The Bregman Leadership Podcast
Episode 135

David Desteno

Emotional Success

Which emotions are built to make us succeed? David Desteno, author of Emotional Success, asserts that when it comes to accomplishing tasks and moving forward, relying on willpower alone is a mistake. Discover the three prosocial emotions, which virtues are false dichotomies, and the benefits of valuing your future self above the present.


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Book: Emotional Success
Bio: David DeSteno is professor of psychology at Northeastern University where he directs the Social Emotions Group. He is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and serves as editor-in-chief for the American Psychological Association’s journal Emotion. His work has been repeatedly funded by the National Science Foundation, and his first book (Out of Character, with Piercarlo Valdesolo) was a Wall Street Journal Psychology Spotlight bestseller. He has written about his research for major media outlets such as the New York Times and Boston Globe, and his work has been regularly featured by others in similar outlets (e.g., The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, NPR, CBS Sunday Morning).


  1. Kathy Orchen says:

    This conversation did not take into account the hypersensitive personality in the workplace. The emphasis on connection is much more delicate for the hyper sensitive. They are constantly stretching themselves and unfortunately they bear a handicap in the extroverted workplace and can be over ran.

  2. Kelly says:

    I like the concept that the reason we stay late or work longer hours than we know we should is is because we are striving to make things better for our future self. I do this. It also occurred to me, that this applies to my future self as an engineer, and realized that therefore I need to find a way to value more my future self as a wife, to ensure that this future exists and is a good one.

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