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Leadership Lounge Podcast Season 2: Unlearning & Becoming
S2 E3 Beyond DEI: Reimagining Culture
In this episode of In The Leadership Lounge, Dr. Shanesia Davis sits down with Dr. Domonique Revere, founder of HRemedy Consulting and author of Language of the Land, to explore what it means to reimagine workplace culture in a time when DEI is being challenged.
S2E2 Excavation Before Transformation
What if becoming a better leader starts with uncovering who you've been all along? In this Season 2, Unlearning and Becoming, Episode 2, Dr. Shanesia Davis sits down with acclaimed educator, author and scholar Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz for a powerful conversation about identity, authenticity, and the inner work of leadership. Together, they explore how our experiences shape the way we lead, and why bringing your full self to your work isn't just personal, it's essential.
S2E1: Overcoming Toxic Humility
What if humility isn't always healthy? In the first episode of Season 2 of In The Leadership Lounge, Dr. Shanesia Davis sits down with Dr. Brandynicole Brooks to explore the concept of toxic humility, the ways we learn to minimize ourselves, shrink our brilliance, and mistake self-erasure for humility.
Leadership Lounge Podcast Season 1
Episode 14: Before You Knew Me
In this special edition, we sit down with four Black masc-of-center lesbians for a powerful conversation on leadership, identity, and what happens when people decide who you are before you ever speak. The episode title says it all: Before You Knew Me. Together, we talk about being evaluated on sight, navigating assumptions in leadership spaces, and the hidden cost of masking. We also get real about what practical tips to lead with confidence without shrinking, performing, or overworking to earn respect.
Episode 13: Leading with Heart Without Losing Authority | Part 1
What does it really mean to lead with heart without losing authority? In this episode of the Leadership Lounge, Dr. Shanesia Davis is joined by Shenelle B, former educator turned organizational strategist and transformational coach, Founder & CEO, B.L.A.Z.E. Careers, for a grounded conversation about leadership, control, fear, and humanity at work.
Episode 12: When You Allow the Circumstance to Teach
Leadership lessons are not confined to boardrooms or formal roles. They show up in everyday moments, often when things are not going as planned. In this solo episode of In the Leadership Lounge™, Dr. Shanesia Davis reflects on a personal experience during the holidays that became an unexpected leadership lesson. While preparing a meaningful gift for her family in honor of her grandmother who recently passed, frustration, control, and urgency took over. What followed was a powerful reminder that learning is everywhere, if we allow it.
Episode 11: A Leader's Evolution of Emotional Intelligence
Leadership is often reduced to style. Warm or firm. Empathetic or accountable. But real leadership requires more than choosing a side. In this episode of the Leadership Lounge™, Dr. Shanesia Davis sits down with Dr. Kwame Asante, a 30 year veteran educator, former school principal, and founder of AKAN Education LLC, to explore the evolution of emotional intelligence in leadership.
Episode 10: Presence in Performance (Part 2)
In this episode of In the Leadership Lounge, I am joined again by emotional performance strategist Meiyoko Taylor for Part 2 of Presence in Performance. In Part 1, we explored being before doing. Now we dive into how your presence shapes the quality of your communication, decisions, and leadership outcomes.
Episode 9: Presence in Performance, Part One: Being Before Doing
In this episode, I sit down with my partner in this work, Meiyoko Taylor, an Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Performance Strategist with over 20 years of coaching and consulting experience. Together, we explore the deep connection between who we are and how we lead.
Episode 8.5 Control of Pace and Productivity
In the final episode of the From Control to Connection series, Dr. Shanesia Davis sits down with Bishop Dorothy Parrish-Harris, JD, Interim Vice President and Dean of Students at Coppin State University, and Bishop in the Unity Fellowship Church Movement, for a powerful conversation on Control of Pace and Productivity.
Episode 8.4- Control to Connection Series: Control of People
In this episode special guest Latanya Simmons, Program Director at Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders, joins me to unpack how paternalism, power hoarding, and fear of open conflict quietly shape the way leaders show up. We explore the impact of stepping in to make every decision, rescuing instead of developing, and protecting what feels safe at the expense of growth. This episode is an invitation to shift from control that limits to connection that develops. 🎧 Listen and subscribe for more conversations that move leadership from control to connection.
Episode 8.3- Control to Connection Series: Control of Truth
When leaders cling to certainty, we mistake control for clarity.
In this episode of From Control to Connection, Dr. Shanesia Davis and Nautrie Jones, COO and Co-Founder of Empact Work, unpack how the need to “be right” can quietly cost trust, innovation, and growth.
They explore everyday habits like shaping narratives, approving ideas that sound like our own, and equating perspective with truth. Nautrie also shares practical ways to push back on control and lead with connection.
This conversation invites leaders to stop protecting what is familiar and start creating space for what is possible.
Episode 8.2- Control to Connection Series: Control of Relationships
Join Dr. Shanesia Davis and Brielle Winslow-Majette in the Leadership Lounge™ as they explore what it truly takes to move from control to connection in leadership. This conversation digs into how the dominant culture norms: individualism, defensiveness, and the pursuit of results without integrity can quietly shape how we lead and how leaders can shift toward building relationships rooted in trust, respect, and shared purpose. Hear how Brielle leads Garden State Equality in modeling connection in action and walk away with practical insights you can apply to your own leadership journey. This is not just about relationships at work, it is about creating cultures where people feel seen, valued, and supported.
Episode 8.1 -From Control to Connection Series
This is the first episode in the Shifting from Control to Connection Series: Unpacking Dominant Culture Norms. I am joined by Ron Brangman as we explore how perfectionism, the right to comfort, and avoidance of vulnerability shape leadership today, where they stem from, and how they can be unlearned so leaders empower and elevate others rather than lead from control.
Episode 1: When Authenticity Answers
Dr. Shanesia Davis sits down with author and transformational leader Tanesha Cameron-Cole to explore the heart behind her new book, When Authenticity Answers.
Episode 3-It’s Deeper Than You Think: How Unhealed Trauma Becomes Systemic in Your Leadership
Unpacks how unhealed trauma shows up in leadership and quietly shapes culture. Learn how emotional residue becomes relational patterns and how to lead with clarity instead of protection.
Episode 2: Leadership Is Not for Knowers
In this solo episode, Dr. Shanesia Davis unpacks The Knower Trap, a mindset that prioritizes certainty over growth. Learn how emotionally intelligent leaders build trust, create space for growth, and lead from within.
🎧 Listen. Reflect. Lead with intention.
Episode 4-Unlearning Urgency: Trading Panic for Precision and Intentionality
Urgency snuffs out presence. It is stress and a survival response disguised as strategy. In this episode, Dr. Shanesia Davis explores the roots of urgency in systems of oppression and offers a powerful pathway toward sustainable leadership. Learn how to recognize urgency in your culture, slow down with purpose, and lead with clarity instead of chaos.
Episode 5-Unspoken Doesn’t Mean Unnoticed: Your Patterns Are the Lesson
✨ You're always modeling something. Even in silence. Even in stress. Even when you think no one’s watching. We explore how default habits under pressure become lessons your team carries, whether you meant to teach them or not. Through the story of Maria, a mission-driven leader with good intentions, we unpack the ripple effect of unspoken leadership moments and how subtle missteps can shape trust, culture, and long-term impact. But here’s the good news: ✨ Repair is one of your most powerful leadership tools. This episode will help you normalize self-correction, build psychological safety, and lead with intention, not perfection.
Episode 6- What the Dashboard Doesn’t See: Redesigning Accountability for Real Impact
In this episode of In the Leadership Lounge, Dr. Shanesia Davis sits down with special guest Guerschmide Saint-Ange to unpack a powerful truth: the most important drivers of success often never make it onto our dashboards. You’ll hear candid insights on shifting accountability systems to reflect human experiences, not just quantifiable outputs, and how leaders at every level can model trust, transparency, and resilience. Whether you lead a classroom, a team, or an entire organization, this conversation will help you see what your dashboard doesn’t and why it matters.
Episode 7-From Playbook to People: Moving Beyond Process to Presence
You can’t spreadsheet your way into trust. You can’t checklist your way into belonging. In this episode, Dr. Shanesia Davis unpacks the danger of relying too heavily on process and why presence is what truly moves people.
Hear a real story of a leader caught in the “process trap,” answers to questions leaders are asking right now, and three quick shifts you can try this afternoon to bring more presence into your leadership.
✨ Leadership Challenge: Try one shift today, because leadership changes in the moment, not in the abstract.
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