The Made Leader

The Made Leader is the podcast for new managers who were thrown into leadership with zero training and even less support. Only 10% of people are natural leaders. The rest of us? We have to become one. Hosted by Jen Arnold, this show is your no-BS guide to surviving (and thriving) in your first three years of leadership. You’ll get practical strategies to help you lead through difficult conversations, managing up, and giving meaningful feedback. Just real advice for real challenges. Whether you're dealing with imposter syndrome, difficult conversations, or the overwhelm of leading your former peers, The Made Leader will help you lead better tomorrow than you did today. Leadership isn’t who you are. It’s who you’re becoming.

Fairness in the Workplace after DEI with Lily Zheng 01/14/2026

How New Leaders Can Build Collaborative Teams with Harper Ray Wagner 12/03/2025

How New Leaders Can Build Collaborative Teams with Harper Ray Wagner In this conversation, Harper breaks down why some people thrive in collaborative environments while others resist—and it's not what you think. He explains the collaborative operating system he teaches, why ownership and alignment matter more than motivation, and how your emotional state as a leader impacts everyone around you. You'll learn practical techniques from the HeartMath Institute for regulating your emotions in real time, why resistance often shows up as disengagement, and how to create psychological safety through simple processes like council questions. This episode goes beyond surface-level collaboration tips. Harper shares the science behind why depleting emotions like anger and frustration literally vibrate outward and create incoherence in your team—and what to do about it. Whether you're struggling to get buy-in from your team, feeling burnt out from carrying everyone's stress, or wondering why collaboration initiatives keep failing, this conversation will shift how you think about leadership entirely. If you're ready to move beyond traditional leadership advice and tap into the energetic and emotional foundations that make teams work, this episode is for you. Harper reminds us that leadership starts with self-awareness—and that you're already doing your best, even when it doesn't feel like enough. Think collaboration is just about communication? Harper Ray Wagner explains why individual coherence—the sync between your heart and brain—is the missing piece in building teams that actually work together. Learn the ownership-alignment framework that drives buy-in, HeartMath techniques to regulate emotions in real time, and why your emotional state as a leader is literally contagious. Follow The Made Leader for more leadership insights and strategies. Connect with Harper: The Coherence Initiative: https://thecoherenceinitiative.com /episode/index/show/4c745315-a9e9-4903-b388-922df5aaa09e/id/39239625