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
Liked this episode? Share it with a fellow podcaster!
Love this show? Say thanks by leaving a positive review.
Take the DISC or Working Genius Assessment and get a FREE 20 minutes debrief with Desiree
Get a curated list of Desiree's favorite books in every genre
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!