Leadership Chemistry

Burnout seems to be hitting everyone I work with lately. If somehow you're lucky enough never to have experienced it, burnout is that cocktail of exhaustion, cynicism, and the feeling that your work doesn't matter anymore. Contrary to what many people think, burnout isn't a time management problem, it's an energy management problem. So today, I'm breaking down my four laws of energy. First, the law of psychic entropy, where every worry, decision, and scroll slowly leaks your attention, so you need anchor actions that are hard to start but leave you better off. Second, the law of the mind-body connection, because you've got to fix the hardware (sleep, movement, fewer cheeseburgers) before the software. Third, the law of oscillation, which says to work in 90-to-120-minute waves. And fourth, the law of the stress curve, which is finding that sweet spot between back-to-back matinees with a bucket of popcorn and going 16 rounds with Tyson. So take a hard look in the mirror, figure out which law you're breaking the most, and chase that 5% improvement this week.

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Back behind the mic after a long stretch of paternity leave, and I'm a little rusty but excited to dive into a new framework I've been piecing together during those 2:30 a.m. bottle feedings: three invisible forces that quietly keep leaders hooked, stuck, and less effective than they could be. Tools and scripts only go so far if we don't first notice the deeper pressures shaping how we see ourselves and the world. The point isn't to defeat these forces, but to get better at noticing when they have us and to respond with a little more awareness each time.

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If you know my sister, Jill, you'll know that she's kind of a legend when it comes to personal development. No one has challenged me to learn and grow more than she has. So today I wanted to re-release a conversation Jill and I had in October of 2025, to talk about the mindset shifts necessary for overcoming obstacles in our lives and the value of self-compassion in achieving high standards. You won't find a better example of leadership than Jill.

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If you asked 100 leaders whether or not "authenticity" was an important leadership quality, 99 would probably affirm that it is. The one that disagreed would be me. The "just be yourself, speak your truth" version of authenticity functions less as a virtue and more as an excuse to dodge accountability or avoid the hard work of self-awareness. The real question isn't whether authenticity matters, but what exactly we're supposed to be authentic to. Is it our core self, our aspirational self, the emotions of the moment, or the different versions of us that show up with family, friends, and coworkers? Whatever authenticity is, it isn't one fixed thing. Instead, I prefer the idea of "authenticity filters"—our values, emotional intelligence, conditions like sleep and health—as more useful ways to stay grounded and self-aware without collapsing into either rigidity or people-pleasing. Authenticity isn't about being unfiltered, it's about being intentional, self-aware, and honest about which version of yourself a moment actually calls for.

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Fresh off paternity leave and running on very little sleep, I'm back with an idea I'm calling the Russian doll effect of decision making, meaning the way every choice we make comes wrapped in hidden layers of time, cost, and complexity we rarely account for upfront. The big idea here is to make decisions with a simple formula: think slow, act fast. By really interrogating the hidden costs and the "should I even be doing this" questions before committing, when you do make moves, you'll be moving with real clarity instead of getting buried under obligations you never meant to take on. A meaningful life will always come with more layers than expected, but the goal is choosing more deliberately which dolls are actually worth opening.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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