without adding more to your schedule
• Why removing things can be more powerful than building new habits
• 3 simple ways to refill your cup so you can lead your team more effectively

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