Leadership Chemistry

Danny Coleman
  • 5.0 (22)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

This show is for managers and coaches to learn how leadership actually works — how people interact, influence, and transform. Learn to sharpen your communication, enhance your influence, and develop others. We make psychology practical, provide you tools you can use right away, and become someone worth following.

  1. 5d ago

    22. Being Both Personal & Professional with Kaycee

    Coach Kaycee is back on the pod for a conversation about a tension that a lot of leaders quietly struggle with: the false choice between being liked and being respected. Leaders who rank low on likability are almost never rated as great leaders, no matter how strong their short-term results look. We spend some time talking about boundaries, breaking down what the "boundaries" really mean in practice: that a boundary is about your own behavior, not about controlling someone else's, and that it only works if you decide it, declare it, and actually deliver on it. The same goes for expectations—starting from curiosity instead of blame when something slips, then re-establishing what needs to happen and building a plan together. Ultimately, warmth and power aren't opposites. The best leaders hold both, but getting there takes real, deliberate work.   Get Weekly Insights on Leadership: Sign up for weekly tools to communicate and behave in ways that actually change other's behavior Sign up free here: https://www.dannycoleman.co  Connect with Danny: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdannycoleman/  Substack: https://substack.com/@dannycoleman  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/djcoley/

  2. Sep 4

    21. The As If Principle

    There's a conventional formula most of us grow up believing: that we have to think or feel our way into the right emotions before we can act. But the research, and my own experience, points the opposite direction—behavior comes first, and the emotions and thoughts we're chasing tend to follow. It's not the same as "fake it till you make it." Real action, not performance, is what actually reshapes identity over time. Motivation isn't a prerequisite for getting started, it's a byproduct of it. The bigger theme, as always on this show, is that leadership starts with self-leadership—and self-leadership often starts with just showing up before you feel ready.   Get Weekly Insights on Leadership: Sign up for weekly tools to communicate and behave in ways that actually change other's behavior Sign up free here: https://www.dannycoleman.co  Connect with Danny: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdannycoleman/  Substack: https://substack.com/@dannycoleman  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/djcoley/

  3. Aug 28

    20. Positive Psychologist on What Works (and What Doesn't) for Happiness with Niyc Pidgeon

    Today, positive psychologist Niyc Pigeon joins me for a conversation about what it really takes to build a happier, more resilient life—not the curated version, but the honest one. We talk about how positive psychology gets misread as "just be happy all the time," when the real work is learning to find something worthwhile even inside the hard stuff, and why practices like gratitude can go flat once they become routine, along with a few ways to bring them back to life. A big thread running through the episode is the trap of "I'll be happy when..." — treating happiness as a reward you earn after the goal, when the evidence actually runs the other direction. But positive psychology isn't only for our personal lives, there's real application in leadership and coaching too. We can learn how to support other people without absorbing their emotions as your own, how to know when someone needs to be challenged versus met with compassion, and small, practical ways to build more genuine connection into a team. As I like to say, leaders leak their emotional state to everyone around them, so the real work starts with how you treat yourself.   Connect with Niyc on Instagram: @niycpidge   Get Weekly Insights on Leadership: Sign up for weekly tools to communicate and behave in ways that actually change other's behavior Sign up free here: https://www.dannycoleman.co  Connect with Danny: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdannycoleman/  Substack: https://substack.com/@dannycoleman  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/djcoley/

  4. Aug 21

    19. The Siblings Episode

    It finally happened. I finally got all three of my siblings—Brandon, Jill, and #Connor—in one place for a rare joint appearance. I'm constantly asked why and how we have such a strong sibling bond, and it comes down to intentional effort we've all made over the years, and maybe a dash of our parents wiring "family first" into us from the start. And while we may all be the best of friends, we aren't the kind of people to shy away from tough conversations and disagreement every now and then, and you can hear that first-hand in this episode. Each of us has lived a very different life than the others, but we share many of the same goals, including the kind of people we're striving to become—consistent, creating space for others to grow, and leading yourself before you try to lead anyone else.    Follow Jill: @jillFit Follow Brandon: @itsbrandoncoleman Follow Connor: #Connor   Get Weekly Insights on Leadership: Sign up for weekly tools to communicate and behave in ways that actually change other's behavior Sign up free here: https://www.dannycoleman.co  Connect with Danny: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdannycoleman/  Substack: https://substack.com/@dannycoleman  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/djcoley/

  5. Aug 14

    18. Becoming a Mentally Tough Leader

    Staying calm as a leader isn't about suppressing emotion, but about building real practices around it. I've often said that leaders "leak," meaning that our emotions and stress are contagious to the people around us—and if you don't believe me, check out the  research done on cortisol and mood contagion. And while it seems like a good idea, the trendy version of stoicism that pushes people to just suppress feelings and "have more discipline" usually backfires and leads to burnout. Instead, I have some more practical ideas: decide in advance who you want to be under pressure, investigate where your emotions are really coming from, reshape your physical environment, and keep practicing empathy. Your team doesn't need you to be a robot, they just need to trust that whatever you're feeling won't sink the ship.   Get Weekly Insights on Leadership: Sign up for weekly tools to communicate and behave in ways that actually change other's behavior Sign up free here: https://www.dannycoleman.co  Connect with Danny: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdannycoleman/  Substack: https://substack.com/@dannycoleman  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/djcoley/

  6. Aug 7

    17. You Don't Need More Leadership Tools with Dr. Jade Teta

    In this episode, I sit down with my longtime mentor Dr. Jade Tita to unpack what actually makes someone both liked and respected as a leader. We dig into his rewrite-rewire-retrain model of change, arguing that most leadership advice fixates on habits while ignoring the deeper layers underneath: the stories we form as kids, the emotions that fuse to them, and the competing identities that hijack us the moment we get triggered at work. Jade walks through how to actually knock on the door of one of these identities, ask it what it needs, and use techniques like memory reconsolidation and written identity therapy to defuse the old story instead of just white-knuckling new behaviors. We close on the practical side of influence, where Jade breaks down how he moves people—releasing their psychological defenses by validating where they are, asking Columbo-style questions instead of pushing advice, and ultimately treating people according to their best possible selves rather than who they currently seem to be. It's a conversation that moves from big-picture leadership theory all the way down to the nervous system.   Get Weekly Insights on Leadership: Sign up for weekly tools to communicate and behave in ways that actually change other's behavior Sign up free here: https://www.dannycoleman.co  Connect with Danny: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdannycoleman/  Substack: https://substack.com/@dannycoleman  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/djcoley/

  7. Jul 31

    16. The PTO Problem: Why Don't People Take It

    Why do so many leaders refuse to take PTO? What are the emotional and cultural barriers that keep managers chained to their inboxes even on vacation? Today, Head Coach Kaycee and I break down the PTO problem. According to Sabine Sonnentag and Charlotte Fritz's "stressor detachment model," there are four pillars of real recovery—psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control. While we may have different ideas on how to get to that recovery, what we can agree on is this: hoarding PTO isn't a flex, and being "irreplaceable" often just means you've built a ceiling over your own career. Ask yourself whether your team could function without you for two weeks—and if the honest answer is no, then there's real work to start doing.   Get Weekly Insights on Leadership: Sign up for weekly tools to communicate and behave in ways that actually change other's behavior Sign up free here: https://www.dannycoleman.co  Connect with Danny: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdannycoleman/  Substack: https://substack.com/@dannycoleman  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/djcoley/

  8. Jul 24

    15. The Human Side of Leadership with Meleah Rose

    The work of knowing yourself as a leader never really finishes, and that's actually the fun part. This week, I'm chatting with Meleah Rose—a somatic practitioner and leadership coach who works with high performers, executives, and founders. We talked about her path from training as a marriage and family therapist toward somatic leadership coaching, sparked by an illness that forced her to slow down mid-master's-degree and eventually walk away from licensure entirely. From there we got into what "performative leadership" actually means, and why showing up as a polished, always-composed leader tends to erode trust rather than build it.  We also got into people-pleasing, a pattern she said she's known intimately since childhood, and how she learned to filter her writing and decisions through one question: is this my truth, and can I stand on it? It's a conversation about vulnerability, nervous-system awareness, and what it really takes to lead without losing yourself in the process.     Connect with Meleah on Substack: https://meleahrose1.substack.com/   Get Weekly Insights on Leadership: Sign up for weekly tools to communicate and behave in ways that actually change other's behavior Sign up free here: https://www.dannycoleman.co  Connect with Danny: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdannycoleman/  Substack: https://substack.com/@dannycoleman  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/djcoley/

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5
out of 5
22 Ratings

About

This show is for managers and coaches to learn how leadership actually works — how people interact, influence, and transform. Learn to sharpen your communication, enhance your influence, and develop others. We make psychology practical, provide you tools you can use right away, and become someone worth following.

Information

  • Creator
    Danny Coleman
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    Leadership Chemistry

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