I am helping organize a talk by my former Professor and leadership guru Michael Feiner February 19, 6-8pm in Manhattan. I’m helping organize it with the Distinguished Leaders Committee of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of New York (you don’t have to be a member to attend). Plans may change, but I think I’m going to introduce him. I’ll copy the announcement below (here is a link to the[…] Keep reading →

Reviews of Leadership Step by Step By Joshua Spodek Buy Leadership Step by Step on Amazon! Great leaders aren’t born with a ‘leadership gene’; great leaders develop the necessary skills and gain confidence through practice and hard work. In Leadership Step by Step Joshua Spodek presents a thoughtful approach to becoming a highly effective leader that emphasizes the importance of experiential learning. It will serve as a valuable resource for[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my Saturday series on posting my answers to questions from Quora, here are my next questions answered: What makes an effective leader? How can I be more spontaneous? How can I use my introversion as a business leader? What books or articles describe the high performance leadership framework (as taught at Stanford)? Should I feel bad about getting rejected from Harvard/Stanford/Columbia? Q: What makes an effective leader? A: Rather[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my Saturday series on posting my answers to questions from Quora, here are my next questions answered: What makes an effective leader? How can I be more spontaneous? How can I use my introversion as a business leader? What books or articles describe the high performance leadership framework (as taught at Stanford)? Should I feel bad about getting rejected from Harvard/Stanford/Columbia? Is it ethical to search the cell phone[…] Keep reading →

The number one defining property of leaders Defining property number one about leaders from leadership guru Michael Feiner (and my professor) is leaders ship. They get the job done. Nobody I know of whose paycheck doesn’t originate with fossil fuels or fundamentalist religion believes we are heading in a healthy direction for our environment. But we all respond to incentives and the incentives of our system — huge roads, low[…] Keep reading →

During orientation I learned one of business school’s most valuable lessons. I learned the first step in resolving all ethics problems. Orientation included a case study on ethics. The case involved a guy who witnessed someone else breaking a rule at a company. If he told on the employee he would escalate the problem, possibly identifying himself as not a team player, no matter how justified his actions. Remaining silent would[…] Keep reading →

One of my most important lessons from business school came before the first class began. It’s been useful for me since. Columbia emphasizes ethics. Orientation included a class on ethics. The case was an employee who witnesses someone breaking a rule. Reporting it would potentially harm him and certainly someone else for something that may have been minor. Not reporting it would benefit himself, but at the cost of becoming[…] Keep reading →