Sometimes people who want to know to lead ask directly, How do you lead? I don’t think they’re asking a question that will help them improve their leadership. You can walk and talk, but you’d be hard pressed to describe how you do it beyond generalities like “you put one foot in front of the other.” No one taught you the theory behind language or walking. You practiced until you[…] Keep reading →

10 Signs U.S. Universities Are Sabotaging Themselves Moody’s downgraded higher education to “negative.” S&P agreed. Finances aren’t the problem. Leadership is. S&P predicted a bleak future for higher education last week. Last month Moody’s downgraded the sector to from “stable” to “negative.” Leaders know financial issues usually aren’t root problems but point to them. Here are 10 signs pointing to problems among American universities independent of finance, from most obvious leading to the broadest and most important. 10. The most[…] Keep reading →

Meeting with Frances Hesselbein means talking about service. Her touchstone phrase is “to serve is to live.” All the men in her life served in the military. She taught at West Point and led me to my co-teaching for three days last fall. By contrast, when I grew up, I associated the military with the draft, whose compulsory nature seemed unconstitutional. My sense of community has changed—I would say matured.[…] Keep reading →

Influencive‘s Surya Prakash Singh posted an interview of me, “Nurturing Millennial Leaders,” of how to start leading, especially if your traditional education didn’t help. The article begins Nurturing Millennial Leaders I get the chance to speak with author and leadership specialist Joshua Spodek. According to a survey, each day approximately 10,000 baby boomers retire. By 2020, 48% of the workforce will be made of millennials. Because of this scenario, 84%[…] Keep reading →

My Inc. post today, “The 20/80 Rule, Leadership, and Integrity,” begins The 20/80 Rule, Leadership, and Integrity In a leader’s relationships, the 20/80 rule counts, not the 80/20 rule. Leadership means people watch you–not to what you want to say or do, or mean to, but what you actually say and do. Attention to detail counts. Not sometimes, but always. What Vince Lombardi said about winning applies to leadership: Leading is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You[…] Keep reading →

[EDIT: Lloyd Austin has since become the United States Secretary of Defense. He also endorsed my book, Leadership Step by Step, saying: 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[…] Keep reading →

My post on Inc. today, “How Big Words and Jargon Make You Look, and It’s Not Smart,” begins   How Big Words and Jargon Make You Look, and It’s Not Smart Do you use big words to make you look smart? Do you realize it achieves the opposite? It’s tragic to hear people try to sound smart or educated by using big words. Even more tragic is that people encourage the practice.[…] Keep reading →

[EDIT: Lloyd Austin has since become the United States Secretary of Defense. He also endorsed my book, Leadership Step by Step, saying: 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[…] Keep reading →

Columbia University’s Alumni Association posted a piece I wrote, “An Alum’s Inside Look at the World of Career Coaching,” which included a video of my WBECS talk from a couple months ago. It begins An Alum’s Inside Look at the World of Career Coaching By Joshua Spodek ’93CC, ’96GSAS, ’99GSAS, ’06BUS of the Columbia Career Coaches Network Spodek shares valuable insight from his job as a career coach and details the[…] Keep reading →