Bad Boss Confessional

43: Fixing the Problem, Losing the Person

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey sits down with Raina Fryer, head of talent strategy at Titus Talent Strategies. Raina's confession takes her back to a training room early in her career, where she was young, eager to prove herself, and co-facilitating alongside someone she was supposed to be developing. Every time her teammate made a misstep, she stepped in. Mid-sentence, in front of the room, again and again. She told herself it was about safety. Looking back, she knows it was also about ego. Two months later, her teammate quietly asked for a new manager. That was the moment that stuck. Her lesson is simple and hard-earned: the points that actually count are the ones that make people feel safe enough to trust you.     Timestamps 00:00 Introduction to Raina Fryer 03:19 Raina’s Bad Boss Confession 09:54 The Impact of Imposter Syndrome 13:01 Training and Role-Playing for Managers 16:47 Titus Talent’s Holistic Approach 19:26 Top People Issues: Accountability Chart 23:07 Culture Integration & Manager Elevation 28:56 Continuous Learning & Personal Insights   Sponsor Links Thanks to our Sponsors A big thank you to our amazing sponsors for making this episode possible: Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies. Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.   Subscribe to the Bad Boss Confessional podcast: 🎙️ Podbean: https://www.badbossconfessional.podbean.com ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@badbossconfessional The Bad Boss Confessional is where leaders come to tell the truth about the moments they rarely talk about out loud. The mistakes, the hard lessons, and what it actually takes to become a great boss. Hosted by Beth Fahey, Expert EOS Implementer, co-author of ROLLOUT, and creator of the Great Boss Workshop. Connect with Beth Fahey: 🌐 https://www.bethfahey.com ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@BethFahey Want to be a guest on the show? Visit https://www.bethfahey.com/podcast to inquire. Pick up a copy of ROLLOUT: Get Your Entire Team Running on EOS to Achieve Your Vision at https://www.rolloutbook.com/order Download free Rollout resources at https://www.rolloutbook.com Join Beth at the next Great Boss Workshop at https://www.bethfahey.com/events

42: What Got You Here Won't Get You There

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey sits down with Ben Stern, EOS implementer and former integrator who helped scale a transmission remanufacturing company from 300 employees and $40 million in revenue to 850 people and $190 million. Ben's confession starts long before that chapter, back on a construction crew where being the hardest worker in the room felt like a leadership strategy. The conversation explores what happens when intensity without emotional intelligence becomes the culture, why the habits that make someone a standout performer can quietly poison a team, and what it actually took to close the gap. Ben reflects on nearly two decades of deliberate work, the people who helped him see what he couldn't see himself, and why learning Spanish to connect with his team is one of the things he's most proud of. His lesson is one every high performer eventually has to face: what got you here won't get you there.     Timestamps 00:00 Ben Stern’s Background 02:13 From Hammer to CEO 06:17 Reflecting on Growth and Wins 10:12 The Hard-Charging Boss 14:59 Journey to Emotional Intelligence 19:17 Work-Life Balance and Gen Z 22:01 Leadership Through Parenthood 26:27 Deprogramming and Human Connection 30:12 Scaling Leadership and GWC 35:15 Continuous Learning and Empathy   Sponsor Links Thanks to our Sponsors A big thank you to our amazing sponsors for making this episode possible: Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies. Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.   Subscribe to the Bad Boss Confessional podcast: 🎙️ Podbean: https://www.badbossconfessional.podbean.com ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@badbossconfessional The Bad Boss Confessional is where leaders come to tell the truth about the moments they rarely talk about out loud. The mistakes, the hard lessons, and what it actually takes to become a great boss. Hosted by Beth Fahey, Expert EOS Implementer, co-author of ROLLOUT, and creator of the Great Boss Workshop. Connect with Beth Fahey: 🌐 https://www.bethfahey.com ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@BethFahey Want to be a guest on the show? Visit https://www.bethfahey.com/podcast to inquire. Pick up a copy of ROLLOUT: Get Your Entire Team Running on EOS to Achieve Your Vision at https://www.rolloutbook.com/order Download free Rollout resources at https://www.rolloutbook.com Join Beth at the next Great Boss Workshop at https://www.bethfahey.com/events

41: The Feedback Nobody Should Have Given

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey sits down with Jeanet Wade, Expert EOS Implementer, ForbesBooks author of The Human Team, and one of the top 100 innovators and entrepreneurs in her region. Jeanet comes with two confessions, and they both involve the same person. The conversation explores what happens when dysfunction travels downhill, why secondhand feedback is its own kind of leadership failure, and what it looks like to stop the madness in real time and just tell the truth. Her lesson cuts through the noise: when the feedback doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.     Timestamps 00:00 Introduction & Jeanet's Background 03:10 The Allure of Entrepreneurship 07:52 First Bad Boss Confession: Task Management 11:56 Second Bad Boss Confession: Secondhand Feedback 15:41 The Human Team: Bridging Nature to Nurture 22:06 Team Dynamics in Entrepreneurial Settings 27:30 Bossing Bosses & Overcoming Dysfunctional Teams 33:00 Growth Optimization & Vulnerability 39:19 Leadership Evolution & Personal Tattoo   Sponsor Links Thanks to our Sponsors A big thank you to our amazing sponsors for making this episode possible: Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies. Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.   Subscribe to the Bad Boss Confessional podcast: 🎙️ Podbean: https://www.badbossconfessional.podbean.com ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@badbossconfessional The Bad Boss Confessional is where leaders come to tell the truth about the moments they rarely talk about out loud. The mistakes, the hard lessons, and what it actually takes to become a great boss. Hosted by Beth Fahey, Expert EOS Implementer, co-author of ROLLOUT, and creator of the Great Boss Workshop. Connect with Beth Fahey: 🌐 https://www.bethfahey.com ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@bethfahey Want to be a guest on the show? Visit https://www.bethfahey.com/podcast to inquire. Pick up a copy of ROLLOUT: Get Your Entire Team Running on EOS to Achieve Your Vision at https://www.rolloutbook.com/order Download free Rollout resources at https://www.rolloutbook.com Join Beth at the next Great Boss Workshop at https://www.bethfahey.com/events

40: What Gets Lost When You Move Too Fast

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey sits down with Larry Garcia, co-founder and president of Strety, a software platform built for EOS-run businesses. Larry shares what happened when he stepped into a VP of Sales role against his better instincts and decided his first move would be cutting what looked like an inefficient meeting. He walked into a struggling company, saw an hour of rah-rah he thought nobody needed, and deleted it. What he didn't see was how much that hour was holding the team together. The conversation digs into what happens when a new leader moves before they've earned the right to change things, why culture is the first casualty of efficiency thinking, and how fast trust can disappear with a single calendar invite. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction to Larry Garcia 02:22 Larry’s Career Journey 05:22 The Big Confession 11:40 Impact of New Leadership on Culture 16:30 BreakGage to Strety Transition 20:01 Family Legacy and American Dream 24:51 Culture and Software Development 29:52 The Soul of Software   About:  Beth Fahey is a leadership coach, Expert EOS Implementer, and co-creator of the How to Be a Great Boss Workshops. With nearly 40 years of hands-on leadership experience, Beth has worn many hats: from working in film and owning a bakery to leading a national trade association.   Now, as the host of The Bad Boss Confessional, she shares candid stories about the challenges of leadership, mistakes made, lessons learned, and the path to becoming the kind of boss your team actually wants to follow. Through humor, honesty, and heart, Beth is on a mission to help leaders grow, one confession at a time.   Show Links For more information about Beth Fahey follow the links below. Website: www.eosworldwide.com/beth-fahey  Facebook: www.facebook.com/BethFaheyEOS Instagram: www.instagram.com/bethfaheyeos/ TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@bethfaheyeos LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bethfahey/ Bad Boss Confessional YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@badbossconfessional  Beth's Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/@bethfaheyeos  Website: https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/robert-hartline/ Larry is former CRO of BrightGauge and Current Strety Cofounder and President. He's based out of Arlington, Virginia and when he's not helping build the EOS software people love, he's a coffee farmer in Mountains of Colombia.  Sponsor Links Thanks to our Sponsors A big thank you to our amazing sponsors for making this episode possible: Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies. Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.

39: You Can't Want It More Than They Do

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey sits down with Mary Reilly-Magee, an entrepreneur, Expert EOS Implementer, and author who built a three-location swim school before exiting in 2018. Mary came prepared with a confession she has carried for years, and it starts with a sign on her wall: never try to teach a pig to sing. She walks through what it really means to believe in someone more than they believe in themselves, the bookkeeper she held onto long after the writing was on the wall, and the two clients she eventually had to walk away from. The conversation gets honest about why avoiding a hard conversation always makes things worse, and what it actually looks like to lead with clarity instead of hope. Her lesson is one every leader eventually learns the hard way: you cannot want it more than they do. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction & Sponsor Shoutouts 02:11 Meet Mary Reilly-Magee 05:14 The Pig-Singing Dilemma 08:42 Visionary’s Dilemma & People Development 12:14 The Importance of GWC 16:47 Addressing People Issues & Self-Forgiveness 21:02 Not Your Business: The Implementer’s Perspective 23:17 The Cost of Avoiding Difficult Conversations 27:37 The Impact of Courageous Leadership 30:03 Parenting & Personal Tattoos 35:28 Conclusion & Book Promotion About:  Beth Fahey is a leadership coach, Expert EOS Implementer, and co-creator of the How to Be a Great Boss Workshops. With nearly 40 years of hands-on leadership experience, Beth has worn many hats: from working in film and owning a bakery to leading a national trade association.   Now, as the host of The Bad Boss Confessional, she shares candid stories about the challenges of leadership, mistakes made, lessons learned, and the path to becoming the kind of boss your team actually wants to follow. Through humor, honesty, and heart, Beth is on a mission to help leaders grow, one confession at a time.   Show Links For more information about Beth Fahey follow the links below. Website: www.eosworldwide.com/beth-fahey  Facebook: www.facebook.com/BethFaheyEOS Instagram: www.instagram.com/bethfaheyeos/ TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@bethfaheyeos LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bethfahey/ Bad Boss Confessional YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@badbossconfessional  Beth's Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/@bethfaheyeos  Website: https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/robert-hartline/ Mary Reilly-Magee is an entrepreneur, leadership coach, Expert EOS Implementer, and Outgrow Revenue Growth Advisor who helps individuals and growth-oriented companies turn their visions into reality. She built a thriving three-location swim school business that employed 100 people before successfully exiting in 2018. Drawing on her experience as a teacher, coach, and facilitator, Mary now guides leaders through transformational growth - both personally and professionally.  Sponsor Links Thanks to our Sponsors A big thank you to our amazing sponsors for making this episode possible: Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies. Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.